Goodbye, Blog House!

The house at 66, Lorong Setiabistari 2, Bukit Damansara was my idea of a headquarters for the National Alliance of Bloggers (All-Blogs). We signed a two-year lease in mid-2007 and turned it into a place where bloggers could work from or wind down at the end of the day. The exco of the All-Blogs held their meetings in the living room of the house, organised a couple of talks by visiting bloggers, and discussed ways to engage a government that was then hostile towards blogs. We wanted a change in the national leadership and we talked a lot about the coming 12th General Election. The Bangsa Malaysia inititiatve was launched here, Marina Mahathir held the multifaith doa selamat for Dr M also at this place, and citizens huddled together to follow the progress of their political parties ont he night of the General Election from there. Pro-Opposition bloggers would mingle freely with pro-Government bloggers and they would call one another "brader" every time they met, right up to the last big event - the get-together to mark 100 days since the GE, a party where several people's reps from PR and one from BN, and their suppoters, turned up.

Last night, I handed back the keys of the house to a representative of the landlord and brought down the "Blog House" signage at the entrance.

Where will the All Blogs go after this?

Maybe nowhere, but the people who made up the Alliance have moved on: interim vice president Jeff Ooi has gone on to become a Member of Parliament for Jelutong, (DAP) exco member Elizabeth Wong is serving the people as an Adun for Bukit Lanjan, Selangor (PKR), and pro-tem secretary Nuraina A. Samad has gone back to the Umno-owned NST as its managing editor. Some of the exco members have vanished from blogosphere and from my life while a few, including Tony Yew and Li Tsin (who has stopped blogging), still keep in touch.

Perhaps it is time for a closure to a chapter ....

NST gets ME!

NSTP's new line-up at the end of this posting
Nuraina A. Samad officially returns to the New Straits Times today as its Managing Editor, a post once held by her dad, the late A. Samad Ismail.

In terms of hierarchy, Nuraina, 52, is now the newspaper's most senior editor after Zainul Arifin, the Group Managing Editor of NSTP, and Syed Nadzri, the Group Editor.

After leaving the NST, all Nuraina wanted to do was focus on her two kids and an aging dad. The legal suit that the NSTP, under Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan, initiated against Jeff Ooi and I in January 2007 changed that and inspired her to write her posting Please Sir, Not the NST that made 3540 Jalan Sudin a socio-political blog to be reckoned with.

Mior Kamarul Shahid rejoined Berita Harian last week as its new Group Editor.

Updated, 7pm
Editorialblog has the full new line-up for NSTP, NST, Berita Harian and Harian Metro. Click here.

A richer Petronas

Thanks to Omar Ong. I hear that Omar Ong paid up the study loan he owed Petronas yesterday.

If that's true, the national oil corporation would be richer by a few thousand ringgit today! But whether that would now endear him to the Board of Directors of Petronas and qualify him to become a director of the corporation is another matter altogether.

Omar's failure to pay up what he was said to owe Petronas had been the source of great embarassment, especially to PM Najib Razak, who was said to have backed the appointment of the Ethos Consulting supremo to the board of Petronas.

The Petronas board of directors rejected the appointment of Omar Ong when it was first tabled. They are now waiting for the PM's further instruction on the matter.

I was also told that the PM had dinner with Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the Petronas Advisor, a little over a week ago and one of the things that got mentioned was Omar Ong. Details of the discussion are sketchy.

Dr Mahathir, however, has made it quite clear on his blog and to those close to him on why Omar Ong cannot come on board. "He must choose to either be with Ethos or work with the PM's office. He cannot be both," Dr M was said to have said.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall ...

... Who's the Fairest of them all? The entry of Malaysian Mirror into the country's online news portal scene makes blogosphere goes round and round faster. Launched on Tuesday by former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (in his capacity, I'm sure, also as the blogger with the largest following in Malaysia), the Mirror has begun its journey with articles that appear more right than the other portals, namely Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today and Malaysian Insider.

