Was former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad better than current Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as far as freedom of the press was concerned or is the latter worse?
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng did not find it easy to answer that question.
Lim said that Mahathir, who resigned as PM in 2003, merely guaranteed no censorship on the Internet and gave Malaysia its own “Bill of Rights” but Mahathir did not guarantee that there would be freedom over cyberspace as users, including journalists, were still subjected to various laws like the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), as well as sedition and defamation acts. “These are two different things... no censorship and no freedom over the Internet,” said Lim when asked to compare the two premiers' record vis-a-vis press freedom and he added, saying, “To say whether Mahathir is better (would be difficult) as during his time, there was no (social networking sites like) Facebook or Twitter. The Internet was not so extensive then, and now they want to guard even our personal space... if he (Mahathir) had the power, he would have done worse” he added.
Yes lah, not easy to compare but I think Mahathir was worse given his 22-year rule that saw his opponents being detained under ISA - the most effective way to silence the voice of the opposition! ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment