We will be back-soonest!

Posted by: free&fair on April 12, 2008 6:37:32 PM (623 reads )

MALVU.org has been down for the last couple of years due to some problems including technical issues. For whatever reason it had become very slow. We couldn't identify the cause -and to avoid receiveing more complaints of that nature we had stopped updating the web site. However the mission of the web site is getting ever more relevant as proven by the results from the last general elections-which we missed. With a new scenario after the elections we face another situation where the need for monitoring the power that be become even more important: the winning of the election by PKR-DAP-PAS/ Pakatan Rakyat now mean that power relationships have become more complicated and put ever higher demand for objectivity, rationality and vigour in news reporting and analysis. This is a change for the better-we should all welcome it. We will be back to provide the kind of updated analysis and reporting from voters' perspectives soon !

We are Malaysians, That's All That Matter

Posted by: Anonymous on June 18, 2007 3:18:27 PM (1503 reads )

I had attended a mini workshop about the issue of race, recently. There were a lot of familiar questions popped up during the workshop that lasted for only 2 hours. As I said, it is a familiar topic that circulating my years of receiving education, starting from primary school until now. However there was a drastic change of the content of the topic.

Mythical document (suqiu) found in ancient archive!

Posted by: Kah Seng on October 11, 2006 2:05:28 AM (1632 reads )

There is a proverbial elephant inside UMNO's room. In recent weeks, for example, UMNO and MCA newspapers have completely ignored the "Annex" to Lee Kuan Yew's "apology" letter. Why? Because half of the annex cited how UMNO, the defender of ancient social contracts, has marginalized the Malaysian Chinese by suppressing the suqiu, or the "1999 Election Appeal of the Malaysian Chinese Election Appeals Committee."

So, what is this mysterious and scary thing called suqiu?

What was so devilish about it that Tun Mahathir had to discard his long-cultivated image as a racially-moderate PM to attack suqiu as the work of extremists in 2000? What is so horrible and racist about the suqiu that it deserves to be flogged by a recent University Putra Malaysia (UPM) textbook on Ethnic Relations? Why did Khairy the Son-In-Law accused suqiu as the racial opportunism he seems to know so well?

What is so subversive, virulent, threatening about these pieces of paper that 300 from UMNO Youth threatened to burn down the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH) for it in August 2000? What 17 points could be so sensitive and insensitive at the same time, and so inflammatory, as to ignite the wrath of these elite thinkers and young leaders of our country? Aren't you curious?

What is this cunning and stupefying document that had fooled doctors and lawyers at MCA, Gerakan, and the whole Cabinet of Ministers into "accepting" it (before the 1999 election), only for them to recover from their trance of conscience (after the 1999 election) to completely disown their own judgment?

(full suqiu text below)

More smoggy, but API more transparent

Posted by: Kah Seng on October 06, 2006 11:53:40 AM (308 reads )

This is a reminder that you can link to current API of the Department of Environment at the bottom of the left column on http://malvu.org under "Latest API readings."

Although the smog is really bad, who's blaming the government? No one.

Which goes to show how paranoid the Mahathir administration had been after the 1997-1998 financial crisis, the political arrests, and the initial coverup of the Nipah virus outbreak. At that time, the API myteriously went AWOL (absent without leave), as though that environmental statistic had been detained under ISA.

no comments

Petition adopted by Tanjong Bunga Public Forum

Posted by: Kah Seng on July 13, 2006 4:26:20 PM (496 reads )

Following is the petition adopted during the "Tanjong Bunga Public Forum on July 2 (see earlier report) and signed by more than 120 participants on the spot This petition is to be sent to Koh Tsu Koon (Tanjong Bunga state rep), Chia Kwang Chye (Bukit Bendera, MP), the State Executive Council and head of MPPP within this week.

The first 5 points address general policy concerns. The 6th point contains 7 specific actionable subpoints regarding recent problem areas, such as requests for meetings, for information, for reversal of illegal "cape reclamation," and for MPPP to become more responsive. Let's see how the authorities respond.

The Info Minister and his 3 S'es!