Does that make Malaysian Mirror's coverage fairer? I say, give it time. Shah Dadameah is a "seasoned" name in the local journalism scene. He was already considered a quite senior reporter with the Star when I joined the paper 25 years ago. Shah's presence at the Mirror will make a difference.

At a time when it's cool only if you hit out at BN, this piece Pakatan Rakyat: Strange and Undiscipined Bedfellows is a brave one indeed from Shah and company:

Lely's bird

Pickledherring. An old friend from Singapore has started a photoblog at http://www.photoblog.com/pickledherring. Her second posting got me: a picture of a very common castaway specie found in Singapore and Malaysia.

Click here to see if you know your bird well.

Malaysia's latest political party

Human Rights Party. Former ISA detainee, lawyer P. Uthayakumar, may have secured the approval to set up his own political party, which will be known as Parti Hak Asasi Manusia (PAHAM). I was told the launch is scheduled for around the third week of next month.

Uthaya, the former Hindraf leader, will be PAHAM's pro-tem Secretary.

Is it Constitutional, Sir?

Merit-based Scholarship. The Prime Minister's proposal to introduce a "merit-based" scholarship system where "only the best, irrespective of race" will be granted JPA scholarships from next year may not be constitutional, or so says a pro-Najib blogger.

In his posting Is the Merit-based Scholarship Constitutional?, Zakhir Mohamad, a life member of Umno, said Najib Razak can't implement the proposal unilaterally.

This is because, provision for scholarships has been enshrined in the Federal Constitution solely for the Bumiputras only, he wrote. "When scholarships are being dished out based on merit, that means Malay privileges as provided in the Federal Constitution inadvertently has been withdrawn."

The blogger also said Najib will need to refer the proposal to the Malay Rulers and should have gone to the party for feedback. Read more, h e r e.

Read Bernama's report on the proposed scholarship, here.

Utusan and Sin Chew at war

"Tetapi reaksi terbaru Sin Chew ini tidak boleh Awang diamkan. Apakah mereka sahaja berhak untuk mengkritik akhbar Melayu dan apabila kita menyanggah pandangan berhubung isu-isu tertentu, Utusan dianggap rasis. Sedangkan jika dibuat kajian bebas, pasti jawapannya ialah akhbar Cinalah yang rasis." - Utusan Malaysia

"If Chinese publishers are so useless, perhaps we should enlist the help of Malay publishing groups!" - Sin Chew

Who's more racist, now? The editorial exchanges between Utusan Malaysia, the Umno-owned and leading Malay daily, and Sin Chew, which belongs to the largest Chinese media group in Malaysia, may be viewed by some in the context of media freedom.

Some may view it as part of a general breakdown in the raison d'etre of Malaysian journalism, as editors serve masters other than the people.

In any case, it's not a pretty sight. And all's not well with race relations in Malaysia.

Extracts, translated from Kenapa Sin Chew melatah? by Awang Selamat in today's Mingguan Utusan, the Sunday edition of Utusan Malasia:

"The writer [a university professor] merely revealed that several main Chinese-language dailies did not provide for a balanced view when debating the issues. It is strange that both articles [by the professor], which are laden with factual findings, have triggered an emotional backlash from the Chinese dailies. Both articles [by the professor] mentioned no newspaper by name but the most emotional response had come from Sin Chew. Agaknya siapa yang makan cili merasa lebih pedas. Kenapa cepat melatah?"

Awang Selamat rants on, saying that for a while now the Chinese papers (this time naming Sin Chew in particular) have been publishing negative articles about the Malay papers, including Utusan, but the Malay papers did not react. There was no need to, writes Awang, because the media were not created media wars.

"But Awang can't remain silent with regards to Sin Chew's latest reaction. [Sin Chew] thinks it is their sole right to critictize the Malay newspapers and when Utusan reacts to their criticism we are are regarded racists. Whereas, if an independent study is made, it will certainly find that it is the Chinese newspapers that are racists".

