Media under govt’s strict control in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: In a society where even the number of chairs and tables in a ministry is classified as official secrets, a US-style Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) might seem to be the best way to force Malaysia’s government to share information with the public. Such a law, proponents say, will defeat corruption, prejudice and ignorance and promote transparency and good governance.

On World Press Freedom Day that fell on May 3, Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang announced that his office would convene a conference next month inviting all MPs, political parties, mass media and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to formulate a concerted, nationwide campaign to demand for a Freedom of Information Act. Proponents of the move say a series of recent setbacks suffered by civil society shows the importance of such a legislation to promote accountability, free speech and democracy.

Case One: A senior environment officer who investigated official corruption is found dead under mysterious circumstances. In an official response, the Department of Environment orders all its top officers who have access to information to take a secrecy oath not to make public what they know.

Case Two: Under public pressure, the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi sets up a Royal Commission to revamp the corrupt police force. The commission hands over a 433-page report with 117 recommendations. The government, however, keeps mum despite mounting demands for the report to be made public.

Case Three: Water supply is being privatised nationally but the people know little about the company, methods or proposed new rates. The government refuses to reveal numerous studies on the water industry, commissioned with public funds, even to backbenchers.

Case Four: A huge national health insurance scheme is due to take off next year that will impact on the lives of every citizen but to date everybody is kept in the dark — doctors, backbenchers and the public. “The right to information holds within it the right to seek information as well as the duty to give information, to create, store, organise and make it easily available, and to withhold it only in the public interest,” opposition leader Lim told IPS. Lim, who is also chairman of the Democratic Action Party, is the chief convener of the conference.

“The right to information lays the foundation upon which to build good governance, transparency, accountability and participation, and to eliminate corruption,” he said, adding that countries where people have access to information are invariably less corrupt.

Of the 10 countries with a score higher than nine, which are those with very low levels of perceived corruption, in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index, nine have enacted legislation allowing public access to official files. None of the 10 countries at the bottom of the index have such legislations.

“As chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), Malaysia should be setting the example of leadership by introducing liberal access to information legislation with full participation by civil society to underline that the right to access to information is central to good governance and development,” said Lim. Civil rights campaigners are the first to admit that the demand will be met with stiff resistance from the Abdullah government.

“Information seems to be the favoured tool (by the government) to manipulate, dominate and control,” said Tian Chua, head of the Information Department of the opposition National Justice Party. “The government has always cloaked all its action in secrecy and a culture of openness and accountability is far away,” Tian told IPS. “It is an uphill task to get FOIA going in this country but we are very supportive of the move.” The euphoria that greeted Abdullah’s victory in the 2004 elections and the high hopes that he would make government institutions more accountable, remove press controls and repeal restrictive laws have all but evaporated. The Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontier ranks Malaysia 122 out of 167 in its Worldwide Press Freedom Index for 2004, behind Indonesia.

The US-based Freedom House that also ranks a country’s press freedom placed Malaysia at 152 out of 194 countries, lower than Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and even Cambodia and Afghanistan. “The Malaysian press works under severe political pressure and faces widespread surveillance and harassment from the authorities,” said Wan Azizah, president of the National Justice Party. “This must end if Malaysia is ever to take the first step in becoming a transparent and accountable society.”

“Press freedom is part and parcel of economic recovery and existence...without it any attempts at reforms are doomed to fail,” Wan pointed out. “It is time for the prime minister to pledge his unequivocal support in promoting the free flow of information and the notion of press freedom. For a start, we call upon the government to abolish the Printing Presses and Publications Act.”

As far back as 1999 journalists gave Abdullah a memorandum demanding the repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act and other repressive anti-media laws and urged the government to enact a Freedom of Information Act. But since then, there has been little by way of easing of controls — a situation made worse by the subservient government-controlled media.

Journalists, however, are not giving up. Besides wearing yellow-coloured ribbons, they have an online petition for an FOIA going at www.onlinepetition.com/foimsia/petition.html The petition calls on the government to pass a comprehensive freedom of information law. Responding to mounting criticism, Premier Abdullah told a group of Harvard-educated bankers recently that he remains committed to reform.

“I am committed to realising the promises made by the government before the general election last March,” he said. “Those were solemn promises...not made in the heat of electioneering but rather after careful thought about what needed to be done for the country.” “I am not only a man of intentions, I am also a man of deeds,” he said. “I am not one for display or fanfare or harsh words, so perhaps I don’t give away many signs, but that is an issue of style, not substance.” –Dawn/IPS News Service

Are themes ‘desirable’ and ‘undesirable’?

A NEWLY formed literary body known as “Darrak” (the Perceptionists) held its meeting on the premises of a local college last Saturday, June 25. Story writer Tahir Naqvi was in the chair and Professor Mohammad Zarif Khan was the chief guest.

