If the Sarawak State Government is sincere and serious in wanting to take action against newspapers which “acted more like political pamphlets”, will it act against the Sarawak Tribune which is the worst culprit among Sarawak newspapers?

Last weekend, Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Taib Mahmud said in Kuala Lumpur that the Sarawak government ordered all State departments and statutory bodies to stop subscribing to and placing advertisements in Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News because they “acted more like political pamphlets”.

In justifying the Sarawak State Government’s support of the unfair, undemocratic and vindictive boycott campaign launched by the SUPP against these three newspapers, Taib said the See Hua group of newspapers had taken an anti-SUPP stand during the Sept. 8 state general elections.

Taib told reporters in Kuala Lumpur: “We are sympathetic to every newspaper, even to newspapers covering the opposition, but it must be real reporting and they must not behave as if they are political pamphlets”.

He said: “What we are asking is whether these are newspapers or political pamphlets. If they are political pamphlets, we don’t want to subscribe.”

He said the Sarawak State Government does not suscribe to Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu’s (PBB) month newspapers “Jiwa Bakti” or DAP”s “Rocket” as they are plainly political papers.

I am no defender or apologist for Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News, but in the interests of press freedom, fairness and justice, and from what I have seen of their press coverage in the few days I was in Sarawak during the state general elections, I dare say that Taib Mahmud’s allegation that these three newspapers “acted more like political pamphlets” cannot stand any independent or serious scrutiny.

Will the Sarawak State Government welcome the establishment of an independent inquiry into the allegation that the Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News had “acted more like political pamphlets” comprising members representing Malaysian and international journalists and other non-partisan members with unquestioned independence and integrity?

Such an independent inquiry could be established by the Sarawak State Assembly or the State Government could ask the Cabinet to set up such an inquiry.

However, I do not believe that the Sarawak State Government would want any independent inquiry, for neither the Sarawak State Government nor the SUPP leadership would be able to prove their allegation that Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News had “acted more like political pamphlets” during the Sarawak State general elections.

In fact, if there is such an independent inquiry into the coverage of Sarawak newspapers during the Sarawak state general elections, it is the DAP which will be able to prove that there was indeed one Sarawak newspaper which had “acted more like political pamphlets” - that this is the Sarawak Tribune.

During the Sarawak state general elections, the Sarawak Tribune not only blacked out all DAP news, but carried vicious and malicious articles against the DAP - violating all canons of journalistic independence, fairness and freedom.

If the Sarawak State Government and the Sarawak Tribune dare to deny that Sarawak Tribune had been guilty of “acting more like political pamphlets” in the Sarawak state general elections, are they prepared to have a full public inquiry into the DAP allegation?

What Taib Mahmud should tell Sarawakians and Malaysians is whether the Sarawak State Government would act against Sarawak Tribune for it is the worst culprit in “acting more like political pamphlets” during the Sarawak state general elections!

It is an example of the arrogance of power of the SUPP leadership that it is not prepared to accept responsibility for the SUPP defeats, and in particular the defeat of the SUPP President, Tan Sri Dr. Wong Soon Kai, but want to find “scapegoats”, and the See Hua Group of newspapers have become their “convenient scapegoats”

Is Taib Mahmud prepared to review Sarawak state government action against the three newspapers as he had been misled by the SUPP leadership on the matter?

Up to now, the SUPP leadership has no answer to the DAP statement that it is the DAP and not SUPP which have more reason to complain about press coverage by See Hua newspapers, as the See Hua Daily News carried 79 news items on SUPP while only 18 items on DAP during the Sarawak state general elections - which works out to 80 per cent coverage for SUPP and 20 per cent coverage for DAP.

I laud Taib’s statement when he said that “We are sympathetic to every newspaper, even to newspapers covering the opposition”, but is he sincere? If so, how could the Sarawak State Government justify taking action against the See Hua Group of newspapers which gave 80 per cent coverage to SUPP and only 20 per cent coverage to DAP?

What would the SUPP leadership ask the Sarawak state government to do if the See Hua Group of newspapers had been a little bit fairer in the state general elections, as in giving the DAP 40 per cent coverage and SUPP 60 per cent coverage?

It is clear that the Sarawak Chief Minister has been misled by the SUPP leadership to get the Sarawak State Government to endorse the SUPP’s unfair, undemocratic and vindictive campaign against the Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News. Is Taib prepared to review the Sarawak state government action against these three newspapers because of the false and misleading information furnished by the SUPP leadership on the matter?

I would in fact call on the SUPP leadership to act responsibly, to stop blaming the SUPP defeats on the Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News, Sin Hua Evening News, and to admit that they had misled the Sarawak Chief Minister and the Sarawak State Government when they alleged that these three newspapers had been “biased” and “one-sided” in favour of the DAP against the SUPP.

Sarawak State Government action contrary to Anwar’s assurance of press freedom and development of a strong civil society

Last month, when speaking at the opening of the Nanyang Siang Pau new headquarters in Petaling Jaya, the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim gave a commitment to uphold press freddom and stressed that Malaysia would continue to respect the democratic spirit and nurture a civil society and a liberal government.

However, in less than two weeks, press freedom in Malaysia came under severe attack when the SUPP blamed Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News for the SUPP defeats and that of Dr. Wong Soon Kai, resulting in the SUPP’s unfair, undemocratic and vindictive campaign involving the Sarawak State Government in the boycott against the three newspapers.

It is sad that the Deputy Prime Minister’s advice at the opening of the Nanyang Siang Pau that the press should not be inculcated with too much fear or there cannot be a free media had fallen on deaf ears in Sarawak.

I would urge the Deputy Prime Minister and the Federal Government to take a serious view of the threat to press freedom and the setback to the healthy development of a strong civil society as a result of the Sarawak state government’s support of the SUPP’s unfair, undemocratic and vindictive campaign against Borneo Post, See Hua Daily News and Sin Hua Evening News, which also give Malaysia a bad international reputation in the realm of democracy and press freedom.

(7/10/96)