Sunday, November 3, 2019

Stop racial-profiling and intimidating journalists


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

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