According to the format adopted by this forum, Zahid Siddiqui presented a short story titled ‘Bhog’ — (suffering the consequences). The author Ahmad Zainuddin’s name was disclosed after the discussion on the story concluded. A majority of writers did not appreciate the story, because of its unpalatable theme — a father-in-law enticing his son’s wife. The writer was clever enough to have selected a non-Muslim to play the villain (although the press has been full lately of the story from India of the case of a Muslim girl raped by her father-in-law).

But the story did not have a communal theme, and if there are such perverted characters in society, why shouldn’t they be exposed? What is an undesirable or a desirable theme anyway? One is reminded of what Oscar Wilde said when confronted with the allegation that he wrote immoral books: There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are either well written or badly written.

While Salman Siddiqui, Ain Seen Muslim, Zahid Hussain, Sarwar Javed and Shariq Balyavi said they did not like the story. Shamshad Ahmad was more moderate in expressing his opinion.

Ms Shaheda Tabassum read out a ghazal — her own — and found the house divided in remarks on its quality. Zahid Hussain, Ahmad Saghir Siddiqui, Rehana Zarif, Tashna Barelvi, Rauf Niazi, Noor Mohammad Shaikh, Perven Javed and Humaira Rahat took part in the discussion on different couplets and found the ghazal a mixed bag of good and not so-good couplets.

FAQIRA, hero of a story by literary critic Rauf Niazi, was critically examined at Adabi Chaupal last week under the aegis of Arbab-i-Adab Pakistan, with Prof Raes Alvi in the chair and Pervin Javed as the compere.

The locale of the story appears to be a village in north India dominated by Hindus, but it is actually supposed to be an area in Pakistan bordering India. The simple and rustic life of the Thari people and their festivities are minutely described by the writer, but Noor Mohammad Shaikh found many holes in the story.

The vocabulary employed by the Tharis — chaste Urdu as it is — did not fit the story, he said. Ain Meem Muslim, on the other hand, was all praise for it, saying that he had not read such a powerful story in a long time. Mansoor Multani and Shahabuddin Shahab found it “impressive” and its language crisp. The meeting between Harbans from India with Faqira at Nankana Sahib after a lapse of 30 years comes across as very natural, most speakers observed.

The next item on the agenda was a verse by Mansoor Multani, a prominent ‘naat’ poet, but this time he had come up with a political theme — ‘Teesri Dunya ka Fard’ (Third World individual).

It described the agony of a child born in an “ideological clinic” who lost his father and was taken over by surgeons and physicians who were ruthless in inflicting different kinds of operations on the “child” for 57 years. Multani delivered the verse fluently without looking at his papers. It was unnecessarily lengthy, most listeners felt. It was also pointed out that the allusion seemed to be to Pakistan, but the title alluded to the Third World.

The questions were puzzling. The verse was satirical, Shahab said. Sarwar Javed backed the poet saying the poem’s length did not detract from the beauty of the verse.

The last item of the agenda was a ghazal by Salma Riaz. It was not a “good” ghazal; even then it impressed the listener. Raees Alvi advised the poet to study classical poetry with greater care and try to learn from it. “It was a ‘chalti hui ghazal’,” he said.

IN THIS newspaper last week (June 27), there was a reference to “Char Bait”, a unique kind of poetry with a distinctive background. A bit of history about the form and the accompaniment to which it is recited, the ‘daf’, may be appropriate.

The daf (tambourine) was perhaps the only musical instrument the Pathan warriors carried with them as they travelled down hilly tracks to the north of India in the 17th and 18th centuries. The merchandize they brought with them were rugs and carpets, daggers and swords and of course pedigreed horses. Once their goods were sold out, they would join any one of the princely states which were always fighting among themselves, soldiering being the former’s means of livelihood.

Many of the Pathans, with Hafiz Rahmat Khan as their chief, settled in Rohil Khand after defeating the last remnants of the Mughal empire, and the East India Company allowed them to stay in power on the condition that the Rohilas would not settle at one place to become a threat to the company’s authority.

Accordingly, the Rohila Pathans were dispersed across North India, barring the Oudh. Thus, Rampur state was formed and around 800,000 Pathans were settled in the Bijnour, Moradabad, Badayun, Bareili and other districts. Tonk and Bhopal were the other centres of patronage. The Pathans popularized both the ‘daf’ and their verse competition, ‘Char Bait’, which literally means four lines of poetry, delivered spontaneously by one senior person in the team and loudly repeated by other team members. A person plays the ‘daf’ and as his hands beat briskly to create an air of excitement, the other man starts with the line — “Arey...” and goes on to the other lines.

“Char Bait” is ‘tukbandi’ (crude composition), but it is full of vigour. With the passage of time, new themes are finding their way into ‘Char Bait’ and are recited at ‘mazars’ on the occasion of ‘urs’.

There is no dance, “an unmanly act,” with ‘Char Bait’. Some patrons in Karachi have played a major part in keeping the culture alive by arranging ‘Char Bait’ competitions.