Press self-censorship in Malaysia: a case study

Press self-censorship in Malaysia: a case study

NO HOLDS BARRED

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 Super Admin

Aiyoh! Do all Chinese prostitute themselves like this? I hope not or else this country is doomed. Hmm…what did that special officer to Prime Minister Najib say in the 1Malaysia seminar in Melaka: all Chinese came to this country as prostitutes? Well, at least The Star and its owners, MCA, did. And they are still prostituting themselves.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

No offence meant

It has been brought to our attention that a commentary piece in The Star headlined “Persuasion, not compulsion” on the recent caning of three women for syariah offences has offended certain quarters.

We would like to categorically state that there was no intention to insult or offend Muslims with the article by managing editor P. Gunasegaram that was published last Friday.

The Star sincerely apologises to those who were offended by the content of the article.

As a newspaper that bills itself as The People’s Paper, we strive to serve all our readers’ interests and are mindful of the need to be sensitive to their beliefs.

The Star, 24 February 2010

*************************************************

Muslims instruct goodness and rule out evil as to Allah's command to "command what is right and forbid what is wrong" (Surah Luqman, verse 17)

There is no compulsion where deen is concerned. Right guidance has become clearly distinct from error. Anyone who rejects false deities and believes in Allah has grasped the Firmest Handhold, which will never give way. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Surah al-Baqara, verse 256)

**************************************************

Based on the Deen-i Islam, the very first requirement from humans is their sincerity, their ikhlas, their inner honesty, cordiality, so that whatever they perform should be as they wished from inside; and that they must never act for show-off and hypocrisy. The very first thing that Islam disapproves is hypocrisy (the state of a munafiq), that is, acting outward in dishonesty for a purpose, while the inner beliefs contradict with outward actions. For example, performing Salaat or fasting or wearing head-cover because of being forced to, without an inner warm reception, never make someone a believer. On the contrary, it turns a person into a munafiq, i.e., hypocrite.

If someone had at least some faith (iman) in spite of not being able to fulfil some practices, he is at least not an unbeliever. But if we force someone to take some unwilled actions, and if he performs those actions under our pressuring, then we will be pushing that person into hypocrisy and have undergone the responsibility of his misbehaviour.

UP TO DATE UNDERSTANDING OF ISLAM by Ahmed Hulus

*************************************************

Actually, after writing about issues involving Islam the last two days I thought I would give this subject a rest. But when I saw what The Star published today I just can’t help myself but, yet again, flog this dead horse, so to speak.

The Star did not mention the real reason why they published that apology above but it does not take a genius to figure out why they did so -- because, as usual, they received a phone call from the ministry that decides at the end of the year whether their newspaper licence should be renewed or not.

That’s right. Your newspaper permit is renewable annually and there has been many an occasion when the ministry holds back the renewal if they consider that newspaper too much of a problem.

Furthermore, the newspaper owners or editors would constantly be summoned to the ministry to be given a piece of the government’s mind. Some newspapers have to make almost weekly visits to the ministry to get a scolding.

This is how censorship is imposed in Malaysia. No doubt the government will claim that Malaysian newspapers, in their wisdom, practice self-censorship. But when they chop your cock off how else to lead your life other than by being a celibate? (Celibacy means to abstain from sex in case some of you do not know that).

The Star was propagating persuasion as opposed to compulsion. I have always said you can’t legislate conduct. You need to educate people. So what The Star said was basically the same thing. Teach them. Don’t force them. And if after teaching them they still don’t follow then there must be something wrong with the education system.

Islam says that you must propagate amar maaruf, nahi munkar. See Surah Luqman, verse 17 above. The Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, has used this phrase before -- amar maaruf, nahi munkar -- and the Umno boys got very upset. They feel it is wrong for Guan Eng to use Arabic words and quotes from the Quran.

That is stupid. The Quran was revealed to all mankind as a message to all mankind, not just to Muslims. So how can it be wrong for Guan Eng to quote from the Quran in Arabic? This is how narrow-minded Umno people are. They should be proud that Guan Eng saw fit to quote the Quran. I am delighted that there are at least some things in the Quran a non-Muslim like Guan Eng finds worthy to quote from.

And see what Surah al-Baqara, verse 256 says -- there is no compulsion in Islam. Is this not what The Star said? And is this not what the Quan also says? So why was The Star made to apologise for saying this? Is not what The Star said a quote right out from the Quran?

Aiyah! Sometimes I feel so disgusted I just don’t see any point in talking about it.

And why should there be no compulsion? Why should we educate and not legislate? Why should we not force people? Well, Ahmed Hulus explained this in his opinion above. If you force people then they do it because they are being forced to do so and not because they believe that this is the right thing to do. In other words, they are not sincere in doing it and this would make them a hypocrite. So compulsion breeds hypocrisy.

