Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Treat the verbal diarrhoea


MALAYSIA is spending millions of ringgit trying to repair its image overseas but plenty of taxpayers’ money can be saved if our politicians exercise some self-restraint with their statements.

The foot-in-the-mouth disease seems to be rampant and many of us wonder why they even make these statements in the first place.

We are talking about politicians from both sides of the political divide whose astounding statements often make world headlines for the wrong reasons. Little do they realise the serious implications involved, including loss of foreign direct investments.

Read the rest of my column here.

3 comments:

Scholar said...

Datuk, time to jump ship. You are currently in the ship that will sink next GE

Scholar warns BN of media uprising
Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:53
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KUALA LUMPUR: An academician has warned Barisan Nasional that it can no longer take for granted the support of media professionals employed in pro-government organisations.

The government simply has to buck up and prove its sincerity in upholding democratic values, according to Abu Hassan Abdullah, a founder of the research institution Zentrum Future Studies and a senior lecturer at Universiti Malaya’s Media Studies Department.

He was commenting on this week’s resignation of senior producer Joshua Wong from the Umno-linked ntv7. Explaining his decision at a press conference yesterday, Wong said he could no longer stomach “overzealous self-censorship” by his bosses and political interference in his professional duties. Citing a recent case of such interference, he said the pressure came from the Prime Minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Abu Hassan said Wong’s resignation could portend more protests from other media practitioners, including those working with the so-called mainstream media, which have links to Umno and other BN parties.

“Exercising pressure or force” on journalists and other media professionals “are self-defeating and certainly out of place in the 21st century,” he said.

“Even those working in Umno-BN organisations are getting fed up.”

He called on the government to be more open and to respect freedom of expression and other democratic principles so that the media could play their role effectively.

"I would like to stress here that democracy cannot thrive in an autocratic climate,” he added.

Unknown said...

Chun Wai,

"The move included allowing local movies to have gay characters as long as they repented and understood the consequences of their sexual preferences.

This is a huge step forward in Malaysia for local film makers, especially when the Govern ment has to deal with conservative and religious groups like Perkasa, Jakim and PAS."

I beg to differ with this statement. It's a huge step backwards.

The condition that there is repentance for homosexuality implies that there's something wrong about it. There is nothing wrong with homosexuality. Gays are not sick and neither are they sinners.

We have just moved our position from ignoring the problem (not too good) to actively painting them as a threat to society (worse!!!). What's next? Outright persecution? Chemical castration of gays like what they did to Alan Turing, one of the heroes of World War II?

No matter how you look at it, this is a horrible development for gays. Please reconsider your position on it by putting yourself in their shoes. I know Chistianity has had a long history of persecution against homosexuals but if you can preach racial and religious tolerance, surely this is but a natural progression of the same concept?

Wong Chin Shin

sharon said...

great to see you blogging again!!!!

I totally agree with what you wrote about.
I myself had to explain our countries situation to foreign friends and its proving to be quite an embarassment when they laugh at the situation Malaysia is in.