Sue the Bloggers! There are two letters - Unfair blogging by a Ahmad Zazli Hamid from Ampang and Spreading Rumours by a Bulbir Singh, Seremban.
Well, these letters are not editorial pieces by the New Straits Times itself and a newspaper does not have to agree with the opinions made in a Letter to the Editor sent by its reader.
However, in view that the NSTP is suing me (and YB Jeff Ooi), and that we have a gentlemen's agreement not to publish anything that might sub-judice the case, the publication of these letters, without any other material that may try to balance the letter writers' views, did raise my eyebrow.
The next round of the NSTP & 4 Others vs Ahirudin Attan is coming up soon.
Read Nuraina's views here. And MarGeeMar, a commenter, left some interesting observation about one of the letters, MerGeeMar on Bulbir's Letter, under my previous posting.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Letters NST wants you to read
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Salam Bro,
ReplyDeleteI suggest 'To whom It May Concerne'
get a copy of Idris Shah
'Wisdom of the Idiot'
-Paperbag Penguine.
BUlbir Singh has turned into a BN run dog. Probably someone from BN gv him money to wirte good thngs. I have been reading lots of his letters and cant help but find him to be a cuckoo...to the extent of praising Phark Lah the so called pious man who lets corruption run loose and his SIL to dictate terms. If this is what BUlbir champions then the best thing is for him to get a job at the MSM. Am sure they will accept him with open arms. Strangely, many letters that are critical were not published.
ReplyDeleteBulbir, what say you? So much free time? GO stay with Pak Lah la. He would surely need the extra CON-forting words from ppl like you to make him feel good!
MALAYSIANS must be more responsible in their use of alternative media like the Internet and blogs, which can be turned into gossip machines to spread unsavoury stories about everything and everybody.
ReplyDelete------------
What a sweeping statements is this? Is he trying to say all bloggers spread rumours??? It is definitely a slander.
This is becoming an unhealthy practice among the younger generation.
----------------
Only younger generation blog???? Hello you must be sleeping???? I am fifty and I blog... ha ha ha
They give vent to their frustrations by posting rude and vulgar comments on blogs.
------------------
Looks like Mr Singh assume all bloggers are rude, frustrated and vulgar. All also kurang hajar except him. Just wonder whether he really go to the correct blog or those rated "XXX".
Some of the things being discussed have no factual basis and are spread as though they are the truth.
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Only some not factual so what is the big deal. Who give him the idea that the blogs are all factually right?. Does he know with a click of the mouse we can counter check the facts???
The danger is that people believe them and form judgments based on untruths and half-truths.
----------------------
Hello, think we are three years old kids. Does he know we can easily check the facts with other blogs or site????
If this practice persists, it threatens to turn Malaysians into a nation of rumour-mongers.
---------------------
On what basis does he make such remarks. The bloggers have low IQ????
Bloggers have jobs to do
ReplyDeleteSometimes I view to shake the mind
Of things and events into one view
Yet I have this feeling
Somebody doesn’t like
What are written in personal blogs
It is like those people
Chatting away over cups of coffee or tea
In the stalls, coffee houses, cafes or lounges
Saying bad things true or false
Ranting frustrations and unbalance wealth distribution
It is the government or companies’ responsibilities
To make it transparent and accountable
But do we see it in our days?
It is like cat and mouse game
A trap and a disease
Through laws to enact the silence
On the people who just want to thrash frustrations
And the unfairly treatment meted out in policies
Blogs serve the gateway to ease the mental frustration
Cruising in speed venting for a space to achieve it
The internet serves its purposes to give one a choice
To say a piece and be sane in this crazy skinned color world
Yet the powerful shall not let it go
The leaders want it their way to punish bloggers
For tarnishing their names and reputation
In this world I guess they can win
The power of money and the cable connections
There is bound to get influence
For the bloggers
They are always at the mercy
Of the power and the laws……..
I always feel
Communication the tool to solve issues
Be a gentleman look at the bigger picture
Don’t run down the bloggers
As if they are the pests
Roughing the feathers of the beautiful peacocks
Bloggers are ears and eyes to the nation
Telling others what they feel and think
Let there be free process in the cyber-world
But the power and the laws
In the hands of the corrupted leaders
Nothing is safe even walking on the streets
Teruskan perjuangan mu Bro'! Kekalkan standard penulisan.
ReplyDeletekredibiliti & intergriti
jangan lupa tulis buku sekali.
take care.
Assalamualaikum.
You posted the comments. They publlished the letters. It's the same thing. All they've got is 2 miserable letters. You've got thousands of comments. You win. The letters are polite. The comments in you've got are brutal.
