Election Year

Jambo sana.  Entschuldigen sie bitte, mais j’ai un peu d’information saya nak bercakap dengan anda.

A little something for everyone there. Most people will understand a part of it but there are few who will be able to read it all.

I have been so fortunate in that I have travelled extensively to many countries. In some, sadly, my time has been limited to an extremely short duration; others have had the pleasure of my company (!) for longer.

The fact remains that in every country the degree of responsibility for the spreading of news items is tainted to a greater or lesser extent.

Right now, here in Malaysia, we are lurching towards yet another election. That means that the media is full of one-sided reporting.

The government, such as it is, has been, and continues to be, extolled as the righteous saviour of mankind but the opposition, again – such as it is, is either ignored completely or derided to the point of non-viability.

A friend of mine, ‘The Angry Old Kid Says’ – to give him his ‘nom de plume’, is a reporter. I have often goaded him into reporting the truth but he does not wish to lose his licence to report. My suggestion is that he could, if he lost his licence, continue writing fiction but in the form of novels rather than newspaper articles! Such is the power of the government. They can, wherever it is possible, use their influence to control their subjects through fear.

They also use the police to sway the population. The local force has stopped me, as I was en route to a cerama (gathering), at which a prominent opposition politician was to speak to our part of the population.

They wanted to know where I was going. I enquired of them what business it was of theirs? Their operation was, clearly, an attempt to stop people from attending the cerama and listening to the local politician.

Another example is that, some time ago there was extensive flooding in a township near us. The State Government – a different party to the Federal Government, immediately sent out people, including senior members, to clean out the drains and restore order. They worked tirelessly for several days. The Federal Government sent a senior politician to the scene; he arrived in a large shiny car along with a retinue of aide and the press, gave a speech coupled with a ‘photo-op’ and then, twenty minutes later, swept grandly out.

Who do you think that the media covered extensively? Of course, the Federal Government Minister received the plaudits of the press as the ‘Party That Cares’! The State Government people? Not a peep!

Fake news? No. Extremely distorted news.

Translate the first sentence as you will but people will not translate the news as the media presents it.

Here it is believed that the 1MDB scandal is a plot by the Americans in the shape of Wall Street to discredit the Malaysian Government. Well, buy that and you will believe anything that they throw at you!

Interpretation is not the same as translation. Read and listen to the media but then think about what they are saying.

Unless it is on ‘Facebook’ and then, of course, it must be true!