Anusha Arumugam – Jan 20, 2013

“There would come a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right”  that is Martin Luther King Jr. For the ethnic Tamils the Tamil dailies are the vanguards. In the desparation to win the election the Najib administration is on a shopping spree. Is the Tamil journalism for sale!

The World Press Index holds Malaysia at the 122nd rank out of the 179 countries listed in relativity to the degree of press freedom in countries. Shamefully for Malaysia, in comparison, even third world countries like Zimbabwe and Kenya have a greater degree of press freedom. If Tunku Abdul Rahman was alive he would probably say, ‘we have gotten our independence, but lost our voice’.

A threat to freedom of press anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere. Democracy- a big idea which simply means people’s power. A country is made up of dogs, cats, birds, fish, sharks and people. Mainly people. These people have the power to elect representatives who form the Parliament. The Parliament then passes laws, policies and etc which must be in line with the Federal Constitution. So now two polities exist- the people and the Parliament. And like a bridge, the press and media connect the Parliament to its people and vice versa.

The only effective and regulatory way the government can hear its people is through the mass media. It is a channel to spill woes/satisfactions, be it political, ecominic or social. A channel which would then allow the government to keep in touch with the grassroots. And likewise, the grassroots should be able to hear of the according policies formed in view of addressing their woes. Amartya Sen, an Indian economist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1998 said the ability to use free press is the best way to avoid famines; this was in light of the Bihar Famine (1966-1967). This being so because the press would act as a check on the government, by pressuring the government and also such news would lead to mass protests by civilians, pressuring the government to come up with effective measures to control the famine. Thus explains the importance of a two way communication between the government and the people.

However, in Malaysia, the mainstream media reports are merely one-way, like a vein whose valves disallow the backflow of blood, in this case, news. Thus all that people are allowed to read of are the undisputable and greatly ‘beneficial’ policies that the government has come up with. This system of brainwashing the public is a system that condones oppression and validates tyranny. This fundamentally violates the doctrine of democracy where the Cambridge Law Journal dated 1 July 2012, titled Judges and Legislature: Values into Law states that ‘democracy is capable of fostering a spirit of compromise, and compromise and tolerance are vital political virtues underpinning a well-functioning polity, in which people can live together without resort to violence and oppression and can co-operate to advance the common good’. Here, ‘common good’ would only be measured in terms of goods like diamond rings, Birkin bags and clothes from Australian fashion boutiques.

The worst repercussion is that the government becomes so disjointed from its own people that it is clueless on the day to day happenings of its people. And naturally, the more oppressed people get, the more unhappy they become. This was so obviously depicted in the 2008 General Elections where Barisan Nasional lost its two thirds majority. And since, they have oppressed their people even more, knowing little that the backlash would be even greater in the following General Elections.

In view of the recent turn of events regarding the show cause letters served to Tamil newspapers summoning them to only publish news in favour of the government, it should be noted that the only way a minority group can progress politically and economically is through the media. If Tamil papers speak up and voice concerns over their community, eventually the government would be forced to acknowledge them and address them. No English or Malay or Chinese paper would take an interest beyond prima facie issues of the Indian community. Thus if the sole means of connecting to the government is abolished then they would be left helpless and left to sink deeper into the slums of their backwardness (this is purely in reference to the poor income class of Indians). If this is such, would not the Tamil newspapers be deemed as traitors? Selling themselves and betraying their roots.

Where Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees Malaysian citizens the right to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association, what use is of this right if the degree of freedom allowed is nauseatingly pathetic? How is a country to progress if basic means to do so is restricted. How ironic, for where in the name of democracy, there is a system of elective dictorship; where in the name of freedom of speech, we are denied a microphone and made to ‘listen’; where in the name of education, we are denied its freeness but instead given free money.

We may rely on alternative online media for unbiased news but this alone would be ineffective. Malaysia is 330 800 km squared wide, with only less than half its population having any access to the internet. Those who do not, still rely on mass media and remain under their spell. The time has long come to change that. And that starts with changing the government.

-Anusha Arumugam is a law student of a private college in KL.