Press Statement by Agora Society on 27 August 2019 in Kuala Lumpur
The Agora Society is appalled at the racial profiling of Ng
Xiangyi, a Malaysiakini journalist, by the Entrepreneur Development Minister
Mohd Redzuan bin Md Yusof, in recent days.
Ms. Ng was asking the minister to elaborate on his previous
claims that “the Malays have compromised too much” at a public event on 19th of
August. Instead of addressing the question, Redzuan replied by asking the
journalist if she knew of the Malaysian Constitution and Rukunegara. Ms. Ng
replied that she is aware of the constitution and Rukunegara and kept probing
for the minister’s comments on the issue raised, however, Redzuan abruptly and
arrogantly concluded that she "doesn’t know".
Later, Redzuan uploaded a video clip of the exchange on his
official Facebook page with a caption that reads "Minister surprised at a
Chinese reporter's ignorance of the Malaysian Constitution" ("Menteri
terkejut" ada wartawan Bangsa Cina Tak tahu pelembagaan Malaysia), an act that
is unbecoming of his position as a minister.
Being an office-bearer, Redzuan should adhere to the
principles of professionalism, impartiality, responsibility and openness,
especially when faced with the Fourth Estate, ie. the media. He ought to answer
the question in an unbiased manner without taking into account the questioner's
religious, gender or ethnic background.
By deliberately highlighting the ethnicity of the
Malaysiakini journalist with a view to divert the attention and secondly,
intimidating Ms. Ng through reinforcing the stereotypes about other ethnic
groups, the Pribumi party leader has completely deviated from the code of
conduct that is expected of a minister. Agora therefore condemns in no
uncertain terms his behaviour as such.
It goes without saying that a yardstick for democratic
evaluation is whether media operators are able to carry out their duties
without any harassment, ie. inquiring, questioning and even challenging the
powers-that-be, without fear or favour. Malaysia under the Barisan Nasional
government had been plagued by complex political, religious and ethnic
structures that exerted enormous pressures on media workers, as a seemingly
harmless news report could be easily turned into a racial or religious issue by
irresponsible parties.
As Liew Chin Tong, the deputy defence minister, has said,
Malaysians after the so-called regime change should be entitled to exercise an
unbridled yet responsible press freedom. Yet, Pakatan Harapan has not been
practicing what they preached and chose to keep intact a series of arbitrary
laws bequeathed by Barisan Nasional, Pribumi leaders - from Mahathir Mohamad
downwards - have even made statements that border on bigotry and racism at
times, giving rise to the increasingly popular perception that the Malay party
bears a striking resemblance to UMNO.
Redzuan's recent conduct towards the Malaysiakini reporter -
who is of Chinese origin - has set a disgraceful example, as a result of which
other media workers may begin to experience psychological pressures or even
practise self-censorship when covering "sensitive" issues, thereby
affecting the quality of Malaysia’s news.
In closing, the Agora Society strongly demands that the
Pakatan Harapan government take Redzuan's lack of decorum seriously and
prescribe disciplinary actions commensurate therewith, so that other
politicians would not take a leaf from him.
We also urge other civil society organizations and the
general public to shoulder together with us the task of monitoring the conduct
of politicians, government and opposition alike, for we believe a strong civil
society is the best way to check and balance against political forces in the
country.
Agora Society Malaysia
27.8.2019
