Thursday, June 22, 2006

It's Such A Joke!

(Adam cringing at some of the things people say.)








On page N29 of The Star today there was a really laughable quote from our ex-P.M. The old Tun is the chairman of the Perdana Leadership Foundation which organised the Perdana Global Peace Forum yesterday. During a special session titled Action Plan For The Global Network For Peace he said that the media in the United States that propagated freedom of press was in fact controlled by five media moguls. He said the media there did not report the true picture of what took place in Iraq or Afghanistan. He added that journalists were subordinates in a controlled media. Because of this, he said, the local media should not depend on the foreign wire services for news reports on other parts of the world.

Really? So the media in the USA is controlled by 5 moguls. What about the media here in Malaysia? The last time I looked it sure looked like most of the Malaysian media is controlled by organisations linked directly or indirectly to the ruling parties in the coalition. Is that better? Will that ensure press freedom? And if the local media do not depend on foreign wire services who should they turn to? Bernama? Journalists subordinates in a controlled media? Sure is not the case here. Or is it?

Funny story isn't it?

12 comments:

Howsy said...

Kasi that old man some can a bit lar. He's liddat one. One moment he is preaching peace and ant-war and another moment he is urging Muslim kids to build own sophisticated weapons.

Darius said...

I used to be a reporter once. Unfortunately I came into it just right before the whole Anwar Ibrahim thingy happened.
Man, it was a crash course in Malaysian style journalism I tell you.
But the most infamous moment for Malaysia was when our Chedet said the black eye on Anwar's eye was "self inflicted" and you know what? All the media bought it how Anwar ni teruk sangat sampai sanggup nak tuduh gomen ni jahat sampai sanggup tumbuk mata sendiri.
Oh tapi the one that really bugged me was how Chedet's daughter who writes in The Star was suddenly all quiet about any wrong doing by her dad. Hipo hipo hipokrittt.

Laviinia said...

That comment is appaling.................how can he support the "protection" of Muslims with firearms?

Cuddly Family said...

......goodness... u go offline for a week and then...

Like NS now has "live bullets" instead of the blanks originally mentioned..

actually why ah must have weapons training?

patrickteoh said...

Hiyah! I also don't know la what is happening with this National Service thing. They can't even get playing catching right now they want to put live weapons in the hands of the trainees. I love guns and I know how to handle them. Most of them anyway. And I can tell you those M16's ain't the toys they appear to be in the hands of Hollywood stars in action movies. I can only pray that no innocent trainees will get hurt due to whatever reason. Amen.

Cuddly Family said...

even w.o weapons, they've had deaths.. imagine wat if....

Whylah must have? how do u instill patriotism and "tolerance" by giving folks guns?

The Unladen Swallow said...

To use an analogy, Americans tend to be very patriotic people. And they also have guns. Lots, and lots, and lots of guns. Hence, guns instill patriotism.

Anonymous said...

Guess there is some money to be made in supplying live bullets.

Defense contractors are known to be very persuasive ... and there are decision makers who can be PERSUADED to 'do what is right for the country'

C'mon lah. Isn't that how we have always done things? Make quiet proposal (hint to U-know-who), no tender, direct nego ... let's all make some money

patrickteoh said...

LOL...that is the most cockeyed reasoning ever. Guns instill patriotism? I tend to think that Americans, or any other people, are patriotic because of other reasons than toting lethal weapons.
Vaseau, it seems that NS trainees are going to be given just 2 hours with 'live' ammunition and the M16's. I wonder whose great idea it was in the first place to try and make us believe that a few hours holding an assault rifle will make all those NS trainees better Malaysians.
Cuddly family, an awful thought just occurred to me when I read your comment. Are they saying that anybody who doesn't tolerate 'them' will be shot? Aiyoh!

The Unladen Swallow said...

Is it still going to be three months? Definitely not enough to fit in gun training, unless they throw out all the mindless crap they've already got.

Anonymous said...

Yes Patrick. Two hours training only. But heck, I know how many bullets one can expend from a M16 in 10 minutes. Multiply that by the number of trainees and you'll have a tidy sum

There is money to be made.

Then when some poor kid (god forbid) gets accidently shot, more money will be spent to set up a Royal Commnision and publish a report...

That is the story of Malaysia Boleh, Malaysia Inc...

patrickteoh said...

Yes, Vaseau the M16 can expend a lot of ammunition but I doubt if they will give a full magazine to every trainee. Maybe just one or two cartridges each. I am really scared of tragic results from this arms training. Have you read the comments from some of the trainees? They all speak of it like it's going to a fun game. Scary.
Unladen swallow, useless crap? Can anybody give a first hand account of what kind of 'training' the NS flers get?