Orders from above. Yep, I've been had!
They informed me on Monday that last night's Fast Forward programme on TV2 would not be on Presss Freedom so I would not be required to come. I thanked them and updated my posting accordingly, here.
I was taken aback, therefore, when told last night to watch the programme. Lol! They did not postpone the programme or change the topic! There was Hamidah Hamid, the programme's host, with The Sun's Zainon Ahmad and The Star's Bunn Negara. And they had Bernama's Azman Ujang on the line, too. They discussed Press freedom and touched on blogs.
So why did they not just tell me that the programme was on but they had to drop me?
It seems that my appearance in the Hello on Two programme two weeks ago was too hot. The producer was called up and asked why this blogger was invited. After that the producer for Fast Forward was told to drop me. The lawsuit filed against me by the NSTP and four others (here) was cited as a reason that I should not have been invited for the two programmes.
I have asked the Information Minister's office to provide me with an official explanation, since my sources said the orders came from above last week. Meanwhile, let me thank the producers for HOT and FF for their guts and professionalism. I was there so I know their limitations. The important thing is: They tried!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
I was dropped!
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Apa nak buat brother,
ReplyDeleteOur leaders are in blogsfear mode. They made the wrong move by keeping away from bloggers.
Adios
Orders came from above. Sounds familiar, isn't it? Lets just say you are too hot for them to handle which is a compliment.
ReplyDeleteIf there is nothing to hide, why should they shun you and all bloggers? In your case it is clear they stood you up.
Kerajaan Pak Lah telus? Cermerlang? Gemilang?
Rocky!
ReplyDeleteIts 5am in London, Ontario, and about 3pm n Kuala Lumpur! And I am a masochist for switching on the internets early (jet lag) to look up for Rockybru and read all of the depressing news! Well, bro, on the positiv side they fear for your freedom of expression and at least there is somethhing they are afraid of!
(BTW! I postd something on Shaziman the Moron! on Pasquale! Cheers! Helo to Nuraina and thee rest)
Some people thinks blogger are mutant .. "trust a few ..fear the rest" - (x-men @ marvel)
ReplyDeleteDear bro,
ReplyDeletePlease be patience. I was taken aback as well, it should not happen in that way though. I truly disagree in terms of selecting the panelists whereby they are from the mainstream media. Since you are not around, of coz the discussion was on the one side (yes boss panelists?) and it was a bias too. If u were invited for making an appearance on behalf of bloggers, no brainer that both parties could exchange ideas, and you, in the capacity of the president of Bloggers Alliance, could tell the truth, nature of blogsphere.
"ell-ry"
I thought Hamidah was trying to push the 'borders' during the show last night. It was very clear during many instances when she made refreshing comments pertaining to Press Freedom in our beloved Malaysia, but apart from a few worthy pointers from Mr.Bunn the talk wasn't an eye opener.
ReplyDeleteAh Yes! Pak Non made a fool of himself by trying to be critical while apple-polishing at the same time.
He did, on two instances, criticise Dr.Mahathir for the latters remarks about the Press during the days when he was the PRIME MINISTER of Malaysia.
Try harder Pak Non, maybe you could replace Zam or even Nazri Aziz.
apanama
Marginalization. Sounds familiar, isn't it? As i have previously posted, there's no love lost. They don't know what they are missing. It's not your loss, it's theirs. It maybe a blessing in disguise.
ReplyDeletethats more democratic space and freer media under the present leadership? well, rocky i guess thats the price you gotta pay for being a blogger; a credible blogger that is and not one as a messenger for the establishment.
ReplyDeletegood luck rocky and I believe the one above will take good care of fair and good hearted person like you.
kan dah kata..bukan postponned but you weren't invited..
ReplyDeleteanyway, you realised The Sun's Zainon Ahmad tersilap kata, ..."the late Tun Mahathir"...slander to beb..
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteOrders from above? How high up do we have to go?
Maybe ZM lost his 'beep' gadget and having you on the show would have been a nightmare. Commercial breaks every time you're into your second sentence would be ZM's instructions to the producers.
Anywayz, I hope people who watched the show realised that only MSM personalities were on the panel and that, in itself, would be a clear indication on the government's stand on Freedom of Speech for the common people or bloggers, for that matter.
Bro, like I said to you last night - "All-Blogs goes to Parliament" during the next session. There's a public gallery and bloggers can make their coverage on the proceedings in 'real time'. (Got wifi ah?).
For the attending politicians, they can run but they can't hide. Then, maybe, they would watch their language too.
Sdr Rocky dan rakan blogger,
ReplyDeleteApakah ini bermakna petugas RTM cuba melanggar hasrat menteri mereka dan melakukan sesuatu di belakang beliau?
Adakah ini satu lagi kes di depan "yes sir", tetapi di belakang segunung mereka mengata?
If you want to know you're politically correct or not, just see whether RTM invites you to appear on its programmes or not.
Thank you.
I watched Fast Forward and boy i was disappointed. The moderator was awful, she didnt know her subject and she was rambling on without substance. Pak Non as usual was his cynical self, also without substance. Bunn acquitted himself well and gave some sensible answers. Overall, a shit programme.
ReplyDeleteMy gut feeling said it was not postponed. When Jeff blogged about it I suppose it was confirmed.
ReplyDeleteStill, I think they should have been TRANSPARENT from the beginning and not start some lie about postponement.
So mainstream media does have transparency issues... over to you Maidin & Shaziman...
It seems that my appearance in the Hello on Two programme two weeks ago was too hot.
