Soi Lek ( DVD fame ) rapped for turning press freedom issue into religious one
Radio talk show host Jamaluddin Ibrahim has demanded an apology from MCA president Chua Soi Lek for suggesting he was not a good Muslim for having said he met Chua 5 times before.
Jamaluddin also rapped Chua for trying to turn the issue, which he said was about the freedom of the press, into a racial and religious one.
"Chua has openly made a religiously discriminatory remark. I hope he can clarify and apologise," Jamaluddin said in a statement issued on Saturday.
"As Chua had clarified earlier, I have met him once in his office on May 3 this year. In the 45-minute meeting, Chua had promised at least five times that he won't interfere in the radio's affairs and would respect press freedom. I hope he can keep his promise and I thank him for his clarification to the media."
The error came about after an online news portal reported that Jamaluddin met Chua five times before. The portal has since clarified its report after Jamaluddin called up.
Chua, MCA copping out on civil rights
But pundits say the number of times that Chua met Jamaluddin was a small detail. They accused Chua of pouncing on it to deflect criticism that he and MCA had sacrificed the radio-show, which is enjoyed by a million-strong audience, just to toe the Umno and BN line.
“The point is that MCMC under orders from the BN government tried to curtail freedom of expression in Jamaluddin's talk-show. By doing that, they are actually trying to denying his audience which is mostly the Chinese community of their civil rights to participate in discussions on current issues," an MCA watcher told Malaysia Chronicle.
"And even if words like racism and racial politics were used in the show as it has been reported in the media, what is wrong? Is MCMC saying there is no such thing as racism in Malaysia and there is also no racial politics in this country? If they believe it, they must be blind. But why is Chua and MCA perpetuating these sort of lies when it is unhealthy and works against the interest of their community? Are they trying to keep the Chinese dumb and un-knowledgeable. Is this what they are supposed to do?"
Racial and religious overtones
The son of Malaysian freedom fighters Shamsiah Fakeh and Ibrahim Mohammed, Jamaluddin was born in Beijing and speaks fluent Mandarin. His Zhao Dian Shuo Ma or Say Hi to Malaysia show is very popular with the Chinese-speaking crowd, who enjoy the discussions on current issues and regular phone-in sessions.
Jamaluddin was asked to go on indefinite leave and several of his colleagues suspended after industry regulator Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission wrote a complaint letter to his bosses that the Hi Malaysia program was suspected of "threatening national security" and "compromising race relations". Jamaluddin’s 988 channel is owned by Star RFM, which is in turn controlled by the MCA.
Under fire for making Jamaluddin and his colleagues scapegoats to appease the Umno-dominated BN, Chua held a press conference on Friday and chastised Jamaluddin for making “misleading” allegations. Chua also reminded Jamaluddin of his Muslim responsibilities.
“Jamaluddin, as a Muslim, should be more responsible and not make misleading and wrongful statements, particularly in this holy month of Ramadan,” Malaysian Insider reported Chua as saying.
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Lagi pengacara "dipancung" ...kini giliran stesen radio 98.8...
Malaysia Cockup Actor. If you have the courage and conviction, why fire the DJ. You should be defending him.
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