Author: InpressGlobal

Written by Putera Muhammad

North Korea and the United States have been at odds ever since the US backed South Korea in the Korean War. Today, the US has 23,500 US troops stationed in South Korea. That country is also America’s sixth-largest trading, underscored by the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement that went into effect on March 15, 2012.

For these reasons, North Korea is not a fan of the United States. North Korean propaganda portrays America as an evil imperialist aggressor hell-bent on subjugating the Korean people. There is an entire museum dedicated to alleged American atrocities during the Korean War.

There have been a number of North Korean missile tests. North Korea has also fired a number of short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea), in what have been interpreted as political gestures. As of 30 November 2017, North Korea has carried out some 117 tests of strategic missiles since its first such test in 1984. 15 were carried out under the rule of Kim Il-sung and 16 under Kim Jong-Il. Under Kim Jong-un, more than 80 tests have been undertaken.

The US and North Korea are in the middle of a war of words. President Donald Trump tweeted on January 2 that he has a “Nuclear Button” on his desk that is “much bigger & more powerful” than North Korea’s — even though that button does not exist. Trump’s tweet was in response to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s Day speech in which he said the US should know “a nuclear button is always on the desk of my office, and this is just a reality, not a threat.”

Relationship between Malaysia and North Korea goes back and forth. It started on 30 June 1973. This was part of a broader campaign by North Korea to enhance its ties with the developing world. The North Korean embassy was opened in Kuala Lumpur in 2003 along with the Malaysian embassy in Pyongyang.

Relations between both countries improved and in 2009, Malaysia became the first country whose citizens were able to travel to North Korea without a visa. In 2013, the supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un received an honorary doctorate from HELP University, a Malaysian university. Relations between the two countries started to deteriorate in 2017, in the aftermath of the assassination of Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia.

In the US and North Korea “Nuclear” issue, western and Malaysian media have the same perspective which are against the feud. North Korea has always been criticized for Kim Jong Un decision to continue with nuclear development and missile testing. News reports and journalists on social media also criticized President Trump for his response on Twitter to a nuclear war threat from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and held it up as evidence that Trump is unfit to lead the nation. A report in the New York Times called Trump’s comment was a boast in “strikingly playground terms.”

On a personal view, journalists should stop writing and broadcasting about the North Korea situation as if everything had changed and war is very near. North Korea has been seeking a usable nuclear resource for years. Its latest underground nuclear test had a higher yield than earlier detonations, about four to five times the size of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. The larger yield could have come from a fission bomb ‘boosted’ with hydrogen isotopes or a true fusion weapon, commonly known as a hydrogen bomb; experts cannot be sure which, based on the information currently available.

Written by Noor Zahra Zamalik

Four tourists who were identified as German, British, Canadian and Dutch have been detained for allegedly stripping on top of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah. There were ten tourists including four women and six men in a group of twenty-seven Europeans climbing the mountain as they left the main group and headed to South Peak where they stripped and ignored warnings by their tour guide to stop their indecent acts who then reported the incident to the department officers followed by a police report. A few days after the incident, 137 climbers were stranded due to a strong earthquake with a few killed. The Kadazan Dusuns believed that the earthquake occurred due to the wrath of the spirit over the tourists’ misbehavior. The police arrested the four Europeans, identified as Eleanor Hawkins, Dylan Snell, Lindsey and Danielle Peterson. They were sentenced for three days’ jail and a fine of RM 3,000 each by the Magistrate Court of Sabah in accordance with the charges under section 294(a) Penal Code for committing an obscene act in Public.

Identity

Daily Mail

Daily Mail is one of British daily middle-market tabloids that is owned by the Daily and General Trust and it is published in London. It was launched in 1896 by Alfred Harmsworth who then was Lord of Northcliffe. He formed a news agency partnership with his brother, Harold. In 1930’s, the news editorial supported Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler and praised Nazi’s regime’s accomplishment as well as subsequently, used the news as propaganda to reach its audiences.

