As Mulud said in his open letter to me, "Seperti saudara sedia maklum saya tidak akan melobi, tetapi parti perlu memberikan perhatian wajar: Memang benar parti menawarkan kawasan parlimen Lumut, kemudian Teluk Intan, Seremban dan Segambut - apakah di kawasan ini saya boleh menang, kalau di Seputeh peluang saya menang tidak ada?"
I confirm that Mulud was offered candidature in Lumut, Teluk Intan, Seremban or Segambut parliamentary seats, which he all turned down. Apparently, Mulud insisted that he must have Seputeh parliamentary seat or none at all.
The DAP will leave this matter to be judged by the public and I have nothing more to say about it.
However, I must express my disappointment at the way the Barisan-controlled media is trying to exploit this issue. The New Straits Times gave 36 column inches to Mulud’s resignation under a 4 inch-by-2 inch heading: "Abdul Muluk resigns from DAP post, citing cronyism, nepotism" together with a photograph of Muluk and the Star gave 27 column inches with the heading "Muluk deals blow to DAP" when for the past 31 years since he first joined the DAP, both these national newspapers had not given Muluk as much column space when all the news reports about Muluk in the last 31 years are added uptogether as compared to yesterday’s coverage of Muluk.
May be I should congratulate Muluk for securing instant fame in NST and Star, which he would not get, even if the DAP had fielded him in Seputeh parliamentary seat.
Why do NST and Star only regard DAP leaders as suddenly newsworthy when they leave the DAP, although for the past two or three decades, they had refused even to acknowledge their presence or existence like the case of Muluk?
Both NST and Star were irresponsible in their reports about Muluk’s resignation, omitting to mention that Muluk had been offered by the DAP to stand in the Lumut, Teluk Intan, Seremban and Segambut parliamentary seats although this was clearly stated in Muluk’s open letter quoted by these two newspapers.
NST and Star can bear the Barisan’s standard in the tenth general election, which is their choice, but they should not do so by mortgaging basic journalistic ethics by distorting facts, whether by way of commission or omission.
Last week, the Utusan Malaysia committed the cardinal sin of journalism of even distorting a quotation from my speech.
Are the journalists in the Barisan-controlled media really competing to outdo each other in their utter contempt for basic values of fairplay, decency and honesty?
(20/11/99)