Awang Selamat obviously aims his verbal diarrhea on a sarcasm-rich Opinion piece published late last week and posted on mysinchew.com on 25/6/9, entitled "Malay group publishing Chinese dailies?".

Extracts:

"All of a sudden Utusan Malaysia begins to get concerned about Chinese newspapers. The media group made a special effort to probe the contents of Chinese papers published between 8 and 13 June, and discovered that these newspapers did not accept the mainstream thoughts of the country, still living in their own world and failing to see the prevailing environment!

"To these patriots, Chinese newspapers are good for nothing where nation-building is concerned, unlike Utusan Malaysia which has since the colonial days been fighting for independence, changing the destiny of the Malays, and consolidating the leadership of the same."

To visit Awang Selamat, click here. His latest article on Sin Chew, however, is not on-line yet.

The King of Pop is dead

Alfatihah. Michael Jackson has died at the age of 50. Reports from the wires say he had a cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home.

Michael, who became a Muslim last year, made his name as the youngest member of the Jackson 5. His sixth solo effort, Thriller, released in 1982, is the best-selling album of all time.

Petronas reports lower profits, but dividends higher

with updates

25% more. Amid harsh economic conditions, profits for the year ended March 31, 2009, are down but Petronas, the national oil corporation, continues to pay excellent dividends to the Government. RM30 billion.
Hassan Marican and his team contribute more to the government's coffers than anyone else.

Details in Bernama report here.

Updates: Big Dog says Petronas is the best of example of Malay corporate success, here.

Straits Times confirms Omar rejected

Finally, the story's confirmed by the media. According to the ST piece h e r e, Prime Minister Najib is said to be still keen to have Omar Ong in Petronas. I am not sure that's really the case.

Read my June 12 posting Petronas says NO to Omar Ong.

Kapar Land Grab: MACC slays Messengers

updates: NUJ blasts MACC for high-handed treatment of journo

Original post:

Malay Mail journo queried, laptop and mobile seized. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) leapt into action yesterday following the Malay Mail's front page report on the long-standing Kapar land scandal. But instead of acting on the complaints and several police reports against the alleged perpetrators, our Anti-Corruption boss went for the messengers.

The Malay Mail reporter was detained for six hours till 2am for questioning. His mobile phone and laptop were confiscated.

The MACC appears peeved over the Malay Mail report, quoting Kapar Member of Parliament M. Manikavasagam, that files containing reports on the Kampung Perepat Green Revolution land grab issue had gone missing. The Commission's director of investigations Shukri Abdull has demanded the MP and the Mail's reporter apologize.

But even if the MP and the newspaper had gotten it wrong, their "crime" hardly deserves such harsh and high-handed reaction.

I say: Act against the "real" crime here, Shukri.

General

June 22, 2009 22:44 PM

MACC Shows Missing Files, Wants Apology

PUTRAJAYA, June 22 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has refuted Kapar Member of Parliament (MP) S. Manikavasagam's allegation that files containing reports on the Kampung Perepat Green Revolution land grab issue were missing. Manikavasagam's allegation made headlines in a local English daily, Malay Mail, today. MACC director of investigations Datuk Shukri Abdull has demanded that both the MP and the daily's reporter apologise to the commission. "If the MP had really said, as reported in the newspaper, then he should apologise because it is indeed, a slanderous statement and purposely made to tarnish MACC's good image. "The report also includes a statement allegedly made by me, although I had not spoken to the reporter," he said, while displaying the purportedly missing files at a press conference here. Shukri also showed reporters a copy of the police report which the MACC lodged in Shah Alam this evening. Manikavasagam was quoted in the daily as saying that last Friday, he had gone to the Selangor MACC office where an officer informed him that three reports lodged by Kampung Perepat pioneers, as well as the one he personally filed last year, could not be traced. -- BERNAMA