Sir Winston Churchill vs Tun Mahathir Mohamad

Spin and Anti-Semitism. Blogger AsH, who's based in the UK for now, shares with us her view on "the modus operandi of journalists and writers as they diminish and demolish someone's achievement and character, especially someone who does not sing from their hymn book".

Excerpts:

"I am not writing this to champion and defend Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a former PM of Malaysia ... (but) When it comes to anti-Semitism no one can hold a candle to JS's Motherland's hero : Sir Winston Churchill.

"Dr Mahathir, President Mugabe, President Ahmedinejad - eat your heart out. In the accusations made against you for rabid anti-Semitism you have been outclassed by Sir Winston Churchill."

Read AsH's Tit for Tat for Tatty Tirades (Don't you just love Alliterations?)

Straits Times confirms posting

Najib's bid to put aide on Petronas board hits snag
Directors say PM's nominee had defaulted on scholarship; Petronas adviser Mahathir says 'not good idea'
By Leslie Lopez, Senior Regional Correspondent
		Mr Omar worked briefly with Petronas, a tenure the oil firm says was not enough to meet his scholarship obligations.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak's bid to appoint his key aide as a director of Petronas is being resisted by the board and could put the Premier at odds with the national oil corporation's influential adviser, former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

According to senior government officials, the board of directors of Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) raised reservations over the proposal to appoint

Mr Omar Mustapha at its monthly meeting last month.

Mr Omar is one of the premier's closest political confidants.

The reservations were made on the grounds that he had defaulted on his scholarship loan agreement with Petronas two decades ago.

Datuk Seri Najib, however, is determined to have Mr Omar appointed as a director. He ordered the Petronas board to review its position over the appointment at a meeting this week, the government officials said.

Petronas officials have declined comment, and Mr Omar could not be reached.

Tun Dr Mahathir, who government officials said has been briefed about the situation, told The Straits Times yesterday that it was Mr Najib's prerogative as Premier to 'appoint a man who failed to honour his obligation to Petronas when he was given a scholarship by it'.

'Generally, I would say that it is not a good thing to appoint such a person,' he said in a written response.

Mr Najib's office did not respond to requests for comments.

Petronas, Malaysia's only company on the Fortune 500 listing of the world's most profitable companies, is considered to be the country's most efficiently managed state-owned corporation.

Incorporated in August 1974, the corporation has firmly established itself as a global energy player over the last two decades. It currently operates in over 30 countries, and its overseas operations, including exports, account for more than 75 per cent of its revenue.

Many oil industry experts and bankers credit the oil company's phenomenal growth to the government's hands-off approach to the running of the oil corporation.

Mr Omar, 38, has emerged as one of the closest political confidants of Mr Najib and is often tapped for advice on economic and financial matters.

'A politician in Petronas may have other agenda which may or may not be in keeping with the national interest,' Dr Mahathir said in his comments to The Straits Times.

He added: 'I think it is far better if no politician is allowed to interfere with commercial decisions which may not be good for the corporation.'

Positions on the board of Petronas and its subsidiary companies have traditionally been reserved for very senior civil servants and prominent private sector personalities.

Mr Omar graduated from Oxford on a scholarship from Petronas in the mid-1990s and worked briefly with the national oil corporation and another government-linked corporation.

He then joined McKinsey & Co, where he worked for the international consulting company in London and Malaysia.

He left McKinsey in early 2002 to set up his own consultancy firm called Ethos with several close friends. Two years later, he was tapped by Mr Najib, who was then the deputy prime minister, to become his special officer.

Government officials familiar with Mr Omar's proposed appointment to the board of Petronas said that the national oil corporation takes a firm view against scholarship defaulters.

Mr Omar did not complete the required number of years of service with the oil corporation or a related government agency as stipulated in his scholarship agreement.

Dinner with YBs: Guest #2

Shaziman Abu Mansor, Works Minister. The National Press Club exco will meet the Works Minister for dinner this week. I am particularly interested in how he is going to solve the problem of long queues at highway/expressway tolls. These multi-million highways were constructed to ease traffic congestions but they have ended up being the cause for massive bottlenecks, as the Works Minister discovered for himself earlier this week.

The ideal solution is to abolish toll but that would create other problems for the Government.

If you have any question you'd like to ask the Minister, go to my Comment box.

Have the 4th Estate failed themselves?

What a BUMmer! One major theme of last Saturday's B.U.M. 2009, dubbed the most important blogging event in Malaysia this year, was on the 4th Estate, or rather the question: Have the 4th Estate Failed Us?

Ahmad A. Talib, the man a certain online news portal with Italian connection said Najib Razak did not want back at NSTP, asked: "Have (the 4th Estate) failed themselves?".
Go to his blog here for his pictures from BUM and his thoughts on the matter.

In my brief presentation as the last panel member of the last panel discussion, I said that during the last three years the MSM failed the citizens. There were the occasional exceptions here and there but the mainstream newspapers and television stations were generally behaving like lapdogs instead of watchdogs during that period. I cited their failures to pursue, let alone uncover, the controversies and misdeeds that the online news and blogs were exposing. I failure was man-made. I blamed it on some editors.
But having said that, I also reported to the Bummers that day that the online news portals and bloggers are also failing us pretty quickly.

Maverick SM waited for the next day to see how the mainstream media reported on what Dr M had said at BUM 2009. "That was not the essence of Tun M's speech," he blogs here, with a news cutting as proof of how - or why - the MSM are still failing.

A Voice, who identity was exposed recently by a politician-blogger bent on doing more such exposes, enjoyed the whole day affair. In his posting, he wrote:

"Sorry folks, if you were expecting a brawl with blood all over the premise it didn't happen. In fact, they were so cordial and friendly and even exchanging handphone numbers. Perhaps they would stop leaving nasty comments on each others' blog after this since they personally know each other now."

Amir Hafizi has a toe-sucking - or, rather, toe-tickling - take here on the Q and A with Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Bummers (except he kept calling us Bums). Shamsul Yunus did it "live" here. And Big Dog has a posting "Bloggers are VIPs", plus pictures, here.

Jinggo has lots of pictures, here.

Who, What is a Malaysian Journalist?

The National Press Club Malaysia has 9 categories of members. Top of the list are "Ordinary Members". Only bona fide journalists can be Ordinary Members, and only they can vote at meetings.

Under the 1992 Constitution of the club, Ordinary Members are "residents in Malaysia who are on the editorial staff of newspapers, radio and television, news agencies, photo services, feature services, magazines, Government Information services and resident freelance journalists whose main income is derived from the above media".

Basically, that's how journalists have been defined by the NPC, the oldest and one of the biggest journalists bodies in the country. The National Union of Journalists, the Malaysian Press Institute, and the other organisations may have their own definitions.

"...whose main income is derived from the above media ..."

I have always had a problem with this line. Journalists should not be defined by ringgit and sen. By the years of journalism they have put in, maybe. By the number of articles, columns, books, working papers they have published, perhaps. By way of recognition by their peers, especially.

But not how much the journalist earns from his writings vis-a-vis other things that the journalist does to supplement his income (like singing in a pub, script writing, giving tuitions, treasure hunting, etc). Journalists know that they are some of the poorest paid professionals in the country!

One of the first things I did after assuming the Presidency of the NPC last month is to convince the Exco that we need to redefine ourselves. We need a new definition for "Ordinary Members". My "sabbatical" in cyberspace/blogosphere has also brought me closer to New Media journalists. Those with online news like MalaysiaKini and Harakah, for example.

Tonight a committee led by our Advisor, Encik Mokhtar Hussein of Bernama, met for the first time to review the Constitution of the NPC, especiall with regards to the defition of Ordinary Members/Journalists. We are going to bring in veteran journos as well as people who have been dealing with journalists nearly all their lives, especially those in advertising and PR, to help us with the undertaking. A former Judge will be consulted for this exercise.

Rocky returns to Malay Mail as CEO?

CEO, as in Chief Editorial Officer?
I'm flattered that the Malaysian Insider, the Malaysian news portal with the Italian Connection, has found it newsworthy to put up a news about my return to the Malay Mail.

The May 6 report headlined "Rocky" returns as Malay Mail CEO contains one fundamental factual error! I have NOT been appointed as the CEO of The Malay Mail.

The error is found on the first paragraph:

Ahirudin ‘Rocky’ Attan, known for his Rockybru weblog that was critical of the Abdullah Administration, has been named as chief executive officer of the 112-year-old The Malay Mail.

When we train cadet journs, we tell them how to avoid such basic mistakes. We must verify the information we get. We can't trust all our informers all the time. In this case, the Insider could have easily avoided the mistake if they had contacted me to verify their info.