Posted by: Anonymous on April 14, 2006 12:06:38 PM (721 reads )

Sensation      Secretive
Sensitive       Sanitised
Sex                Sad

The Info Minister Zainuddin claimed that he dislike 3 S'es news (Sensation, Sensitive and Sex). What a hypocrite -such news are all over the media controlled by him one way or another ! If he is truly into bringing some balance into the media why not he do these : 1. Allow investigative journalism into corruption, financial mismanagement, environmental destructions and other public interests issues -then the headlines won't be dominated by repetitive terrible accidents, petty thefts etc. 2. Allow open and rational discussions about religions -rather than restrict discussions to select religious authorities -which make the news sensitive eg kissing and holding hands in public is a non-issue in most part of the world ! Economic management, how to cultivate free and creative mind are.3. Just conduct less raids into parks, hotels, bars etc -then there will be less concentration of news on khalwat cases by Ministers or minister-wannabes ! News of ex-wife sueing ministers -and threat to tell all about their sexual liaision will not be circulating so much. Let the natural take their natural course. Covering up news tend to make news itself. Look like the minister is not telling anything useful in journalism nor selling his slanted politics well.Instead of Sensational, sensitive and sex news he is probably saying, by implications, his preference for Secretive, Sanitised and sad news ! May be he should go either to a good journalist college or a good political school!

KOMTAR to Become Swiftlet Housing Instead of Low-Income Housing

Posted by: Anonymous on Sat, 01 April 2006 09:22:28 (1113 reads)

Komplex Tun Abdul Razak will be turned into a 65-storey swiftlet housing to produce RM18 million worth of bird nests a year, the Penang Legislative Council and City Council voted unanimously behind closed door in a joint session to approve the project. Fewer than a handful of legislators walked out in protest.

Let's Boycott the Media

Posted by: Anonymous on January 03, 2006 9:50:42 PM (366 reads )

The traditional BN-owned mainstream media has been going too far in its crusades against the people.

So we thought that post Mahathir the walls would fall down and leashes released.

No, the media has turned to populism and sensationalism as a tool of the Government to divide the people.

The Squatgate issue was used to pit the Chinese against everyone else.
The recent arrests at Black Metal used to create a "moral crisis"

2005 in review :The politics of media democracy

Posted by: free&fair on January 01, 2006 11:18:16 AM (253 reads )

2005 has been a paradoxical year in media democracy: there are obvious gaps for media to express its power -notably the competition between the Sun paper and NST had produced ever competitive and probing editorials and letters column. Yet at the same time backlash after such `opening' has been swift : the paper which first exposed the `nude ear-squat' scandal -the MCA owned China Post is facing unspecified penalty for getting it wrong on the identity of the victim caught in a video. So is it a case that there is freedom of speech, but not after speech ? The year has been littered with such paradoxes that they can be better explained by the politics behind the media opening rather than that there had ever been any principled commitment towards a freer press as trumpeted by the PM Abdullah Badawi. If we look at it this way it explain more of the parallel existence of `gaps' for media expressions and the simultaneous reigning in of the `15 seconds' of glory achieved by the media in certain instances !

PORR: Unresolved issues delay Penang road deal (BT)

Posted by: Kah Seng on Tue, 06 December 2005 01:45:46 (566 reads)

[Comment rewritten Dec 7]

If there is any "unresolved issue," it's the non-transparent awarding of the PORR concession to Peninsular Metro Works, and the concessionaire's incompetence and finance unworthiness.

Let's face it, this article from Business Times is only giving us the first hints of future decades of PORR mishaps, paralysis, and disaster we can expect from a project awarded so opaquely, and with such stench of corruption.

First, the news is saying this: PORR project so lacks transparency that even the government overseeing the PORR project does not know what is going on.

Second, the news is also saying this: The PORR concessionair is so incompetent it can't even prepare the necessary information that will speed up the approval of its money-making project.

Third, this news is further saying this (as yet unfinalized) concessionaire has such contempt and low regard for the local government it doesn't even bother sending in its development plan for Gurney Drive and other details. Is this another federal pet project unconcerned with specific local needs and cost efficiency? Perhaps the concessionaire has too much to hide.

There is no doubt one limited solution for Penang's traffic jam is to have more roads. But can this PORR even be completed by this concessionaire? At low financial risks? At sufficiently low cost to the Penang economy and environment? Not likely.

