How about prostitution, for Hew’s sake
In the eyes of many opposition supporters, only those who have whole-heartedly abandoned themselves to opposition flackery are seen as “independent” journalists. They are just as corrupting as the politicians and businessmen who put aside little envelopes or ang pows, or expensive souvenirs, as thank-you-for-coming takeaways.
UpperCaise
Did you like that fancy word DAP superman Hew Kuan Yau is supposed to have used instead of “prostitute” to describe Malaysia’s journalists? “Enjo-kosai“. So exotic, so tempting, like the Japanese schoolgirls who go on dates with strange men, have sex with them, get money for it, and then go back to school, or go shopping for expensive brand-name clothes, or handbags, or a trip to Disneyland.
That’s what “enjo-kosai” means — amateur schoolgirl prostitutes.
Enjo-sokai is an aspect of the Lolita complex in Japan: middle-aged men fascinated by young girls in uniform, especially schoolgirls.
So superman Hew has dished out a double-whammy: not only are Malaysian journalists prostitutes, but they are a bunch of Lolita-like amateurs.
The press seem to be falling over themselves to say he had said and meant “compensated dating” and to avoid that P word
Bull.
“Compensated dating” is just a euphemism, a softer roundabout way of avoiding a blunt, direct word that might offend; saying “he passed away”* instead of “he died”; buying a “pre-owned” car instead of a used one. Or saying “money politics” instead of “vote buying”.
It’s bullshit (or “bovine manure” if you prefer) to avoid saying prostitute, that people took money for coverage.
That’s a cover-up, and as cover-ups go, a form of prostitution itself; it surely isn’t journalism. Name them instead — and name and shame the politicians who paid, and the publishers who’ve allowed it to happen.
A free press? Or just free publicity?
Someone who wants the press to make him look good and sound mature and not a boor, cannot be relied on merely by his making a verbal commitment to a free press.
Do they want a free press? Or just a press free to give them publicity? Will they stand up for the independent journalism that comes with a free press? Will politicians help establish an ethical press by themselvges not corrupting the journalist? Or do they just want to “turn over” journalists to be their poodle instead of a poodle of the other side.
There is no free press without an ethical press. And all the bluster of loud mouth media critics means nothing until they put their money where their mouths are by attacking and exposing the cause of unethical journalism:
- owners and publishers who expect journalists to work for peanuts;
- owners and publishers who expect journalists to sell advertising space to pad up their meagre salaries;
- businessmen who advertise and expect favourable coverage and cover-ups in return
- politicians who corrupt journalists by trading on information
- politicians who turn journalists into their publicists
- politicians who use their position to intimidate and harrass
And he can expose the politicians who not only routinely pay out “attendance money” but demand and expect that journalists take their shilling and do their bidding.
