YOURSAY | Press lost its freedom decades ago

YOURSAY | ‘Anwar is now PM, but what is he doing to make things better?’

COMMENT | If Anwar is bad, Najib was worse

Apanama is back: Veteran journalist R Nadeswaran, you surely recall the significant event of “Ops Lalang” in 1988.

This marked a turning point in the history of press freedom in Malaysia.

Since that fateful day in October 1988, the landscape of press freedom has drastically changed.

A foundation was laid to ensure the press adheres to a certain line, a line that has been increasingly restrictive over the years.

The press lost its freedom 36 years ago. Since the time former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad took office, he and subsequent prime ministers have tried to suppress press freedom in various manners.

Therefore, I do not understand why you compare Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Of course, Nadeswaran, you must be referring to Bersatu supreme council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan’s recent comment on Najib being better than Anwar when it came to press freedom.

Dr Suresh Kumar: Nadeswaran, irrespective of whoever becomes the prime minister, there will never be absolute press freedom, especially in third-world countries.

India can be exempted as their press and even the cinema industry is quite notorious.

They even make movies showing how corrupt their politicians and even the police can be.

Try doing that in Bolehland. If not for Najib's thievery and his darling's obsessive indulgence in an opulent lifestyle, he would have been a good prime minister.

At least he did not say, “anak Melayu, anak India, anak Cina, anak Iban, anak Melanau, anak saya”.

At least he did not say, "Hari ini kita menang, esok harga minyak turun” (when we win, the price of oil will go down).

A chameleon will always remain a chameleon.

Hope in hopelessness: Whether Anwar is worse than Najib concerning press freedom is immaterial as Najib is gone.

Anwar only has 3.5 years to prove himself as the deserving prime minister that the voters want to take office for a second term.

In a twinkling of an eye, 3.5 years will be gone. If he continues to "do nothing" like what he is doing now, I am afraid he may not even be voted in his constituency.

PMB: Indeed. Najib may have been worse than Anwar, but that is history. Anwar is now prime minister, but what is he doing to make things better? Absolutely nothing.

He should have learnt from past mistakes and corrected them.

Instead, he seems to be protecting his backers at the expense of the people.

All these considered, he is the worst prime minister because he doesn’t know his job.

Methink: There is a Chinese saying: "If you compare two people, only upon death will there be an end." Both sold us lies and empty promises.

One has robbed us of money and another of reformation and our votes. Anwar was the alternative to Najib, but where and who is the alternative to Anwar? Until we find that person, people must suffer.

XED: In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote “The more things change, the more they stay the same…” What has happened in Malaysia?

It is an alternation between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

LaypersonYellowIguana8808: I am a layman and, even today, the regular people still appreciate Najib because his actions did not touch their livelihood issues.

But today, thanks to this government, the people are feeling the pinch.

Just a Malaysian: Malaysia suffers from weak or dishonest leadership and ill-informed, easily influenced masses who are also voters.

This combination will drive Malaysia into a third-world country like those in Latin America or Africa.

The signs are all there - weakening currencies, endemic corruption, inefficient administration, loss of talents, increased religiosity, millions of uncontrolled foreign workers, poor maintenance of infrastructure and environment... the list goes on and on.

The status quo is not acceptable and only drastic reforms can save the nation.

But our much-awaited reformist ended up blabbering, pandering to the masses leader, not doing the heavy lifting but working to ensure he stayed in power.

Politics is toxic and destructive and carries no positive strategies except to bury one another.

Hopelessness is too mild a word for this once lovely and promising nation.

Those who have foreseen this have moved out their assets and children, hollowing out this country further.

No end in sight as the cost of living shoots up and income continues to slide. Our politicians have to wake up.

BluePanther4725: Well said. Pakatan Harapan, PKR and Anwar have many flaws but they are still much better compared to BN/Umno and PN/PAS.

As long as our country continues to practice institutionalised racism and religious discrimination, this is as good as we get.

We get the choice of the best amongst the worst. Good talents, including the progressive Malays, are leaving the country to succeed overseas.

These talents cannot flourish in our country.

They cannot succeed in being our country's leaders. They will be forever hampered by racism, religious discrimination and cronyism.

V S: We must have good disciplined, principled, educated, knowledgeable, firm and good decision-makers, non-compromising people as leaders.

They have to be articulate, fair, focused and committed to their mission to excel and do only good for the country and its people.

They will automatically be respected for their virtues by the people.

Do we have any politician past or present currently who fits into this category as our leader? I am still looking.

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