What hope do Penangites have for the next 30+ years of the PORR project? PORR will face paralysis, delay, failure, tax money rescue in no time if the federal government insists on handing PORR to Peninsular Metro Works.

See links and Business Times news article below ...

Every vote counts!

Posted by: Kah Seng on Tue, 29 November 2005 19:38:59 (375 reads)

The nomination day for Pengkalan Pasir by-election on 27th Nov became a day for a crowd-pulling duel between the 2 main parties involved -but it also threw up 2 extra candidates on top of the 3 expected ! There were easily 10000 local and out-station crowds on each side of the 100 ft no-mix zone strictly enforced by the FRU, which started from about 9am, and ended at 12 noon after the candidates were confirmed.

The 2 extra candidates did not make it as candidates due to objections. The crowds were singing songs between a few imprompto speeches and much chanting of slogans to produce a festive air. The good weather -in between floods and rain, also helped streetful of hawkers selling party merchandise and other more down to earth needs like food and drinks.

The closeness of the competition is reflected by the main candidates' names : Hanifa from PAS and Hanafi from UMNO. The 3rd candidate is Ibrahim Ali. The similarity in outlook between the almost colourless candidates viz religiously informed techocrats, also amplify the impression that it is predominantly a party fight, where the outcome can go any which way and where every vote, including the 900 + non-Malay voters, counts.So nothng is left to chances...

[BK Ong is onsite and sent back these reports and images below ...]

Media and politician summersault on `Parliament Department'

Posted by: free&fair on Thu, 13 October 2005 13:24:37 (346 reads)

The protest against the proposed `Parliament Department' complete with a Director General and 200 over staff had borne fruits : The `department' will be securely kept under Parliament control -answerable to the House Speaker -not under the Minister of Parliament Affairs. The man who started it all Mohd Nazri explained that his word `jabatan' started with small letter `j' which referred to a post under the Parliament -which will preserve the self-administration of the independent Parliament, separate as it should be from the other 2 arms of government ie the Executive and Judiciary. He blamed the media for the confusion -but strangely the media supported his claim .....! A NST editorial yesterday played a role which can only be considered a lap dog to put it lightly-when it lambasted the Opposition for exaggerating the issue where the Minister put the blame on the media's door ! Today's Sun editorialised that perhaps there were too much protests ! The Star report is appended here for your comparison :

NEP is Dangerous Socialism

Posted by: Kah Seng on September 19, 2005 5:39:49 AM (838 reads )

Cheah Kah Seng, 2005 Sep 19

Lost behind the UMNO youth's attack on DAP's ideology (UMNO-DAP tiff) is this: The NEP that UMNO itself champions so fervently is actually a socialist policy that will lead to dangerous ends.

The New Economic Policy (and all its racist reincarnations) is a form of socialism, which will degenerate into communist-like and fascist corruption and cruelty.

At the media conference by Internal Security Ministry :

Posted by: free&fair on Sun, 17 July 2005 14:49:39 (290 reads)

At the media conference organised by the Internal Security Ministry the media were effectively cowed : the minister incharge of KDN Chia Kwang Chye want to retain the annual KDN renewal; the PM want to keep the latch on the media who are asked to `tell the truth', whatever that means. Further they want the media on a latch to not sell themselves through sensationalism ..especially not through exposing gorry flesh! But what if the truth consist of gorry details ?

BOOOOORING : UMNO to buy up all TV stations ?

Posted by: free&fair on July 14, 2005 11:56:55 PM (326 reads )

Media Prima which owns TV3 and TV8 had previously bought out TV9 and now is in the process of acquiring its better performing rival- TV7, which earn 30% of TV advertising revenues in Malaysia. The result is : all `private' TVs will be in UMNO's hands -since Media Prima is owned by UMNO -or Tun Mahathir if Anwar Ibrahim's accusation is accurate. So the TV ownerships picture is as below:

RTM -will have 3 TV stations -with the 3rd to come in soon; They have to toe Government lines;

Private TVs (TV3,7,8 &9) :owned by UMNO -become UMNO's direct mouthpieces!

ASTRO : Owned by Tun M's crony. A cabled TV has been slow to show up- and thus unlikely to provide any diversity to TV viewers.

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