Horses' Mouths - January 27

January 27, 2011

Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984  We hope the amendments will be tabled in Parliament by March this year because we need to overcome weaknesses, especially those involving multimedia content. We have to expand the act so that it does not only cover print media because the landscape is totally different now, especially with the intrusion of digital technology. Mahmood Adam, Home Ministry secretary-general, on plans to expand the draconian act to cover online media He was giving his view. You see, we have not even come to that stage yet. With the existence of this committee now, anything related to these matters have to be brought here first. Hishammuddin Hussein, Home minister, claiming many parties had jumped the gun on the issue When it comes to a point where the security of the country is affected, then yes, we can [ignore the pledge]. There is no compromise when it comes to national security ... everything else will then be secondary, even when it comes to the bill of guarantees. Nazri Aziz, minister in the Prime Minister's Department They will definitely be offended and be unable to accept the proposed amendments which will restrict their media channels and social networks which is part and parcel of their lives. Let’s not be rigid and take the easy way out by tightening the grip by using laws at a time when society is increasingly smarter and matured. Khairy Jamaluddin, UMNO Youth chief To date, the Internet has been relatively free compared to the mainstream media because of the commitment given by the government in the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Bill of Guarantees. Despite this, the Internet has still been subject to various forms of intimidation including the arrest of bloggers, the police raid on Malaysiakini in 2003 and the closing down of Malaysia Today in 2008. Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, PKR communication director Tenang When they go to Chinese, they say DAP follows PAS’s instruction, when they go to Malays, they say PAS is DAP’s stooge. Mustafa Ali, PAS secretary general, saying PR campaign surprised BN How can he say that when the court had only set Feb 7, 2011, to hear the matter? This clearly shows that the BN candidate is not transparent, not just to the people of Tenang, but also to UMNO and the BN. Faced with the facts that we have provided, we believe that the only way out for the BN candidate is to clear his name. If he still has a shred of integrity and dignity, Mohd Azahar should withdraw himself as the BN candidate in the Tenang by-election. Salahuddin Ayub, PAS vice president, showing court documents to show BN candidate Mohd Azahar had lied by dismissing the allegation that he was reckless in his duties by causing an illegal sale of the land Royal commission for Teoh We welcome it despite the resistance it faced all the way. The call from Teoh’s family and the public was steadfast and now justice must be seen to be done. Lim Kit Siang, DAP advisor, on the move to expand the scope of a royal panel to probe how Teoh Beng Hock died after questioning by anti-graft officers Utusan PAS, which is now being controlled by DAP and PKR, is now hawking the slogan of  Jom Ubah, Selamatkan Malaysia (let’s change, save Malaysia) all over Tenang, which will go to the polls on January 30. Let’s wait and see if ‘Selamatkan Malaysia’ is successfully stopped by the people of Labis, the same way ‘Ganyang Malaysia’ failed 47 years ago. Zaini Hassan, Utusan Malaysia assistant editor-in-chief   RM888 billion gone, so? We do not see the need to look into it. If you go through the report, they have made quite a few bizarre claims against several countries. Going by Bank Negara's figures, we know how much exactly is going out so you can hardly consider those figures (from GFI) as factual. Mukhriz Mahathir, International Trade and Industry deputy minister, on illicit financial outflows in excess of US$291 billion (RM888 billion) How could Mukhriz publicly contradict the prime minister and deputy finance minister's statements, even countermanding them by dismissing the GFI report as 'bizarre' and declaring that the government would not look into the GFI claims? Lim Kit Siang, DAP advisor  http://bit.ly/gcgqee