Malaysian Chinese: Recent Developments and Prospects

8. The Old and New Malaysian Chinese Language Press, with Special Reference to the 12th General Election

144 8 THE OLD AND NEW MALAYSIAN CHINESE LANGUAGE PRESS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE 12TH GENERAL ELECTION Khor Yoke Lim, Beh Chun Chee and Lim Lai Hoon INTRODUCTION As฀mentioned฀by฀several฀authors฀of฀this฀book,฀one฀of฀the฀factors฀that฀ contributed฀to฀the฀unexpected฀opposition฀win฀during฀the฀12th฀Malaysian฀ general฀election฀was฀the฀role฀of฀the฀mass฀media฀(Weiss฀2008;฀Welsh฀2008).฀ The฀new฀communication฀technology,฀through฀online฀news฀sites,฀sociopolitical฀ blogs,฀and฀emails,฀is฀said฀to฀have฀played฀a฀significant฀role฀in฀disseminating฀ plural฀and฀dissenting฀views฀in฀a฀highly฀controlled฀media฀environment.฀ Although฀the฀new฀media฀made฀their฀beginning฀during฀the฀1999฀general฀ election,฀their฀impact฀was฀most฀felt฀during฀the฀2008฀general฀election.฀Then฀ Deputy฀Prime฀Minister฀Datuk฀Seri฀Najib฀Abdul฀Razak฀acknowledged฀that฀ the฀new฀communication฀technology฀was฀“one฀of฀the฀factors฀that฀led฀[to]฀ us฀having฀a฀worse฀than฀expected฀performance”฀(New฀Straits฀Times,฀28฀May฀ 2008).฀In฀an฀election฀post-mortem,฀Welsh฀said฀that฀people฀were฀disillusioned฀ with฀the฀usual฀biased฀reporting฀of฀the฀mainstream฀media,฀preferring฀instead฀ to฀search฀the฀Internet฀for฀alternative฀views฀(Malaysiakini,฀12฀March฀2008).฀ This฀chapter฀will฀compare฀the฀news฀coverage฀of฀the฀12th฀general฀election฀by฀ 08฀MalaysianChin.indd฀฀฀144 9/29/11฀฀฀1:31:37฀PM Changing Ideas of the Malaysian Chinese Language Press 145 both฀the฀Chinese฀mainstream฀and฀online฀press฀to฀show฀the฀inclusion฀and฀ exclusion฀of฀certain฀groups฀and฀individuals,฀reflecting฀the฀power฀structures฀ within฀which฀the฀media฀operate.฀To฀contextualize฀the฀study,฀the฀chapter฀will฀ analyse฀the฀Malaysian฀Chinese฀newspapers฀taking฀into฀account฀increasing฀state฀ control฀and฀media฀concentration฀as฀well฀as฀the฀emergence฀of฀online฀news฀ websites฀in฀response฀to฀the฀repressive฀media฀situation฀and฀social฀demand฀for฀ greater฀political฀openness. DIRECT STATE INTERVENTION After฀ Independence,฀ two฀ events฀ that฀ have฀ had฀ major฀ impacts฀ on฀ the฀ contemporary฀structure฀of฀the฀mass฀media฀are฀the฀separation฀of฀Singapore฀ from฀Malaysia,฀and฀the฀May฀13฀riots฀in฀1969.฀In฀1965,฀with฀the฀separation฀ of฀Singapore฀from฀Malaysia,฀the฀Malaysian฀authorities฀decreed฀that฀all฀ foreign฀publications฀had฀to฀obtain฀prior฀permission฀before฀being฀circulated฀ in฀Malaysia.฀This฀cumbersome฀arrangement฀affected฀all฀the฀major฀newspapers฀ that฀were฀based฀in฀Singapore,฀namely,฀the฀Straits฀Times,฀Berita฀Harian,฀ Nanyang฀Siang฀Pau,฀Sin฀Chew฀Jit฀Poh,฀and฀Shin฀Min฀Daily.฀These฀papers฀ had฀no฀choice฀but฀to฀set฀up฀new฀entities฀in฀Malaysia,฀a฀move฀which฀laid฀the฀ groundwork฀for฀direct฀state฀control฀of฀the฀newspapers.฀ After฀the฀May฀13฀riots฀in฀1969,฀a฀national฀emergency฀was฀declared฀and฀ Constitution฀suspended.฀All฀administration฀power฀was฀in฀the฀hands฀of฀the฀ National฀Operations฀Council,฀headed฀by฀Deputy฀Prime฀Minister฀Tun฀Abdul฀ Razak.฀When฀parliament฀reconvened฀in฀February฀1971,฀several฀laws฀were฀ amended฀to฀“remove฀sensitive฀issues฀from฀the฀realm฀of฀public฀discussions฀ so฀as฀to฀allow฀the฀smooth฀functioning฀of฀parliamentary฀democracy”฀(Means฀ 1991,฀p.฀14).฀Article฀10฀of฀the฀Constitution฀was฀amended฀to฀prohibit฀the฀ questioning฀of฀issues฀pertaining฀to฀citizenship,฀the฀national฀language,฀Malay฀ rights,฀and฀the฀sovereignty฀of฀the฀Malay฀rulers.฀This฀was฀followed฀by฀the฀ amendment฀to฀the฀Sedition฀Act,฀which฀provided฀that฀any฀publication฀or฀ speech฀would฀be฀considered฀seditious฀if฀it฀touched฀on฀the฀issues฀protected฀ under฀Article฀10฀of฀the฀Constitution.฀ In฀line฀with฀the฀Sedition฀Act,฀the฀Printing฀Presses฀and฀Publications฀Act฀ (PPPA)฀was฀also฀amended฀in฀1971฀to฀prevent฀the฀publication฀of฀materials฀that฀ may฀harm฀public฀order.฀In฀1974,฀the฀PPPA฀was฀further฀amended฀to฀forbid฀ foreign฀ownership฀of฀any฀printing฀press฀and฀newspaper฀by฀non-citizens.฀The฀ amendment฀provided฀the฀opportunity฀for฀the฀state฀to฀assume฀direct฀control฀ of฀the฀newspapers฀through฀the฀acquisition฀of฀shares.฀This,฀in฀turn,฀enabled฀ the฀state฀to฀place฀its฀nominees฀on฀the฀newspapers’฀board฀of฀directors฀and฀ in฀top฀management฀positions.฀To฀comply฀with฀the฀PPPA฀local฀ownership฀ 08฀MalaysianChin.indd฀฀฀145 9/29/11฀฀฀1:31:37฀PM 146 Khor Yoke Lim, Beh Chun Chee and Lim Lai Hoon requirements,฀several฀Singapore-registered฀Chinese฀newspapers,฀such฀as฀ Nanyang฀Siang฀Pau,฀Sin฀Chew฀Jit฀Poh,฀and฀Shin฀Min฀Daily,฀were฀restructured.฀ When฀Nanyang฀Siang฀Pau,฀the฀leading฀Chinese฀newspaper,฀offered฀51฀per฀ cent฀of฀its฀shares฀to฀the฀public,฀30฀per฀cent฀were฀bought฀by฀the฀government฀ investment฀company,฀PERNAS,฀making฀it฀the฀largest฀shareholder.฀Prior฀to฀ that,฀Tengku฀Razaleigh,฀as฀UMNO฀treasurer,฀had฀formed฀a฀company฀called฀ Fleet฀Holdings฀to฀acquire฀80฀per฀cent฀of฀the...