Sarawak Deputy State Secretary Datuk Taha Ariffin said yesterday that he issued a circular banning all State departments and statutory bodies from placing advertisements or subscribing to three newspapers owned by See Hua Group of Companies at the directive of the State Government.
In the circular dated Sept. 21, Taha also barred them from inviting the three newspapers, the Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News, for functions or giving news releases to them.
The Sarawak Tribune had two days ago quoted Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Dr. George Chan as denying issuing the directive to Taha to issue the circular.
Taha said he was asked to make a clarification by Datuk Dr. George Chan and declined to say who issued the directive for him to issue the circular, stating that “the issue on who gave the directive was now officially closed”.
Taha cannot be more wrong, for he seems to have overlooked the fact that he is a civil servant in a government elected by the people and which must operate under the principles of accountability and transparency, where the people are entitlted to know the reasons and be convinced about the propriety of every government decision and action.
Since Datuk Dr. George Chan as Deputy Chief Minister could direct Taha to issue his clarification yesterday, it is not inconceivable that Datuk Dr. George Chan could have directed Taha to issue the circular on Sept. 21 involving the Sarawak State Government in SUPP’s unfair, undemocratic and vindictive boycott campaign against Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News.
In any event, can Datuk Dr. George Chan in all seriousness claim that as Deputy Chief Minister, he is not in any manner responsible for the Sarawak State Government’s involvement in the SUPP’s unfair, undemocratic and vindictive campaign against the three newspapers in Sarawak?
Datuk Dr. George Chan has no reason to feel proud that his first action as Deputy Chief Minister was to involve the Sarawak State Government in a campaign to threaten press freedom in Sarawak and Malaysuia.
The Sarawak State Government had been involved for two weeks in SUPP’s unfair, undemocratic and vindictive campaign against Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News, but up to now, the Sarawak State Government has failed to give the people answers to two important questions: firstly, who in the Sarawak State Government directed the Deputy State Secretary to involve the State Government in the SUPP boycott; and secondly, the reasons and justifications for the State Government to be involved in such a vindictive campaign against press freedom by a political party.
If Datuk Taha Ariffin had acted on his own initiative without authorisation from the Sarawak Chief Minister or the Sarawak State Cabinet, then the Deputy State Secretary had committed a gross breach of general orders and should be disciplined and suspended from office pending a full investigation.
If the State Government action to support the SUPP boycott had been at the directive of the Chief Minister or the State Cabinet, the people are entitled to know the full facts, for this is the first gross abuse of power and grave breach of trust of the Sarawak state government after the Sept. 8 Sarawak state general elections.
The SUPP leadership is facing the first crisis of confidence among Sarawkians after the Sept. 8 general elections, for it has not been able to convince the general public or even its own party membership that it has strong and acceptable reasons for conducting the unfair, undemocratic and vindictive boycott campaign against the See Hua group of newspapers.
The SUPP leadership looked very foolish in blaming the See Hua Group of newspapers for the SUPP defeats in the Sarawak state general elections, and in particular the defeat of the SUPP President, Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Wong Soon Kai, when See Hua Daily News carried 79 news items on the SUPP and only 18 news items on the DAP during the Sarawak state general elections. If anyone should complain about the unfair See Hua coverage in the Sarawak state general elections, it is the DAP and not SUPP.
It is interesting that one of the articles in See Hua which the SUPP leadership had cited as justification for its boycott campaign was in fact a Bernama report which was used by See Hua. Is the SUPP leadership going to be consistent and also launch a boycott campaign against Bernama and ask the Sarawak State Government to also boycott Bernama?
There were in fact Sarawak newspapers which were really biased and unfair in their coverage in the Sarawak state general elections, which for instance, not only completely blacked out DAP news but carried biased and even malicious reports and articles against the DAP - and one good example is the Sarawak Tribune.
Will the SUPP leadership agree that the DAP has better and more powerful reasons that the SUPP had given against the See Hu Group to launch a campaign against Sarawak Tribune for biased and malicious reporting against the DAP in the Sarawak state general elections, and that such a DAP boycott should be supported by the Sarawak state government?
The SUPP leadership had shown itself to be petty-minded, undemocratic and a threat to press freedom in Sarawak and Malaysia by launching its unfair, undemocratic and vindictive campaign against Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News, and getting the Sarawak State Government to commit its first abuse of power and grave breach of trust after the Sept. 8 general elections by supporting the SUPP boycott.
The SUPP leadership should admit that the SUPP defeats and that of Dr. Wong Soon Kai cannot be laid at the doorsteps of the three Sarawak newspapers, cancel the boycott campaign against the See Hua Group of newspapers and apologise to the people of Sarawak for commiting the gross impropriety of dragging the Sarawak State Government into the SUPP’s unfair, undemocratic and vindictive action against Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News.
(3/10/96)