ReplyDeleteYou win. Nothing to worry about.
They're dirty buggers...
ReplyDeleteBergen,
ReplyDeleteThe comments here are for and against. Correct?
Bro Rocky's complaint is quite precise: those letters published by the paper entangled in the lawsuit with him are against bloggers (therefore against him, because the suit/s is/are against Rocky the Blogger), so the Editors ought to balance the scenario with some pros (pro-bloggers comments).
Get it?
Your comments, Bergen, are always against Rocky but he posted your comments (unless there are comments he did not comment, in which case please accept my apology).
On the other hand, the NST's letter page was ONE-SIDED on the blogging matter.
If you don not get it, ask Fauziah Ismail to help you get it,l please.
a call for more responsible use of the alternative media. thats all it is. no need to read too much into Bulbir's comments. it is in the spirit of the principles of justification and fair comment in the tort of defamation. sorry to dash any misplaced hopes that you may have of invoking sub judice arguments in your case.
ReplyDeleteOh this guy! He wears blinkers. Like a horse, he walks straight like a zombie.
ReplyDeleteHe thinks by pleasing the powers that be, he might be rewarded with a datukship by BN.
This character must be shunned!
Itu KALI sudah tunjuk belang kah??? Sudah mau jadi Joseph Goebel!!? Tak habis habis propaganda! Itu NST boleh BUANG DALAM TONG SAMPAH!!!
ReplyDeleteI notice Bulbir Singh and Lee Lam Thye's letters gets published quite frequently.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bulbir Singh and Lee Lam Thye for your pearls of wisdom for the masyarakat's well being.
Bulbir Singh is a retired old coot living on a government pension and has plenty on time to grovel at the hand that feeds him and totally out of touch with the current media world. Anything "new" and "sophisticated" is alien to him.
ReplyDeleteHe is still stuck in a era of dinosaurs !Let him spend his twilight years bitching about all that cannot be grasped by his retarded intellectual capabilities.
Waste of time reading his letters and even a bigger waste of time reading the MSM.
Cheers bro.
Lighten up guys, perchance it's Mr. Singh's attempt at April Fool. No?
ReplyDeleteThey are just trying to reduce the power and influence of blogs over the general public (with internet access and who frequent blogs such as this) towards the local politics. A lot of truths (some which they term as rumors) that are revealed through blogs are censored in the local media. Another strategy to scare the public into submission.
ReplyDeleterocky - i really don't understand why bulbir singh's letter is making you and your loyal band of commenters react in such a defensive manner.
ReplyDeletethe guy has brought some of the potential dangers of the internet and blogging and he has a point - some of your commenters are downright rude! and many of their comments are not actually the "truth".
it seems strange that while you are enjoying so much freedom you are criticising others for doing the same.
maybe there were no letters on the same day in support of blogging!
Rocky, I have noticed this disturbing trend also in the Star.... so-called letters from "readers" espcially under Chinese or Indian names towing the mainstream media or Barisan/Umno propaganda line. It is a disgraceful unethical trend by these media propagandists in fabricating so-called ficiticous letters.
ReplyDeleteMM is going down the drain...no thanks to your best buddies Frankie D Cruz & Tony Francis.
ReplyDeleteThank god i've left the building!
Salam bro,
ReplyDeleteSaya fikir bro jangan terlalu sensitif dan menganggap semua bloggers bagus dan bermotif baik. Ada juga bloggers yang menulis tidak berdasarkan fakta dan dgn penuh bertanggungjawab.
Saya fikir Bulbir Singh bukan menuduh semua bloggers tp segelintir bloggers yang tidak ada etika.
Bulbir belongs to the older generation who are indebted to BN from bringing stability, harmony and prosperity to Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteMy father too, a pensioner is glued to the local channels for news.
You have to see where they are coming from. As they say you cannot teach a old dog new tricks.
I don't think people really read Bulbir's letters. It is akin to reading VK Chin column in Star!
MM is not going down the drain. MM will be revive. It will be the afternoon newspaper it it use to be.
ReplyDeleteDato Ibrahim is spearheading MM at the moment and will be relocated at PJ 33 area near Sec 14. Estimated circulation within 50k daily for Klang Valley.
Wait and see and support. MM has got long history and will be place at the right track again.
Cili~man.
Friends,
ReplyDeleteRocky is not making an issue over those letters per se.
He is referring to them in connection with the civil suit brought against bloggers by NST.
He questions if this letters were meant to strengthen the newspaper's case against the defendants.
suaramalaysia,
Newspapers do have what we call 'ghost writers'. Sometimes, their own people write letters against opposition politicians to please their BN bosses and government.
