As reported in Malaysia latest news, the Home Ministry of Malaysia has “kotor” (no pun intended) or rather censored parts of The Economist’s article ‘Political affray in Malaysia: Taken to the cleaners” on the recent Bersih 2.0 rally in Kuala Lumpur. In jest, some called it main kotor (play dirty).
According to its Publications Control and Quranic Text Division secretary Abd Aziz Md Nor, the article in the July 16 edition had incorrect information which could mislead the readers.
The lines which were blackened out are:
‘and one man died of a heart attack‘
‘The march itself was then banned, although the authorities offered Bersih a stadium to meet in – and then withdrew the offer‘,
‘The heavy-handed police tactics have provoked a lot of anger; the government has conceded an official investigation into claims of police brutality. In one instance (caught on film), police seemed to fire tear gas and water cannon into a hospital where protesters were sheltering from a baton charge‘
But of course, Malaysian readers could still be misled, because the so-called incorrect and misleading facts in article can still be read by Malaysians from the Internet.
I think the Malaysian government should also blocked economist.com, just like the other file-sharing websites.
Surpisingly, MCA vice-president Gan Ping Sieu has criticized the overzealous work of the Ministry of Home Affairs. He said that by blacking out of lines in the article only invites “adverse publicity” for Malaysia.
As I have mentioned before, the less said the better. Now DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang is making fun at this censoring issue with the Government Transformation Programme.
Lim Kit Siang said the censoring only proved that the Home Ministry needed a total revamp to make sure that the country did not have to suffer being made into a joke over bad decisions made by ministry officers.
Censorship Quotes: Did you ever hear anyone say, “That work had better be banned because I might read it and it might be very damaging to me?” – Joseph Henry Jackson
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