If you force someone to go to the mosque to pray and if he would be sent to jail if he does not, then certainly he would go to the mosque to pray. But he is doing it only to avoid jail and not because he believes that going to the mosque to pray is the right thing to do. He in fact does not even believe in your God. But he goes to the mosque anyway while his heart is not in the ritual he has to perform in the mosque.

I suppose this will be just like how a prostitute earns her living. She opens her legs for you because she needs the money. It is not about love. She does not enjoy the sex with you. She is hoping you will get it over and done with quickly so that she can get out of there.

And would not those who are forced to perform certain things for profit, or abstain from certain things because they are afraid of the punishment, be no better than prostitutes -- religious prostitutes? It is something they do because they have no other choice. It is not something they do because they believe in it.

This is the height of hypocrisy.

And this makes The Star a prostitute as well. They do things according to what they are paid to do and not because they believe it is the right thing to do. They do what is necessary to be able to stay in business and make money and not because they want to fulfil a community service. Profit above the nation, that is The Star’s motto, not The People’s Paper, as they claim.

Aiyoh! Do all Chinese prostitute themselves like this? I hope not or else this country is doomed. Hmm…what did that special officer to Prime Minister Najib say in the 1Malaysia seminar in Melaka: all Chinese came to this country as prostitutes? Well, at least The Star and its owners, MCA, did. And they are still prostituting themselves.

The Star was right the first time around -- persuasion, not compulsion. And by apologising for saying the right thing because they want to please the government in the interest of profit makes The Star a prostitute.

Self-censorship my foot.

http://www.malaysia-today.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30340:press-self-censorship-in-malaysia-a-case-study&catid=20:no-holds-barred&Itemid=100087

xxxxxxxxxxxx

毫不留情：大马的自我审查制度（个案研究）

哎哟！华人都是这样把自己当成娼妓的吗？我希望不是，要不然这个国家就完蛋了。嗯……首相纳吉的特别事务官在马六甲的『一个大马』讲座会中说了些什麽呢：所有来到这个国家的华人都是妓女？这样噢，至少《星报》和它的持有人马华就是如此，到了现在他们还自甘当婊子。

没有冒犯的用意

在《星报》评论中一篇名为【信念，不是义务】（Persuasion, not compulsion）的文章中引起了我们的注意，这篇文章提到，最近使用回教法对妇女进行鞭刑冒犯了部分人士。

我们明确的注明我们没有企图让上周五，由主编P.古纳社加兰（P. Gunasegaram）撰写的这篇文章冒犯穆斯林。

《星报》对此文造成那些被冒犯的人表示真诚的歉意。

作为一家标榜为『人民的报章』的报纸，我们努力服务我们所有的读者的利益，同时会留意所需的，对他人信仰的敏感度。

《星报》2010年2月24日

××××××××××××××××××××××××

我的孩子啊！你应当谨守拜功，应当劝善戒恶，应当忍受患难，这确是应该决心做的事情。（三十一章【鲁格曼】第十七条）

对於宗教，绝无强迫，因为正邪确已分明了，谁不信恶魔而信真主，谁确已把握住。坚实的，绝不断折的把柄，真主是全聪的，是全知的。（第二章【黄牛】第二五六条）

××××××××××××××××××××××××

根 据伊斯兰的『教门』（Deen-i 或称 Deen），人类最首要的是他们的真诚心，他们的真心（ikhlas），他们内在的诚意、真挚，居于此点，无论他们所做的事，应该出自于内在的希望；而他 们永远都不该有炫耀和虚伪的举止。伊斯兰教所反对的首件事即是『穆纳菲格』（伪信者，munafiq），即是，因为某个目的而做出放荡的外表，而内在的信 仰与外在的行为起着冲突。比方说，因为被强迫下进行『萨拉』（Salaat，狭义上指祈祷）或禁食，或穿戴头巾，而没有内在的热情的认知，这将永远也不会 使一个人成为信徒。反而，它把一个人变成了『穆纳菲格』，也即是伪信者。

如果一个人至少有少许的信仰（伊曼，iman），尽管无法符合部分宗教上的落实，他至少不是个『不信教者』。因为如果我们强迫某个人做出一些他不愿意的行为，而如果他在我们的压力下进行这些行为，那我们将把这个人推向虚伪，并承担了他做坏事的责任。

