By Shannon Teoh KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 - Seputeh MP and Selangor state executive councillor Teresa Kok said that the media attacks on her only began after she stepped into her role in the Selangor government.
“They use the media to attack us in Selangor because it is the state they want most. When it was being mooted that I would be a Deputy Menteri Besar, Umno protested, so you see the picture alligning,” she claimed.
She said this at a public forum tonight entitled “Assassinating a YB” vs Press Freedom held at the Chinese Assembly Hall.The title referred to a short story penned by Datuk Chamil Wariya in Utusan Malaysia whose main character bore a remarkable resemblance to the Seputeh MP and ended with the character being assasinated.
Organised by DAP, a mix of opposition MPs and media practitioners said that there was not enough, if any at all, press freedom in the country and that it was subject to double standards.
“Let's say there is a story with a YABS, S for Siful, who is a heartbeat from taking up the highest position in the land, and is connected to commissions in submarine and jet fighter deals, a murder of a Tibetan beauty by C4... and a blogger JKR makes even more serious allegations and in the end Siful is assasinated, what would happen?” DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang asked.
He inferred that such a story would cause an uproar in the mainstream media whereas there was “indecent silence” in the mainstream media after the YBJ piece.
Editor-in-chief of the DAP party organ The Rocket, Wan Hamidi Hamid, insisted that there was some press freedom in the country.
“You can support the sitting government but must be fair to all. The other side must be given the chance to respond,” he said but lamented that no such avenue was afforded to Kok. -- MI
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