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Malaysian Rumor Mill Irritating Government
by Kazi Mahmood
KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (IslamOnline) - Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made pressing calls to the press and to Malaysians not to spread rumors.
He made the appeal Friday in a bid to curb a rumor mill that has fuelled clashes between rival groups in residential areas off Jalan Klang Lama near Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia has a long tradition of rumor spreading, founded or unfounded, that has frustrated authorities on several occasions. The rumor mill in Kuala Lumpur has always been efficient in spreading faster than official news events in the country, and has been instrumental in the shaping Malaysia's political landscape since 1997, IslamOnline was told.
Recently, the Malaysian Home Ministry has been forced to take steps against several Malaysians for spreading what it called rumors on the Internet. Although the protagonists managed to walk freely from the subsequent case against them, it was clear that Malaysian authorities took the rumors seriously.
Besides the government, former deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has also been the target of slander. As early as 1997, rumors of his alleged involvement with the wife of his personal secretary hit the rumor circuit in Kuala Lumpur.
These rumors led to the publication in 1998 of a controversial book by a shadowy writer entitled "The 50 reasons why Anwar Ibrahim should not be Prime Minister". It paved the way to the revocation of the popular politician as Deputy Prime Minister, his sending off from the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and his eventual arrest.
His wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, leader of the opposition National Justice Party (NJP), was intercepted by police in 1998 for allegedly spreading seditious news on the fate of Anwar Ibrahim, then held under the infamous Internal Security Act (ISA).
Wan Azizah told IslamOnline at her home that she heard her husband's life was in danger while in police custody and that he might be injected with the HIV virus. This led the police to extract a statement from her.
"It was a terrible thing. It was all over the Internet that Anwar would be injected with HIV virus. What would you do if you heard that a member of your family is in such danger?" she said to IslamOnline.
"I reacted like any other human beings would react and I made a statement to the press on that. My statement was said to be seditious," she added.
Days later, Ibrahim was brought to court with the famous black eye that inspired the NJP logo. The government was seemingly forced to bring Anwar out into public since the rumors was spreading with stories of manhandling by police.
Ibrahim's black eye of was proof enough for his family that their concerns for the jailed leader were well founded.
Badawi on Friday directed the police to place importance and check whatever information and rumors heard on incidents concerning the ethnic strife that has shocked Malaysia.
"That is why if there are rumors about something or whatever stories that reach the general public, the police must go and check, [it is] certainly tiring...what will the people say if we don't bother about every information that is received," he said.
The police have been very active in Kampung Medan and the surrounding area, successfully calming down spirits and keeping the death toll to six. Yet Selangor police chief Nik Ismail Nik Yusof said his men were chasing shadows with numerous rumors of fighting breaking out in the settlements at the height of the clashes.
Opposition leaders in a press conference called on the government and the police to be more open and frank about the situation in the settlements where ethnic Hindus and Malays clashed.
An observer in Kuala Lumpur told IslamOnline that Malaysia's rumor mill could not be curbed as long as there were no laws to stop rumors from spreading. He added, however, that curbs on information in the country resulted in rumors spreading more quickly.
He said that the rumor mill made a case for a more open and free media in Malaysia. Newspapers and television should be able to report freely, helping Malaysia, he added.
In 1998, Malaysian police were confronted with a serious situation in a prison camp where hundreds of Indonesians of Acehnese origin, and belonging to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), facing deportations, revolted.
The rumor mill had it that more than 30 GAM activists were killed during subsequent clashes within the prison. Police officially said two police officers were killed alongside 8 prisoners. It said it kept the death toll low thanks to the prompt intervention of its armed riot units.
Badawi, also Home Minister, said people should be given accurate information to prevent rumors from being circulated, agreeing that the rumor mill could be destructive and misinform people on the veracity of the situation in conflicts.
Observers believe that the Deputy Prime Minister took the necessary steps to offer clear and concise information to the public in general, believing that this might mean a new age within the information sector could arrive in Malaysia.
In addition, Badawi refuted opposition death toll claims in clashes that hit Malaysia last week.
"If they [the claims] are correct, it means hiding news relating to murder and this is an offence. If there is no such thing [news], but such statements are being used merely to blame the police and create anger for retribution, this creates tension," he said.
The opposition had said the death toll was higher given reports they received from residents of the settlements and hospital staffs.
A senior doctor at the University Malaya Medical Center told The Straits Times that government figures were accurate and that there was no truth to rumors that more had died from the fighting.
On Tuesday, police arrested two people for rumor-mongering as unsubstantiated speculation of more clashes heightened tension in the city.
Wan Azizah told IslamOnline she had no idea if the police would proceed with the inquiry. She did not say if she was prepared for that, but that she was waiting.
The latest rumors on the mill in Kuala Lumpur are that Mahathir Mohamad, the aging Prime Minister of Malaysia, is preparing to step down in June this year. The Prime Minister has in fact relinquished most of his daily tasks to his Deputy Prime Minister and is currently handling a situation within his UMNO party as well as pressing for unity among Malays.
When asked if she believed Mahathir would step down soon, the NJP leader told IslamOnline that she did not see any sign of that happening soon.
"Why would he? I would not know either. There are no indications of that happening soon. However, in a democracy any thing is possible. No one would have thought Suharto would step down or Estrada would be removed the way he was," she added.
She reiterated that her party believed in the democratic process and urged the regime in place in Kuala Lumpur to grant more freedom to the press in a bid to curb the rumor-mongering factory in the country.
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