Sarawak Report It's Called Censorship and Salleh Mulls Totalitarian Tactics Too

29 August 2017 The Communications and Multimedia Ministry is considering a proposal to require eligible online news portals to register with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Minister Salleh Said Keruak said the idea was to make news portals in the country more responsible and enable the MCMC to determine the volume of visitors to such portals. The matter was in the final stage of discussion before being presented to the Attorney-General’s Chambers by the end of this year, he said to reporters after presenting the prizes for the Merdeka 2017 Instagram (Photo and Video) Competition and launching the album of the Patriots band in Kuala Lumpur. Special Affairs Department (Jasa) director-general Mohd Puad Zarkashi was also present at the event. “Registration will be based on certain criteria which will determine whether the news portals are eligible for registration or otherwise. Upon registration, all the news portals will be subject to the laws of the Communications and Multimedia Act, and this will facilitate control and monitoring by MCMC,” said Salleh. He said that besides the registration of the print media, the registration of online media was also the practice in other countries, including Singapore. Source: It's Called Censorship and Salleh Mulls Totalitarian Tactics Too, Malaysiakini Comment What a surprise, Minister Salleh Keruak, who achieved promotion as Najib’s most enthusiastic cheerleader, promoting all manner of gross untruths throughout the scandal over 1MDB, wants to censor those who have been by and large disseminating truth. Salleh wants to be able to decide who gets to host a website and what they get to put on it. Not only does he want this access to censorship, he also wants to achieve a totalitarian control by monitoring who reads what on these sites as well. Since Salleh is not the greatest brain and since he has been shown to be a repeat promoter of self-serving lies on behalf of a criminal conspiracy to steal billions from the public, this is a deeply worrying power he ought not have. Even were he to be a sensible and honest person, such weapons should never be available to fall into the hands of villains. He justifies it by saying that other notoriously oppressive states use these weapons already. Is Salleh hoping to rush in these controls, so that he can silence the online media before the election?  You bet he is! Read the story on Sarawalk Report Forget PKR, What About Turmoil In PAS? 29 August 2017 The turmoil in PKR has worsened with the sacking of Kelantan Youth chief Mohd Hafidz Rizal Amran via WhatsApp today. Hafidz received the message from the party’s Youth chief, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, this morning. “I received a WhatsApp message from Nik Nazmi at 9.08am, stating that I’ve been sacked with immediate effect from the post of Kelantan Youth chief. I will issue a statement soon,” he wrote on Facebook. The matter was confirmed by Nik Nazmi with The Malaysian Insight. Source: Forget PKR, What About Turmoil In PAS?, The Malaysian Insight Comment If there is confusion in PKR about whether it’s worth trying to maintain good working relations with its former ally (following PAS’s unilateral severing of ties between the parties back in May) what about the rank and file members of PAS? It was the President Hadi and the Syura Council who triggered the split, in the latest of a long line of decisions designed to break down PAS’s working relationships with its former politcal allies and apparently move the party towards cooperation with UMNO instead. The change of direction has already split PAS in two, forcing the moderate and secular leaders out to form Amanah, which has devastatingly taken half of PAS’s votes in subsequent by-elections.  Most leaders would be appalled by such damage, but Hadi has carried on bulldozing alliances, which were painstakingly built over many years. Indeed, PAS rank and file and PAS voters must sigh with ever greater anxiety each time the leadership makes further needless enemies out of their former friends, driving the party further into a hardline rump of extremists with their Islamic State agenda. The debates in PKR must rate nothing compared to those questions within PAS. So, Hadi should start looking over his own shoulder and counting how many people actually remain behind him as he throws away yet more past friends and apparenly places all his bets on his new “mature cooperation” with Najib’s scandal soaked UMNO/BN alliance. Read the story on Sarawalk Report Ungrateful Voters - Zahid Had Better Get Used To It! 29 August 2017 The lack of gratitude for those who brought about development and foreign direct investment (FDI) is the reason behind several states falling into the hands of others, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. “There were states which we once developed or emerged as developed states, which fell into other’s hands because there is no gratefulness,” he said when officiating a rural development convention in Kuala Lumpur this evening. “When we urbanised these rural areas, when we transformed these areas, it was costly…(but) the people who benefitted from the development were not thankful to those who made the effort,” he added. Source: Ungrateful Voters - Zahid Had Better Get Used To It!, Malaysiakini Comment A certain type of politician is always eager to blame others for their failures, but rarely does one who is seeking re-election blame voters. It is a rule of democratic politics that voters have to be right, since after all they are the boss and the job is in their gift. BN politicians are awfully keen of course on turning all this on its head and acting like the grand givers towards the humble voters, whom they expect to show grovelling gratitude and burn sacrifices of thanks for their munificence. However, people know that it was not Zahid who brought development, either through his own money or his own toil.  Whilst Zahid has enjoyed the perks and power of office, the entire world around has been developing too and much of it far faster than  Malaysia (see South Korea/Japan, both far poorer countries in terms of resources). Were it not for the selfish policies and corruption of Zahid’s party the average Malaysian taxpayer, who has funded all his ‘development policies’ and a lot more besides, would be immesurably better off. That is why many of the more informed areas in Malaysia have indeed started voting Zahid’s party out.  They owe BN no duty whatsoever. Like any boss they have seen that Zahid and his friends are poor and ineffective employees, who have also been stealing around the house and so they have fired them. To be accused of being ungrateful is hardly going to attract voters back into hiring them again.