Even murderers and rapists have their day in court. They are entitled to face their accusers, engage legal counsel and argue their innocence. In other words, they are innocent until proven guilty.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange that some bloggers seem to believe, as an article of faith, that those individuals targetted in their blogs should not have the same protection. That these self-righteous bloggers can hantam a person on-line in their blogs, but cry foul and persecution when that person resorts to the courts to seek redress.
Double standards? Or a selective interpretation of "freedom of expression"?
If a corporate chieftain can be held accountable for his/her misdeeds, why not a blogger?
Or do bloggers have some sort of sacrosanct immunity from criticism?
MSM must be fair to both parties - those who have good comments and those who critisize the govt. MSM must be concern for the truth not just to tell one side of the story.The nation will not be strong and we will end up like S'pore MSM.
ReplyDeleteMany an educated person trawl the blogs to seek alternative views, to look for an elusive gem of an article, a lucid comment, a beam of light in an otherwise bleak, bland and dark MSM landscape. It is the mainstream media that has failed the reading public for why else would we be driven to the internet to mine snippets of truth? We are only too aware that many blog comments are highly subjective and personal, while some are near unpublishable but in some internet mine there is a chance of finding pure unvarnished truth. Can you say the same of mainsteam media?
ReplyDeleteBulbir Singh, in many ways, is part of the kind of Stepford Citizenry that had been returning BN to power faithfully over the years.
ReplyDeleteThere are many Bulbir Singhs out there. Some of them are quick to come to the establishment's rescue whenever they perceive a threat.
Quick to say "We will stand behind you", "We will back u up" to the PM, whenever there is a perceived crisis of confidence within the govt. That's the favorite position of some Bulbirs of this world, I was told.
And the fact that Mr Bulbir's letter is calm and not incendiary makes us who react negatively to it seem boorish and on the surface, proving his point.
Mr Bulbir doesn't want to upset the status quo. He is afraid of change. He is of the generation where questioning your parent is taboo.
I have this to say to Mr Bulbir in the unlikely event that he reads this blog
"You are long overdue for an enema of reality, Mr Bulbir."
If we bloggers are rumour machines(which often turn out to be facts), that is because the NoosePapers have become propaganda rags.
These days, I can't even use them to clean my glass window...sheesh.
Salam Bro
ReplyDeleteYou must be sad now, that Tun Mahathir is not supporting Najib, there goes your hope becoming the NSTP Group Editor In Chief, a position that you been wanting to have right ?
Rocky , God is Great, you are not honest and sincere, you been a racist yourself when you were heading the Malay Mail team, working from Press Club, getting you boys to fax you the copies, and on top of that you had a bill of RM 6000 owing to the club, but the committee decided to wipe it away.
So all this speaks a volume, You are no better then Kali and Brendan.
Bertaubat La Bro, Sembahyang sebelum anda disembahyang kan !
Be Honest and Sincere, dont have your own agenda !
Can anyone confirm this report :
ReplyDeleteDear poor Penangnites, pls b informed that our former Chief
Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon has cheated Penang people on
government land sales. A big piece of open land located at
Padang Tembak, beside Sekolah Pd tembak (formerly belongs to
poor people of their houses being demolished) is now converted
into individual property with the owner named KHAIRY JAMALUDDIN,
son-in-law of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. We Penang people
would like to appeal to new CM Lim Guan Eng to take immediate
legal action against previous BN government for such an inhuman
deals & return back the land to Penang people. Koh Tsu Koon is
now residing in KL when this land deal was exposed to the
knowledge of the public. We want ex-CM to explain for this
matter. Pls sms to all."
We (more so the Penangnites) must demand that the new Penang
government under the CK Lim Guan Eng review this transaction and
scrutinise every line and every word to revoke this alienation
of land to that political crocodile Khairy Jamaluddin whose
greed is worthy of a pack of hyenas! This is tantamount to
robbing the people of Penang through dirty and unscupulous
governmental sweetheart deals!
Penangnites! Write, email, telephone, sms or even go & see the
CM personally to demand that this abuse by the previous BN
government be put right. NOW!
The fact that ppl can't seem to differentiate the mainstream media and the alternative media is distressing.
ReplyDeleteWhatever is published in the newspapers get a whole lot moe exposure - some newspapers are provided in givt offices for example. To compare it with a blog is stupid. Furthermore, in a blog, you can reply to the author if something stirs your conscience.
Try that with the mainstream media.
Reminded me of a friend's encounter with an RTM crew in KL - they asked him for comments on a certain government policy.
The first thing he asked was "I am going to say something against the government. Will it get airtime?"
They said no. He told them to FO and not waste his time.....
That's the way it is.....
