Don’t confuse news with opinions
Salleh Said Keruak
We always discuss freedom of speech, press freedom, freedom to disagree, freedom of thought, freedom of opinion, and so on. I would be the first to agree that it would be impossible for any government to stifle these freedoms. Some would even call these freedoms a God-given right.
We must, however, know where to draw the line with these freedoms and not cross that line by denying others their freedoms as well. For example, if you practice absolute freedom in attacking someone, you may be denying that other person his or her right to peace of mind, harmony, privacy, etc.
Take the gun control debate in the US as an example. Americans argue that the right to bear arms is written in the US Constitution and, therefore, cannot be taken away from them. To do so would be unconstitutional. However, while you may have the right to bear arms, this does not mean you also have the right to shoot someone without just cause, such as to defend yourself against physical attack.
Freedom of the press must be upheld for society to mature. But then we must also use this freedom in a mature manner. And then we need to understand the difference between opinions and news.
Someone may write an opinion piece regarding, say, why the Chinese are more successful than others in business. The writer researches into 200 years of Chinese presence in Malaysia since the 1800s and comes to his or her conclusion. That is merely the writer’s opinion and different historians may have different conclusions regarding the same matter.