ReplyDeleteDid i miss something on TV or you wear in some red bikini for them to lable you too hot? hehehe
What a load of crap. If I am not mistaken, there was bankruptcy in a council office despite what the law says. Here, isn't this lawsuit is totally unrelated to anyone else as the people high up there (not heaven) said?
ReplyDeleteClowns interfering with professionals' work - That is circus.
Ok, rocky,
ReplyDeletehere's the thing. i can understand that the RTM people might have been scared of having you, a controversial personality, a blogger (presently a demonised and maligned) but to bloody LIE to you. Now that takes the cake. And the way they did it simply showed that they had no guts to tell you the truth -- that they couldnt have you becos you are way too controversial for them.
that they cannot acknowledge or recognise you or your position as All-Blogs president. They cannot.
You will see a whole chain of action and reaction from now.
Pitiful, they are.
Already two people are already spreading lies about you spreading rumours (about the PM) in the internet. Bollocks.
Rocky telah di''Mammal''kan dan penerbit rancangan Fast Forward RTM TV 2 telah me''Rampak'' hak Rocky yang sebelum ini dijanjikan peluang dan ruang menyuarakan sebagai blogger! (Ini fenomena KENCING yang telah berlaku kepada Timb Presiden MTUC, Mohd. Shafiee Mammal oleh Presiden MTUC Dato' Zainal Rampak tahun 2002, kalau semua masih ingat lagi).
ReplyDeleteTidak bagus budaya ini.
Pihak berwajib, sila ambil perhatian. Kita orang Melayu mengotakan kata kata kita dan kata apa yang kita ingin kotakan (Say what we mean and mean what we say). Jangan biarkab budaya baru tidak sihat menular.
Jika mahukan blogger bertanggung jawab, pihak penyiar mestilah bertanggung jawab dahulu!
Do not expect much from these kerbaus... they cannot do a simple thing right !!!!
ReplyDeleteWe Malaysians, have been cursed !!!
a terrible injustice bro :(
ReplyDeletewhile we can laud the editors for trying, i'd say that's hardly the most important thing.
the most important thing is that our gov't couldn't give a rat's ass about freedom of expression, and that gov't needs to be replaced!
Dear Bru,
ReplyDeleteThe way the Information Ministry treated you can only be deduced to one thing.......and that is they themselves do not know what is the National Integrity Plan expected from them.
The ministry had failed the first test on INTEGRITY. If I were the minister, I would voluntarily resign myself from the post.
No worries, there 'others' who appreciates blogger's input.
ReplyDeletehttp://iabcmalaysia.com/
Give them a 'piece of our mind', Rocky and Jeff. ;)
Rocky, the question is... were you dropped or were you axed?
ReplyDeletethe discussion is about blogs.. but the panelist are from the mainstream media... what the heck... goats talking about wooing a beautiful calf! no wonder RTM's ratings are so poor!
ReplyDeleteway to go half past six government wings! no wonder the crow can't fly!
So Datuk AKJ, Datuk JJ (Johan Jaafar) is correct politically now?
ReplyDeleteIf I remember well, he was "an Anwar's Boy." I could be mistaken.
Now Datuk JJ is everywhere. He has a program at RTM TV, two columns in NSTP papers and chairman of the powerful Dewan. See how luck changes with changing PM in our country. You are and Rocky are very much a goner.
AKJ pandai cucuk. now let the minister fire a few staff..
ReplyDeleteHi Rocky
ReplyDeleteWe're counting on having you on Friday 25 May 2007 at 3.00 pm at our IABC event at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton Sentral. The panelists met yesterday and wondered your absence.
Shame ,shame shame to Zam zam alkazam...Morons without conscience and values...but hey, Rocky they keep making you brighter,bigger and better each time they axe-you from making an appearance...IABC on the 25th.Sharizat officiating the event ? hmmmm...let them try and stop that too...hey..you don't need a PR team to promote you... you got Zam for free to the honors of promoting you and making you famous...Thank you Zam..zam..alakazam !!
ReplyDeleteCheers !
When I first read you post that you would be appearing on that programme I was a bit stunned.
ReplyDelete"That just cannot be", I thought,moreso after your post about our great PM's Lumut performance.
Moreover, with the bloggers-phobia stricken Information Minister state of mind, I honestly felt something like this would happen.
Welcome to the club -- whatever you wanna call it. I was already a member about 10 years ago. Rudin X.
ReplyDeletesebenarnya saya fikir sdr. rocky tak pernah di ban oleh rtm itulah sebabnya sdr. dipanggil oleh penerbit. cuma tindakan sdr. menyiarkan promosinya lebih awal di blog sdr. mendapat perhatian pegawai di bilik menteri. mungkin isu blog agak panas sehingga sdr. terpaksa di keluarkan dari rancangan tersebut.
ReplyDeletertm mengamalkan dasar terbuka sebenarnya, buktinya sdr rocky pernah ditemubual dalam rancangan rtm2 HOT( eh ada ek, saya tak tengok pun). dan bukti yang lebih jelas, Debat Perdana pastinya mengundang pemimpin pembangkang, malah parti pembangkang berhak mimilih sendiri panel yang hendak dikemukakannya. ini membuktikan keterbukaan rtm. tak kira lah content debat tersebut berbentuk bagaimana dan bagaimana moderator mengawalnya, itu adalah satu bentuk promosi dan mileage politik yang tak pernah dikecapi pembangkang selama ini di media kerajaan.
saya fikir penarikan jemputan terhadap sdr. bukanlah satu bentuk pengharaman kepada kemunculan sdr. di rtm, cuma mungkin tajuk dan masa yang tidak bersesuaian.
terima kasih.