You guys have one thing in common with Barisan Nasional - Both parties only talk about themselves.
ReplyDeleteBarisan has been lamenting about why they lost, and keep talking about their leadership, with everyone grappling for power.
You guys keep talking about "bloggers". Get a reality check. Check out blogs intelligently written on various subjects that appeal to different individuals. Then find a sub-category for yourselves - "syok-sendiri bloggers" perhaps? Good thing your readership revolves around your insignifant group only.
The only thing worse than shallow bloggers is a large group of shallow readers.
Can you guys also think of writing or submitting comments in Bahasa Malaysia? Or improve on your general knowledge of the English Language? We dont want people who read your blogs to think Malaysians in general speak and write bad English
Bro,
ReplyDeletethis singh has so many 'dirty' lies collected from his working days. he cleans them, wipes them and sell to the public. this is only the beginning.
• Dollah: You did everything to make this private war happen. You've done enough damage. This mission is over, Rocky. Do you understand me? This mission is over! Look at them out there! Look at them! If you won't end this now, they will kill you. Is that what you want? It's over Rocky. It's over!
ReplyDeleteRocky: Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don't turn it off! It wasn't my war! You asked me, I didn't ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn't let us win! And I come back to the world and I see all those maggots at the PWTC,KLCC protesting , spitting. Calling me Blogger and all kinds of vile crap! Who are they to protest me? Who are they? Unless they've been me and been there and know what the hell they're yelling about!
Dollah: It was a bad time for everyone, Rocky. It's all in the past now.
Rocky: FOR YOU! For me MSM life is nothing NOW! In the Newsroom we had a code of honor, you watch my back, I watch yours. But now there's nothing!
Dollah: You're the last of an elite group, don't end it like this.
Rambo: Back there I could run a Newsdesk, I could drive a Cammero, I was in charge of million dollar equipment and men , Now I can't even hold a job BLOGGING
i really cant stand these Bulbir Singh letters la.
ReplyDeleteHe has to say something about everything. And since he's such a good ball carrier it gets published.
Mr Bulbir, why not spend your time with your grand children instead of writting nonsense during your free time.
It really makes me puke reading your articles , it's so clear that you're trying to suck up
Rocky,
ReplyDeletewhy don't you come up with a current statistic of how many hits that independent bloggers get against the MSM and official website of all the political parties in Malaysia plus their politician blogspot.
Then only the MSM and the political parties ( BN & BR ) know where actually they stand in the IT world.
Bloggers rule, Bro.
Bro,
ReplyDeleteLee Lam Thye tu saya kenal la. Siapa Bulbir Singh ni? Ada biodata tak?
bro rocky,
ReplyDeletei fully support what you're trying to say. those 2 negative letters should have been balanced with a positive rebuttal for the sake of fairness and in keeping with the gentleman's agreement.
Raja Petra chose not to dirty his hands by acknowledging the suit or being physically present. therefore he intentionally lost by default.
bulbir singh, on the other hand, is an attention whore. he has been writing to the msm for years and years giving unsolicited opinions on everything just to see his name in print.
i suggest we defuse and deflate him by simply not giving him any more "airtime".
the barking dog will shut up if we move out of range of its eyesight.
anon 12:14PM, you said,
ReplyDelete"Good thing your readership revolves around your insignifant group only."
Wrong! If the so called shallow readers are insignificant, there wouldn't be a tsunami on the 8th of March.
You, NST, and the bunch of BN-alikes can go on, and get ready to expect anothery political tsunami.
Yes, some of the readers have bad english, but you also cannot type "insignificant" correctly, so don't try to be an english guru, okay!
`a bulbir singh from seremban, malaysia, wrote to the straits times forum on his encounter with rajaratnam in the 1960s..`
ReplyDeletehttp://www.redbeanforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=333&sid=ac1411ae6578d1d4a2ef12cfe9e81419
Let`s say he was about 20 then which would make him say around his late 60`s now, and probably is on Govt. pencen.
That gives an idea as to who buys the 28,000 copies of daily NST sales. Those caught in the BN rut with little else to do and afraid to change.
- Harcharan Singh
Petaling Jaya
That idiot Raja Petra is now no more than barua DAP, baruya Anwar...I am so disappointed with him..have high regard for him before..now no more..no more freedom or rebut comments anymore...Thge blogs now infested with DAP and Adil idiots...so I have stopped visiting them so as not to be associated with those idiots..
ReplyDeleteRocky, you are my last ho0pe as a balanced blogger.
Anisra2002@yahoo.com.
Can I say that RPK dodged a fight by choosing not to defend himself against the legal suit lodged by the UUM guy?