Today, the Daily Mail is led by a great-grandson of the founder, Jonathan Harmsworth whilst the current editor is Paul Dacre. The news agency caters their audience by providing selective news coverage on local and international incidents. Its contents are reliable but nevertheless being questioned and criticized for publishing sensational headlines and at times, the information is seemed to be exaggerating and unreliable. Besides, the news covers used provocative headlines to attract its readers. In view of this, the news portal has twisted one of its headlines “Give us ten buffalo or face three months in prison: Tribal demands ‘fine’ from tourists caught stripping naked on Malaysian mountain to avoid prison” where it exaggerates, exploits and provokes people to discuss and criticises Malaysia over the issue.

The Straits Times

The Straits Times is an English newspaper which was originally owned by Singapore Press Holding (SPH) established in 1845 during the early period of British colonial rule. The newspaper was a mainstream media in Singapore and delivers extensive news coverage of world news, East Asian news, Southeast Asian news, home news, sports news, financial news and lifestyle with a timely updates. The news provides balance and neutral report which suits their core values to excite its audience; hence, it is regarded as reliable news reporting and able to educate its readers with clear explanation on certain issues whilst providing attractive headlines to catch readers’ attention. 

Propaganda

Daily Mail

The Daily Mail is known for delivering sensational news coverage in order to incite its audiences in discussing and debating controversial issues over the world. Going through the headlines and contents of the news, one observes that the Daily Mail manipulates news and headlines in many dimensions. For instance, “Give us 10 buffalo or face three months in prison” headline clearly showed it has misled the issued. The Native Court defines “Buffalo compensation” according to Sabah Customary law as those who are found guilty would require them to pay ‘sogit’ (compensation) in the form of buffalo. It is clear that the Daily Mail had twisted and exploited the story of “buffalo compensation” so that the four charged for public indecency had to pay buffaloes to escape the jail term. The other twisted story was the occurrence of the earthquake was due to the wrath of the spirit which was essentially a manipulated facts and besides, there is element of bias where the news seems to favor the tourists despite committing public indecency. Hence, the style of reporting is frivolous and exaggerating with the intention to incite the readers.

The Straits Times

Based on The Straits Times’ coverage on the issue, its news reporting seem to be reliable and at the same time it achieves its objective besides providing a true picture of the incident. For example, it explained clearly about the “buffalo compensation” is one of the customary laws in Sabah which comes under the jurisdiction of the Native court practices. The other news was about the statement by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan explaining the Sabah earthquake that claimed the lives of 11 climbers was a result of the indecent act of the tourists which is contradicts with The Daily Mail’s news report. The news portal also helps to educate its audience of true news reporting which in essence should be transparent. Overall, the news presents balance and fair reporting which reflects its core values of integrity, excellence and encompassing changes, particularly.

Practicality

Daily Mail

Daily Mail consistently updates their news and covers controversial headlines in order to attract readers’ attention which in their view is a development of journalism. However, its updated news is sensational and hot topics for discussion despite omitting some of the material facts of the whole story which appear in other sources like The Daily Telegraph and Malay Mail Online as follow-up. In terms of pictures, they use personal pictures of the tourists from their Facebook as well as other media sources and gives credit to the individual persons. These can be seen in several misleading articles such as “Canadian, Dutch, and German tourists who post naked on top of ‘sacred’ mountain are blamed by Malaysian government for causing earthquake that killed 16 people plus other misleading news. Nevertheless, the news portal is regarded as more liberal and they practice high level of freedom in reporting.

The Straits Times

As for The Straits Times, it is seemed maintain its consistency in updating their news plus using other sources for their news coverage. Besides, the news portal is also referred by other international news agency to identify the names of the four tourists as well as using their own picture and other media to publish in their portal with credits given on the picture. Apart from that the news portal is seen as exercising diligence in news reporting hence the news is written in structured manner in order to maintain its professionalism besides achieving its objective.

Written by Shafiaina

Richard Huckle case is one of the latest issue regarding to child pornography which involved two countries, Malaysia and British. Richard Huckle, 30, who from Ashford, Kent, was gained access to the children in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia while posing as a Christian English teacher doing good deeds. Huckle, who worked as a freelance photographer who targeted Malaysian children while working in Malaysia faced multiple life sentences after admitting 71 offences of child sexual abuse.