Malaysian Insider has also omitted some necessary facts when discussing me and blogging, including the fact that I was the first blogger, together with Jeff Ooi, to be sued by a newspaper company then headed by certain individuals who now lead the Insider. And that the VSS was not really "voluntary". I won't deny the "substantial pay-off"; after all, I was not a small fry.

Usually, when faced with misreporting by a newspaper or online news, you ask for a correction and apology. But I'm cool here.

I spent 21 years as a journalist with the NSTP. I was editor of two of the newspapers - the Business Times in 1998 and the Malay Mail in 2001-2006. Like it or not, I am still attached to that place. It has gone down the gutters lately but it's not beyond redemption.

At a talk organised by a GLC the other night, where a senior editor was a fellow panelist, I was asked by the moderator if I'd go back to the NSTP or the Malay Mail if I was offered to. My answer was, yes. If I know I could bring changes to the profession, I shall return.

But to be able to make any changes, I must go back as an editorial man, NOT as Chief Executive Officer as reported by the Insider.

p.s. The Malaysian Insider did get the spelling for my name right (Ahirudin Attan - single D, double T) so I'm really quite impressed with the quality of their reporting. Honestly.

‘Rocky’ returns as Malay Mail CEO

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 - A prominent blogger is returning to the mainstream. Ahirudin ‘Rocky’ Attan, known for his Rockybru weblog that was critical of the Abdullah Administration, has been named as chief executive officer of the 112-year-old The Malay Mail.

His appointment as CEO paves the way for the departure of current chief editor Tony Francis. But the afternoon tabloid will remain under Dynahall Sdn Bhd, which is owned equally by Datuk Ibrahim Mohd Noor’s Simpletech and Media Prima’s Gabungan Kesturi Sdn Bhd.

“Rocky was named CEO today and Tony Francis will leave immediately. Malay Mail will remain outside NSTP,” an editorial executive with the tabloid told The Malaysian Insider after being briefed on the matter this evening.

“Morale is a bit low as the staff are shocked,” he added, saying the staff had tried to prevent Francis from resigning.

Ahirudin was acting editor of The Malay Mail from 2001 and was later made the editor. He took a voluntary separation scheme in February 2006 and was said to have received a substantial pay-off.

He began blogging in May 2006 and built up a following by attacking Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the establishment and supporting Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Following Abdullah’s retirement and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s appointment as the Prime Minister, he has been less critical of the government.

The Malay Mail, founded in 1896, was part of The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad until it sold its 100 percent interest for RM5 million to Dynahall. The purchase did not include the newspaper’s archives, which is seen as a valuable commodity.

Simpletech’s owner Ibrahim has a stake in BlueInc that owns string of lifestyle magazines. Gabungan Kesturi is a substantial shareholder of public-listed Media Prima Berhad which, in turn, is a major shareholder in NSTP Berhad.

Ahirudin was also president of the National Press Club between 2003 and 2007 and recently re-elected as president again. His former editor Datuk Ahmad A. Talib has just been appointed editorial adviser to the NSTP group, which led to speculation that Ahirudin would return in a senior post.

Dinner with YBs at Jalan Tangsi

At the first exco meeting which I chaired as the new President of the National Press Club, we resolved to organise a series of meetings with Cabinet Ministers, including the PM and his deputy, as well as leaders from the States. The primary idea is to build rapport and see how we can help the YBs carry out their duties to make Malaysia a better place for our children to grow up in.

Guest #1: YB Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Sports and Youth. I also told our first YB guest last night that we were also asking the YBs' support to help the National Press Club, which comprises working journalists, to "push the parameters of openness and Press freedom".

Shabery drove himself to the Press Club for our 9 pm dinner. Dinner was a simple buffet and we sat at a long table for 20. No formal speeches, but the Minister told us of his plans to develop not just sports "but a sports industry" for Malaysia, where there's revenue instead of just "spend, spend, spend". He's already established a media centre - wifi and all - at the Ministry itself, probably the first ministry to have one. The former Information Minister appreciates the need for info and news to travel fast. Shabery is also talking about IPTV for sports to help develop the industry. "We are not talking about just one channel but five or six".
And yes, he'll help push our "openness and Press freedom" agenda. Within reason.

While we were dining, a crime journalist from theSun told the Minister of the arrest of activist-lecturer Wong Chin Huat of the Coalition of Clean and Fair Elections for sedition. The story here.

[pictures coming]