Kadir A. Jasin Says Malaysian Bloggers Will NOT Fall for the Fear Tactics of UMNO

From 'The Scribe A. Kadir Jasin" Blog: Read here for more

by

A. Kadir Jasin

A.Kadir Jasin, a Kedahan, is a journalist since 1969 and currently the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. He was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000.

He writes the fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine.

Among the books he has authored are Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006) and Blogger (2006).


Excerpts: Read here for more

"..... Pada hemat saya, seperti saya nyatakan dalam komen kepada blog Rocky’s Bru milik Saudara Ahirudin Attan, laporan polis oleh Muhd Taib lebih menjurus kepada pembaca dan pengulas blog.

To my mind, Muhd Taib and his cyber pendekar may NOT strike fear in RPK’s heart.

Experienced bloggers, especially if they are journalists, will NOT fall for his trick.

More than seeking legal redress, Muhd Taib was hoping to use the police report to scare off YOUNGER and LESS experienced bloggers and those sending their comments to them, hence the insistence that RPK revealed the identities of the authors of the alleged offensive comments.

Younger bloggers and their “posters” may fall for the trick and into the his trap. They may stop blogging and debating in the cyberspace for fear of being arrested.

But I think Muhd Taib and his cohort of cyber warriors know that they can't easily cow the JOURNALIST-BLOGGERS and other MORE MATURE bloggers.

Muhd Taib may not be a brilliant strategist and may not even be blog-savvy. But his aides must have told him that by resorting to this kind of not-so-subtle intimidation, he may discourage people from reading and sending comments to blogs. This could reduce the effectiveness of this new information medium.
But I don't think the majority of bloggers and blog visitors will fall for the trick. All that they need to do is to be mindful of seditious remarks and comments that give people like Muhd Taib the legitimacy to lodge official complain.

As the saying goes, there are many ways of skinning a cat, even a big fat one like Muhd Taib.

I have been in journalism for nearly 40 years now and I've seen situation like this happening many times before.

I've also seen countless pembesar like Muhd Taib came and gone.

Just a thought, a disturbing thought...is it not possible that some mainstream editors might have a hand in Muhd Taib’s police report?

Muhd Taib is the chairman of Umno's Central Information Bureau and almost all newspaper editors and TV news controllers who are Malays are ex-officio members of the bureau.

Could they have advised Muhd Taib to resort to this line of action?

I hope not. But I won’t dismiss it either.

Kesimpulannya, manakala Muhd Taib mungkin berasa sangat seronok dengan laporan polisnya dan RPK mempunyai alasan tambahan untuk terus menyelak kain bekas Menteri Besar Selangor itu, blog dan blogger akan kekal dan menjadi sebahagian daripada "saluran maklumat, ilmu dan hiburan massa."
-A.Kadir Jasin

Commentary

From "Water Lily" : Read here

".... Pada pandangan saya UMNO perlu menerima realiti bahawa blog merupakan satu wadah untuk rakyat mendapatkan imfomasi selain dari media arus perdana.

Jadi saranan saya kepada semua - bila ada waktu terluang jenguk-jenguk penulisan/komen-komen dalam blog untuk memperbaiki mutu perkhidmatan anda. Bukan untuk melatah tidak tentu pasal - nanti anda semua malu sendiri.

Impak yang lebih teruk - anda akan hilang undi."

From Wong Chun Wah: Read here for more

"...The Government has to face the harsh reality: It NO LONGER has control over media technology.

Mainstream media is being challenged by an alternative media that answers to NO ONE.

Cyberspace is a new political frontier and the fact is the rules of the game have changed.

Issues are being created because some of our politicians simply shoot themselves in the foot; for example, Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin and Jasin MP Datuk Mohd Said Yusof over the “bocor” issue.

If politicians like them get rapped, they should not blame anyone, whether bloggers or print journalists, for their fallacies. Neither should they fall back on the arguments of race, religion or political affiliation to get out of the mud.

Should some politicians have a credibility problem, especially among the urban young, they just have to work on their image.

The use of threats will not work in the long run as the new generation turns more and more to the Net.

Worse, any form of action could lead to suspicion that those in authority cannot tolerate criticism because they fear their positions would be challenged. "