He was charged under a number of offences against children between the ages of six months to 12 years old from 2006 till 2014. Through the offences, he was pleaded guilty to 22 carry discretionary life and 18 of these are multiple incident counts. This case has been reported widely by local and international news media.

A local news organisation, The Star online, with headline “Pedophile Richard Huckle who abused Malaysian children jailed for life” on June 6, 2016 reported that British police has arrested Huckle at London Gatwick Airport in December 2014 together with his heavily-encrypted computer and camera once he returned home from Malaysia to spend Christmas eve with his parents.

The media mentioned that Huckle was sentenced a minimum jail term of 23 years for his charges. The court heard that Huckle had written a specific guide to child abuse that he intended to publish for profit. Huckle posted pictures of the abuse of boys and girls on website True Love Zone (TLZ) together with the youngest victim believed to have been around six months old.

From international news coverage perspectives, this case was reported by several news media. The Independent with headline “Richard Huckle: Paedophile faces multiple life sentences for abusing “up to 200 children” in Malaysia” was covered this case on June 1, 2016.

The media also reported that the National Crime Agency officials have discovered a large amount of indecent pictures and videos Huckle took of himself abusing the girls and boys and over 20,000 indecent images were found on his computer while he was arrested on arrival gate at Gatwick Airport on December 19, 2014.

The comparison news coverage between local and international media can be seen through the content of the news itself. For local media like The Star Online, the Sun Daily and Malay Mail Online contents were gained from outside sources such as Reuters. The contents of the news described more about the amount of offences made by Richard Huckle and the decision made by the court. While, the news contents reported by international media were more detailed as the media revealed the consequences of the case from a different parties.

For the practicalities of the media, the local news media was hyperlinked reports from other local news media. The news information in The Star can be linked with Malay Mail Online. The local news media were acting ethically which reporting were made by using information from trusted source like Reuters and Bernama. The texts were excerpt from Malaysian Catholic Church theologian and interviewed had been done with the Malaysia Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak about his opinions regarding the Richard Huckle’s case.

Written by Aliya Soraya Shafiee

The Rohingya refugees are stateless Muslims minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, expected to have about 1 million people. Myanmar government or also known as Burma does not recognise them as citizens and does not even consider them as one of 135 recognized ethnic groups in Myanmmar. The country denoted Rohingyas as illegal immigrants, a view rooted in their heritage in Bangladesh. Though many Rohingyas have only known to be living in Myanmar, they are widely viewed as intruders from across the border. According to Human Rights Watch, the laws discriminated the Rohingya, infringing on their freedom of movement, education and employment. Their rights and ownership to the land and property are denied and the land on which they live can be taken away at any given time.

Identity

Cable News Network or famously known as CNN is the first television channel that solely provides news content for 24 hours in America. The channel which was launched on 1^st June 1980, owned by Turner Broadcasting System and in 1996, it has become the subsidiary of Time Warner Incorporation.

Meanwhile, Astro Awani was established in 6^th September. Formerly, it was known as Bloomberg Ria News and Astro News. Now, Astro Awani is one of Astro broadcast channel.

Practicality of the media

CNN reported from various angles as they did not focus on impact of the Myanmar refugees toward one country only. It focused on how other countries will or should react regarding on the issue and how they will tackle down the issue in order to help Myanmmar themselves. Apart from that, they focused more on humanitarian helps from the other countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia. For example, in their reporting entitled “Migrant boat re-enters Malaysian waters after refusing offer to land: Thai officials”, CNN reported The Royal Thai Navy air-dropped food aid to hundreds of Rohingya migrants that were stranded on a stricken boat at the Southern Thailand. They also reported what kind of helps that were given such as medical aids from the International Organization of Migrants (OIM).

Meanwhile, during the cross-over studio discussion with Laura High, a Myanmmar Researcher from the Amnesty International, the news agency highlighted that Myanmmar Military was accused of torching Rohingya homes. During the reporting, the terms “blanket denials” by the Myanmmar was also being heavliy discussed, which also tells the audience on the political situation in the country itself.

