Sunday, April 10, 2011
Politik Malaysia kotor – The Jakarta Post
Editorial: A new low for Malaysian politics
The Jakarta Post | Mon, 03/28/2011 9:13 PM | Editorial
Malaysia’s dirty politics reached a nadir last week when the local media reported on a new video featuring a man who looked like former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim having sex with a prostitute in a hotel room.
Coming at a time when Anwar is battling sodomy charges in court, it makes you wonder just really how low can it go.
The video was shown to a few journalists from the mainstream media who were selected and screened in a fashion worthy of a cloak-and-dagger novel.
The government-controlled media, which have played a key role in previous campaigns to discredit Anwar, violated every known ethical practice of journalism by providing graphic reports of the alleged “sex sojourn” without verifying the identities of the video’s subjects.
Typically, the source of the video was not disclosed, evoking the popular Indonesian (and Malay) saying lempar batu sembunyi tangan, which means “throw the rock, hide your hand”.
No one took responsibility for screening the video, but the mainstream media played along and reported what their journalists saw.
Ever willing accomplices, the media broke one of the credos of journalism: Identify your sources, especially when making allegations as serious as this.
The Malaysian media did not bother to identify the man in the video.
The mere suggestion that man looked like Anwar Ibrahim was enough to cast doubt on Anwar’s credibility and integrity in the supposedly puritan yet hypocritical society. Truth and verification go out window when you are part of a propaganda machine.
The media placed the onus on Anwar to disprove the claim, something which would likely keep him busy for the next several months or even years, certainly until the next general election.
We have seen this before when Anwar was first sentenced to prison for sodomy, only to have the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction in 2004.
Subsequently, new sodomy charges appeared and Anwar has been busy going to and from the courtroom.
Sex, media and video conspiracies define Malaysian politics today. It gets dirtier all the time.
***************
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Politik Malaysia kotor – The Jakarta Post
JAKARTA: The Jakarta Postmenyifatkan politik di Malaysia, kotor kerana melibatkan seks, media dan video konspirasi yang berterusan.
Kolum editorial akhbar terkenal Indonesia itu memuatkan pandangannya dengan menyentuh siri fitnah terbaru terhadap Ketua Pembangkang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yang didakwa terlibat dengan rakaman video lucah palsu baru-baru ini.
“Minggu lalu media tempatan melaporkan politik kotor terbaru Malaysia (kononnya) melibatkan Anwar Ibrahim dalam video lucah bersama pelacur di hotel.
“Timbul pertanyaan bagaimana ia boleh berlaku sedangkan Anwar berdepan kes sodomi di mahkamah,” kata editorial itu yang turut menyebut kerajaan mengawal media untuk diperalat bagi merosakkan imej Anwar, sekalipun terpaksa melanggar etika kewartawanan.
“Media Malaysia tidak melaporkan mengenai orang dalam video tetapi menyatakan lelaki itu mirip Anwar bagi menjatuhkan kredibiliti dan integritinya di mata masyarakat.
“Kebenaran dan pengesahan tidak dihirau apabila ia dijadikan alat propaganda,” kata tulisan, sinis.
Editorial akhbar itu turut menyelar tindakan individu yang terlibat dalam penyebaran video itu sebagai pengecut kerana menggunakan media.
“Sumber video tidak didedah, sikap mereka seperti pepatah Melayu ‘lempar batu sembunyi tangan’ kerana tiada sesiapa mahu bertanggungjawab atas penayangan video itu.
“Tetapi media arus perdana melaporkan berita itu daripada sudut pemerhatian mereka,” kata tulisan itu yang menganggap media seperti memberi tekanan kepada Anwar untuk membuat penafian sebagai satub bentuk gangguan sehingga pilihan raya umum akan datang.
“Media meletakkan tanggungjawab pada Anwar untuk menafikan perkara itu, sesuatu yang kemungkinan akan membuatnya sibuk selama beberapa bulan dan bertahun-tahun, sehingga pilihan raya umum akan datang.
“Kita pernah menyaksikan kes seumpama ini ketika Anwar dipenjara buat pertama kali tetapi dibebaskan pada 2004 selepas Mahkamah Agong membatalkan kes tersebut,” kata tulisan itu lagi.
(Sumber asal: The Jakarta Post)
