MCMC ordered by the High Court to produce police instructions to block weechookeong.com
Whose interests are the MCMC acting for?
Murray Hunter
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been ordered by Justice Amarjeet Singh to hand over documented instructions by the police and any other correspondence relating to the blocking of access to weechookeong.com. Searches for the website on Google have also been suppressed, but the site is at the top of Yandex searches. This website is operated by former MP Wee Choo Keong, primarily exposing corruption in Malaysia. This site was blocked back around 25th July 2023, with no explanations from the MCMC.
Wee soon after being aware of its blockage filed an application for judicial review in the High Court. The High Court made the above ruling, requiring to the MCMC to disclose documents pertaining to weechookeong.com blocking in a discovery hearing. The MCMC has until 28th April to comply.
High Court orders MCMC to hand over documents that led to the blocking of Wee Choo Keong’ website.
Exposing corruption and conflict of interest by MCMC chairman
Wee had exposed corruption within Tourism Malaysia concerning a company that received a contract to rent out advertising space at Malaysian Airports. Wee’s website was blocked very soon after police reports had been made against those involved in the scandal. Wee had been pursuing this issue for many months.
This is where coincidences start appearing. During much of the time Wee was exposing corruption related to the advertising space contract with Malaysian Airports (MAHB), Salim Fateh Din was a director of the corporation. He suddenly resigned on 23rd May 2023. Salim was also the chairman of the MCMC at that time.
Was Salim’s proximity to both organizations and Wee’s website blocking just a coincidence, or was there a real conflict of interest and abuse of power involved in the blocking of Wee’s website? Hopefully the documents from the MCMC will shed light on this serious issue.
The MCMC has gone overboard in website blocking and the pulling down of political comments on social media of late. This is going on without any transparency and accountability of the MCMC board of directors.
Home page of Wee Choo Keong’s website, blocked from Malaysian cyberspace for nine months without explanation by MCMC
MCMC is subverting democracy, and covering up whistleblowers who are have genuine intentions in exposing corruption. The MCMC cannot become a private cyber police force, in the interests of individuals, rather than the national interest.
Too much evidence is building up of complicity and conspiracy between the MCMC and police for the benefit of protecting individual interests.
Malaysia is quickly falling under control of elites with appointed positions within the bureaucracy. Salim’s stewardship of the MCMC will definitely play a role in the poor showing of Pakatan Harapan in the coming Kuala Kubu Baru byelection in Selangor. Political appointees to agencies and GLCs will be partly responsible for the collapse of UMNO and PKR in the next general election.