Apart from that, CNN also urged the government of Myanmmar to allow the journalists to do the reporting in order to report the current situation in the area as it has been sealed for two months. CNN also higlighted that, there should be international pressures toward Myanmmar in order to solve this problem and only by this way, the military will called off this situation.

As for the Astro AWANI, their reporting focuses more on the Malaysian government only as most of their reporting mentioned about steps taken by Malaysian government regarding on this issue which can be seen in their reporting on “Malaysia urges D-8 to help Rohingya refugees”. In this reporting, it was said that Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said D-8 member states should assist the Rohingyas in whatever ways possible to alleviate their dire socio-economic situation.

We can see that in reporting of Rohingya refugees, CNN was being transparent. They also did an in-depth report on the Rohingya refugees and very detail in the timeline chronology of the case. Apart from that, quotes from the experts were also was included in their reporting.

As for Astro AWANI, their reporting was transparent. They also did the in-depth report of the Rohingya refugees. They did publised the timeline chronology also but not as detail as CNN as they did focus more on the impact of Rohingya refugees in Malaysia . Astro AWANI also quoted statements from the authority.

Overall, we can see that the reporting by CNN is more in-depth. Meanwhile, Astro AWANI only reported this issue on the ground, focusing on what is happening in Malaysia. The aid of still photos or probably videos would help the readers to have a better understanding regarding on this Rohingya issue and also help them to have more sensitvity towards the humanitarian issue.

Written by Amirah Sohaimi

Have you pay off your student loans?

In the United States, student loans are the second largest debt form and constitute about 10.6% of all consumer debt. CNBC, a recognized business news channel reported that now 44 million Americans hold a total of more than 1.3 trillion USD in student loan debts.

The amount of student loan outstanding amounted to US $ 1.1 trillion (RM3.49 trillion), equivalent to about 6% of national debt. Financial experts in the United States predict that this will spark a financial crisis on the scale of the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008. The crisis is caused by uncontrolled loans for property, even to those who cannot afford it.

A news coverage on NST reported that less than half (46.6 percent) borrowers pay their loans and a total of RM8.49 billion (USD2.081 billion) remains unpaid in 2015. With low wages and rising cost of living, many new graduates have income that is less than RM3, 860 per month and thus, they do not have sufficient income to repay the study loan, whether discount being offered or not.

Actually, the problems faced by the United States are similar to what Malaysia faces, perhaps more in some ways. One of the problem is that 40% of graduates are unemployed, and without employment, these young people cannot afford to repay their loans. Those who do may get help from their parents. Excellent student loans represent the amount of loans that have been issued to the borrower. This figure includes bad debts or loans where borrowers have failed to repay their loans.

NST mentioned that to help these students, the government has come up with several loan settlements. In the United States, the Education Department will provide a pardon based on how the borrower’s income is compared to the income of the graduates from the same vocational program. If they earn less than 50 percent of their colleagues, the Education Department will forgive their 100 percent loan. If the borrower’s income is comparable, they will receive less help.

However in Malaysia, PTPTN should not be expected to continue lending student loans with poor loan recovery performance. This is because it requires at least RM5 billion annually to meet the needs of the borrower – both existing borrowers who are still studying and new borrowers going to institutions of higher learning for the first time.

Education is very important. We should not portray that study loans are burdensome as it can weaken the spirit of the young generation who want to learn. We need to stop shouting about the common crisis and see how we can really help students access higher education and let’s impose solutions that improve access for low-income students rather than scare them off.

Written by Amni Ahmad

The media

The discovery of the mass graves in Wang Kelian which was believed as the victims of human trafficking has shocked Malaysian and people around the world. The two media organisations that reported on the issue of mass graves in Wang Kelian were New Straits Times and CNN. In this article, the writer intends to compare how the issue is presented on both media organisation. The New Straits Times is an English newspaper and the oldest newspaper in Malaysia. It started as a weekly journal that was printed in 1845. Whereas, Cable News Network (CNN) is a basic cable and satellite television news channel that based in America. This news channel owned by the Turner Broadcasting System, a division of Time Warner.

