MAY 4 — Please remember this day when we dressed in black!
Please remember May 3.
On this day, we dressed in black and the front pages of our papers were printed in black and white to mourn a black World Press Freedom Day.
On April 28, our journalists and photographers were assaulted, had their cameras snatched or photos deleted. They were yelled at, chased and attacked by tear gas. Our dignity has again and again been humiliated and trampled!
On May 3, we used black to express our discontentment, anger and protest.
We are ashamed of being ranked 122nd in the Press Freedom Index 2011/2012 and being listed as a country enjoying little freedom of the press.
We wonder, we are confused, and we are disappointed.
On this day, however, we wanted to leave these aside and use black to call for freedom of the press, as well as the return of the deprived dignity.
Along the country’s political liberalisation process, the freedom enjoyed by traditional media is still the most backward and neglected. Members of the media have been psychologically threatened by the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Official Secrets Act and the possibility of being put behind bars. Therefore, they have to explore with extreme caution.
Our freedom of the press has to move over as the principle of “national security” and the protection umbrella of “national secrets” are prioritised.
However, how should we define “national security” and “national secrets”?
There is no government in the world that does not wish to suppress freedom of the press. Therefore, press freedom has been eroded, public opinion has gradually lost control of governments, the truth and the distinction between right and wrong are blurred.
Freedom of the press is the cornerstone of a democratic society, as well as a thermometer for basic human rights. How could a country achieve democracy and respect human rights without freedom of the press?
The unstoppable pressure and fear are the cruel reality that must be faced by Malaysian pressmen.
Unfortunately, amidst the noises of the Government Transformation Plan and Economic Transformation Programme, like a solitary traveller, media practitioners are neither respected by those in power nor understood by the opposition. They can only keep struggling alone to move forward.
Under the great pressure and fear, some people quit due to the difficulties, some people left in disappointment and some people are muddling along. However, there are also some people who are still insisting on pursuing the ideal, taking all cynical remarks indifferently and calmly, and guarding a weak spark.
Yes, we have been disappointed and we have disappointed many people. We have accused ourselves and felt ashamed. Also, we have been criticised and condemned. However, we always believe that without an ideal, there will be no future. And there will be hope only if we retain our dream.
We hope that one day, we will no longer be forced to cover our mouths.
We hope that one day, we will no longer be forced to lock up the truth in the black box.
We hope that one day, we will no longer put on black shirts in great sorrow.
We hope that one day, we can sing in the words of the old spiritual, as Martin Luther King, Jr said in his famous speech “I Have a Dream” — “Free at last ! Free at last!...” — mysinchew.com
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