阿末胡鲁斯（Ahmed Hulus）作品《对伊斯兰教的最新认识》（UP TO DATE UNDERSTANDING OF ISLAM）

××××××××××××××××××××××××

其实，在两天前我写了有关回教的课题后，我以为可以暂时搁下，可是当我看到《星报》今天发表的启示后，我欲罢不能，只好老调重题，再来谈一谈。

《星报》没有说明他们发表上述这篇道歉启示的真正原因，可是也无需天才才能理解为何他们要这样做——因为，照惯例，他们收到了一通来自那个决定他们的报章出版准证到了年尾会不会被更新的部门的电话。

这就对了！你的报章出版准证需要每年更新，有好多情况下，部门会吊销准证的更新，如果他们觉得这家报章有太多问题。

在加上，报章持有人或主编会不断的被传召去部门问话，以让政府安心。一些报章几乎需要每周向部门报到，还被臭骂一顿。

这就是大马施加的审查机制。怪不得政府的脑袋中会声称，大马报章实行自我审查（self-censorship）。然而，当他们断了你的根后，除了去当日月神教的教主，你还能干嘛？

《星 报》宣扬的是『信念』（persuasion），反对『义务』（compulsion）。我说了好多次，你不能立法钳制言行，你必须教育人民。因此，《星 报》所说的基本上就是同样的道理。教导他们，不是强迫他们。而教导他们后，他们还是不能跟随，那这个教育系统就真的出了问题了。

伊斯兰教 说，你必须宣扬『amar maaruf, nahi munkar』（捍卫真理，对抗邪恶，或称『止恶扬善』），请参看上述《可兰经》三十一章【鲁格曼】第十七条。槟城首席部长林冠英曾经引用过这句话 『amar maaruf, nahi munkar』，巫统那帮小子非常生气，他们觉得林冠英引用来自《可兰经》的阿拉伯语是错的。

这真是愚蠢，《可兰经》向世人揭示的讯息是给全人类的，而不止是穆斯林。那林冠英引用《可兰经》中的阿拉伯语有何错咎？这就是巫统人狭隘的思想，他们应该对林冠英引用《可兰经》而感到骄傲才对，对于非穆斯林身份的林冠英觉得《可兰经》有些东西可以引用，我感到非常欣喜。

请参看《可兰经》第二章【黄牛】第二五六条——在伊斯兰教中并没有所谓的义务。《星报》难道有说错吗？难道这不就是《可兰经》所说的吗？那为何《星报》要为此道歉？《星报》所引用了，直接来自于《可兰经》，不是吗？

哎呀！有时我感到很厌恶，我觉得没有必要再谈论这件事。

为 何不该有义务呢？为何我们应该教育，而不是立法限制呢？为何我们不该强迫人民呢？阿末胡鲁斯已经在上述他的见解中解释了。如果你强迫人民，那他们会照做是 因为他们是被逼的，而不是因为他们相信这是件正确的事。另个说法，他们不是真诚的在做，而这让他们成为伪信者。因此，义务助长伪信。

如果你强迫某人到回教堂祈祷，而如果他入狱，可是他不从，那很肯定的他将会去回教堂祈祷。可是，他这样做是因为为了避免入狱，因为他相信到回教堂祈祷是正确的。实际上他甚至不信你的神，可是他无论如何都会到回教堂，而在回教堂祈祷时，他心不在焉。

我认为这就像是妓女的生活，她张开双腿因为她需要钱，而不是因为爱。她不是在与你享受性爱，她只希望你尽快完事，好让她能够离开。

那些因为利益而被迫进行某些事情的人，或是为了避免某些事物因为他们害怕惩罚的人，不是和妓女——宗教界的妓女没两样吗？这就是他们的所作所为，因为他们别无他法，这不是他们可以做到的，因为他们不信神。

这就是伪信的最高点。

而这也让《星报》成为一名娼妓。他们那人钱财，替人消灾，而不是因为他们相信这是个正确的事。他们想尽办法来维持他们的生意和赚钱，而不是因为他们想要满足社群的服务。利润摆第一，人民靠边站，这就是《星报》的座右铭，而不是他们声称的『人民的报章』。

哎哟！华人都是这样把自己当成娼妓的吗？我希望不是，要不然这个国家就完蛋了。嗯……首相纳吉的特别事务官在马六甲的『一个大马』讲座会中说了些什麽呢：所有来到这个国家的华人都是妓女？这样噢，至少《星报》和它的持有人马华就是如此，到了现在他们还自甘当婊子。

《星报》是对的，这是头一遭——『信念，而不是义务』，可是，却为正确的事而做出道歉，因为他们想要取悦政府，换取盈利的利益，这使得《星报》成了婊子。

『自我审查』？去死吧！

出处∶Malaysia Today
原题∶No Holds Barred∶Press self-censorship in Malaysia: a case study
作者　　∶拉惹柏特拉
发表日期∶24-02-10
翻译　　∶西西留