Practicalities of the Media

The issue was first reported by the New Straits Times, as they conducted an exclusive investigative reporting about the mass killings in Wang Kelian in 2015. Recently, the journalists revealed another new evidence that exposed the massive and coordinated cover-up regarding the issue. The investigative team conducted their investigation for two years to come out with such an article. This is very interesting as it requires such a long period of time to complete the report.

The journalists started the report by re-stating the details about the incident. This helps the readers to remember back to what has happened in 2015. The journalists also mentioned about their new evidence that they managed to gather throughout the investigation period. Not only that, the journalist also questioned about the action of the police that destroyed the camps before it is being processed and investigated by the forensic team. This becomes a big question in people’s mind. The questioning technique used in the news report is very effective as it increases the curiosity of the readers to know more about the incident.

In the news report, the journalists stated their efforts to get the evidence in many ways, such as conducting interviews with countless personalities who were directly involved in the case, re-check and verified the fact through official documents and reams of reports, and meet the witnesses and independent sources. They also went back to the crime scene where evidence of the victims’ torture and suffering are found. It showed how serious they are in investigating the issue.

Apart from that, New Straits Times journalists stated about their sources of information who directly involved with the case voluntarily shared the information with them. This is a strong evidence as he/she is someone who is relevant to the case share the information. The journalists also are ethical as they take care of their sources by not revealing the details about the information.

In addition, the journalist’s news report were accompanied with several photos that showed the condition at the crime scene. This is very helpful and interesting. The journalists also arranged the whole news report by providing sub heading which differentiates on topic to another topic. This includes “First Contact- The “Real” Version”, “The Contradicting Report”, and “The Other Shocking Find”. It is well organised. This is a long article, by doing this, it helps the readers to read and understand the story.

Meanwhile, the same issue also was reported on CNN. However, the reporting was only about the discovery that was made in 2015 and responses from a related party. There was no further report regarding the issue.

In the beginning of the news report, the journalist did mention that the information was taken from Bernama, the Malaysian state news agency. The first three paragraphs provide information about the discovery of the mass graves. It was quoted from the then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar. Besides Bernama, the news report also was cited from Sunday, a Bangladesh state newspaper. From the report, the journalist highlighted the statement made by Bangladesh leader, Sheikh Hasina.

Besides that, the journalist also highlighted the issue of humanitarian faced by Southeast Asian nations. The journalist tends to show the correlation between the discovery of the mass graves and this issue. Furthermore, the news report also included the statement made by Malaysian Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to show his response. The journalists also mentioned the statement made by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak based on his tweet on Twitter.

The news story is divided into several sub-heading such as “We Will Find More”, “Bangladeshi PM: Punish migrants”, and “U.S. military request”. This makes it easier to be read. It can be considered as organised. In addition, there are several photos included in the news report. This includes the photo of Thailand Prime Minister, Najib’s tweet on his Twitter account which showed his feelings in regard to the issue, and migrants on the boat trying to survive.

Overall, the news report by CNN was not really in-depth as compared to New Straits Times. CNN only reported the news by referring to another media organisation while The New Straits Times reporting is an investigative reporting whereas CNN only report it based on the ground. The initiatives to include many sources should be praised. It gave a different perspective for the readers.

The writer feels that both of the media organisation should include graphic illustrations or visual to accompany the news report to make it more interesting. This is because the story was quite long. By using video, it helps people to understand the whole story easily.

Written by Anis Adrina Md Nor

The year 2015 has witnessed the worst transboundary haze phenomena in Southeast Asia and Malaysia. It was believed to be started since July 2015 and lasted until near end of November 2015. The worst was during October as the month witnessed the peak of the forest fires which were uncontrollable in Riau province in East Sumatra, South Sumatra, and parts of Kalimantan on Indonesian Borneo.

Photo source: Al Jazeera.com

This case had been reported widely by every local news media as well as international media as it has raised the health issue and public interest. Hence, this article would compare the reporting of the haze issue in Southeast Asia and Malaysia by one Malaysia local news agency and one international news agency which is The Star Online and Al Jazeera.

The Star Online reporting

The Star Online has always been objective and neutral in reporting the issue of transboundary haze caused by Indonesia as Malaysia has diplomatic ties with Indonesia. Thus, most of the headline focus on informing the update of the issue and how Malaysia and as well as Indonesia deal with the issue such as the headline, “Indonesia launches biggest operation ever to combat fires” which was published on 16^th October 2015 reflected that Indonesia was really committed to deal with the haze problem caused by their province.