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that RPK can dish it out to others, but he can't take a retaliatory hit.
And to flame Bulbir Singh under the cover of anonymity is plain cowardice. At least, Mr Singh has the guts to sign his name to his letters. Posters on this blog seem to be fond of the name "anonymous".
Friends,
ReplyDeleteWriting to the Malaysian MSM is a skill. Skill to bodek the government and hammer the opposition.
Letters with incisive or intellectual thoughts won't get published. Aliran will tell you more on this.
Your letters must be shallow and mundane. If you want to learn how to write 'good letters' read V.K. Chin's comments.
He writes without thinking. He is a guru in the art of Bodekism. Bulbir has picked up the skill from him.
If you are critical of the government, or if you praise the Opposition, your letters will never see the light of day.
Don't ever imagine you have the right of reply. The MSM does not allow that nonsense.
Rocky,
ReplyDeletePerhaps my comment here would be appropriate to be posted under "Sufiah: From Genius to Hooker" posting but in view of what Encik Bulbir Singh's said through his letter to NST recently, on "MALAYSIANS must be more responsible in their use of alternative media like the Internet and blogs, which can be turned into gossip machines to spread unsavoury stories about everything and everybody.", please allow me to highlight it here instead, on something that might be of an interest to you and your readers.
Earlier on this afternoon, on TV3's WHI (Wanita Hari Ini) program, the issue on Sufiah Yusof was touched and they got Datuk Dr. Mashitah Ibrahim, a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department on the phone to comment about it.
While any afford to help her out by any party or body is most welcome but based on what Dr. Mashitah said live on air, I can't help but to feel that this is yet, another subtle spinning to spruce up PM's image. Why did she had to even mentioned that the PM is very concerned about her, and they (the Ministry) have initiated a mission to go there to help and calling for NGOs to come forward and also asking for MSM such as TV3 to come in as the official media! On top of that, she credited the newspaper for highlighting her story but said nothing about you being the first person to shed us the news on this side of the universe, through your blog!
I was like, WT#@*!!? What is this, another Jom Heboh or Gang Starz? Another reality TV show till they need an official media?
To Datuk Dr. Mashitah, please, just get on with the helping part and with the machinery that the government possess at their disposal, I'm sure something good can be done without having the need to turn this into another media circus that requires any publicity.
And to all the Ahmad Zazlis and Bulbir Sings out there, there are many responsible Blogs such as this one, if you care enough to search for it and read. Unless the ones that appeal to you are those of the reality TV shows, such as Akademi Fantasia and the sorts, then it figures.
skilgannon1066 : I use `anonymous` simply cos it`s easier to do so. It doesn`t mean that i`m afraid.
ReplyDeleteI`ve opened `identity` so many times then to log in it doesn`t accept.
So don`t accuse of guts. Just `cos Mr. Singh puts his name is in no way creditworthy.
-Harcharan Singh
Petaling Jaya
edPak Lah nafi letak jawatan
ReplyDeleteApr 2, 08 7:46pm
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi hari ini menafikan spekulasi yang beliau akan meletak jawatan sebagai Perdana Menteri.
Sumber : malaysiakini
[url="http://edyesdotcom.blogspot.com/"]edyes [/url]wrote :
Masih menantikan ulasan lanjut. Di mana paklah nafikan? press confrence mana?
Nope, those 2 people are not dirty buggers. They're entitled to their own opinions. The wrote and got published.
ReplyDeleteWe have our own opinions too. The difference is our letters won't get published.
I has always been like that...
Macam ada dendam dengan NST aja....
ReplyDeleteWell..they cannot sue everybody who are not reading their low quality newspaper. It is all political motivated action. huhu.. I stopped reading NST since 5 years ago.
ReplyDelete"MALAYSIANS must be more responsible in their use of alternative media like the Internet and blogs.".. Let's change to this.. "Government of Malaysia must be more responsible in their use of mainstream media like RTM, TV3, NTV7 and NST, Utusan and the likes as not to promotes any cover-up or hidden agenda of the Government."
ReplyDeleteRead the link below and decide by yourselves whether blogs or newspaper is more reliable and which one spread rumours.
ReplyDeleteREAD THIS
anonymous 6:58 PM (Harcharan Singh)
ReplyDeleteYour point being what, precisely?
I made a precise point: accused persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Every accused person is entitled to his/her day in court (and, yes, this also applies to the Hindraf 5). But bloggers are acting as judge, jury and executioner. Is this fair?
Another precise point: does the MSM in Malaysia act as judge, jury and executioner? If you think they do, please furnish concrete examples (no fudging, please).
Ini chari makan punya Bai, Shameless old fool
ReplyDelete