Although Indonesia is neighbouring country of Malaysia, in news that solely reporting on Indonesia action in dealing with fires as well as neighbouring countries reaction, The Star used the news from wires agency such as from Reuters and AFP instead of sending their own reporters to get the source directly from Indonesia.

For example, the news with the headline “Singapore urges action on haze” (published on 26^th October 2015) was completely taken from AFP news. This also means that The Star Online did not send reporters to the site for to report the incident.

Furthermore, The Star did not provide any additional information or background details regarding haze and El Nino phenomena to enrich readers. The Star Online did not use any photos related to haze to appeal the emotion of readers.

Al Jazeera reporting

Al Jazeera is fair in reporting the haze issue in Southeast Asia and Malaysia. The headlines written were all natural and did not show any biases towards the certain country. For instances, the headlines, “El Nino could make Southeast Asia haze worst on record” (published on 14^th October 2015), and “Hazardous haze chokes Southeast Asia” (published on 7^th October 2015) showed that Al Jazeera reported the haze issue objectively and did not use any sensationalism element.

The style of writing was more to feature writing style which included the analysis on environmental effect of haze. Al Jazeera presented their intellectual image by providing a lot of facts related to the impact of haze. The agency focused more on the environmental aspects rather than political ties between the countries.

For instances, in an article with headline “El Nino could make Southeast Asia haze worst on record” (published on 14^th October 2015), Al Jazeera reported on the chronology of the issue, and then relate it to the environmental problem which is El Nino. Al Jazeera then elaborated on the El Nino phenomena which made the haze to become worst. Through this kind of reporting, it is clear that Al Jazeera is very committed in their goals to deliver in-depth information to people.

Moreover, unlike Utusan Online, Al Jazeera always included photos that can appeal to public’s emotion and resulted in sympathy. They use photos of people wearing masks, man with his child riding a motorcycle with unclear surroundings, photos of a woman crying while praying for the haze to stop and also the photo of people working outdoor while wearing a mask in the middle of the hazy surrounding.

Written by Balqis Ariffin

History

Primarily, the dispute over the South China Sea between several nations namely Malaysia, China, Brunei, Vietnam, and the Philippines have significantly escalated in the recent years. Despite that, such territorial dispute tends to undermine although it was on the brink of global warfare. Historically, the tension has occurred for centuries that includes militarizing, however, the failure to achieve resolution with each country backing up their claims have subsequently led to a prolonged dispute.

Besides that, the United States has also interfered with military intervention to ensure the area is accessible for shipping and air routes, in which it was merely due to the freedom of navigation and they stated that they have a neutral stance. In addition, the dispute between the neighboring countries was mainly due to the territorial and sovereignty dispute in the South China Sea as well as two uninhibited islands namely Spratlys and Paracels which are still not thoroughly explored, and it was believed that both islands possessed natural resources. Apart from that, the ownership of such area could enable the country to control the major shipping routes and also a vast supply of fisheries.

Moreover, China has claimed the most territorial ownership of the nine-dash-line, in which they provide historical evidence to support their claim in 1974. However, several other nations refuted such claim, which includes Vietnam as they argued that they have ruled the area since the 17th century. Meanwhile, Malaysia and Brunei also claim the zone by referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as it falls within the economic exclusion.

News identity

The New Straits Times

Historically, the New Straits Times was founded in 1845, in which it was known as The Straits Times during that time but only in 1974 that it changes its name. Besides that, the New Straits Times which is an English language daily newspaper is owned by the Media Prima, hence it tends to have a pro-government stance in its reporting.

Asia Times

Meanwhile, Asia Times or previously known as Asia Times Online was initially established in 1999 in which it was owned by a Thai media mogul, Sondhi Limthongkul. Despite that, Asia Times is considered as a Hong Kong news portal that emphasized on economic, politics and business. Basically, the news portal was a successor for the now-defunct newspaper, Asia Times. Most of all, in the year of 2006 the New York Times had attributed it as the leading regional publication in Asia.

Agenda

Most of all, by referring to the article published in the Asia Times, the news organization tends to be cynical towards Malaysia as it was merely established in Hong Kong, in which it has significant interest to support China in the territorial dispute. Besides that, the nature of the article in overall signifies negative remarks against Malaysia as the usage of the word speaks softly in the headline of “Malaysia speaks softly in the South China Sea” indicates that our nation was more reticent than Vietnam and Philippine. The author has failed to provide substantial evidence to support his statements, thus the article itself has cultivated negative perceptions toward Malaysia.

On the other hand, the article published in the New Straits Times tends to show support towards the government as it must be emphasized that the news organization is owned by the ruling party. Therefore, the news organization serves as a channel to shield and counter the conduct taken by the government from any criticism. This is evident as the news signifies that the decision and action taken by the government is precise regarding the issue of South China Sea dispute and its relationship with diplomatic ties with China, this can be seen when the New Straits Times reported that the current Foreign Minister quashed the statement made by opposition party that the ruling party is lenient towards China over the dispute.

Practicalities

Besides that, the article published in Asia Times also tends to cite the source of their information to ensure the reliability and validity of the news. This is evident as the author provides substantial evidence to support his claims that the government takes a political stance regarding the South China Sea dispute and Pulau Batu Puteh. In addition, the article also provides facts and figures to show the significant relationship of economic dependency that Malaysia has towards China, however, the author does not cite the reference for such facts given in the article.

Furthermore, the article also provides profound analysis on the lenient stance taken by Malaysia with the terrorist threat of the Islamic State (ISIS), in which it is a far greater imperative crisis than the South China Sea dispute and the Malaysia government sought technology and equipment support from Australia to counter the terrorism in the nation.

Briefly, the news is also solely written based on one’s or even the organization ‘s viewpoint which was formed with investigation and research from various types of sources, but the author failed to cite it in the article. Therefore, it may be perceived as independent article due to the nature of its arguments, but if it was sparingly observed the news is absent from the practicing balance values as it does not include Malaysia’s perspectives

On the other hand, the news published in the New Straits Times tends to signify the support towards the government only, this is evident as the article serves as a mere counter against other alternative views which criticize the government. Moreover, the manner of the news is obviously cynical towards other alternative views that could damage the reputation of the government.

Basically, by referring to the article, it only quoted the statements by Foreign Minister, Anifah Aman who counter the claims made by Rais Hussin, the opposition leader regarding the reticent stance Malaysia taken on South China Sea dispute due to the diplomacy ties with China.

Besides that, the article also does not cite any references from other news organization as it was solely emphasized on the statement made by the Foreign Minister only. Therefore, the facts given in the news was through the defense of statements, hence it can be argued that it is somehow lacked from a variety of viewpoints in the aspects of national and international level as well. In addition, the nature of the news published in the New Straits Times is also absent from the element of independent, as it only emphasized on the government’s stance and views, thus it is somehow disputed.

Transparency

Apart from that, in the aspect of transparency, it can be stated that the article published in the Asia Times is more transparent in the facts given compared than the New Straits Times. This is evident as it is more critical and in-depth analysis on the issue which has subsequently led to the notion that it published information and arguments that are not reported in our local media. This is due to the fact that the angle of the news tends to portray cynical and critical towards Malaysia.

On the contrary, the article in the New Straits Times indicates the opposite element of transparency, in the sense that it only emphasized on the information that signifies the support towards the government. Therefore, such deficiency will eventually result in the absence of alternative views from reported in the news, thus it lacked in transparency as the article serves as the voice for the government to exert their control on the public.

References

Bemma, A. (2017, November 23). Malaysia: A Rohingya Safe Haven? Retrieved December 20, 2017, from Al Jazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com

Bernama. (2017, October 15). Life In Malaysia Way Better, Says Rohingya Refugee. Retrieved December 20, 2017, from Free Malaysia Today: http://www. freemalaysiatoday.com

Hutt, D. (2017, March 23). Malaysia speaks softly in the South China Sea. Retrieved December 10, 2017, from Asia Times: http://www.atimes.com

Shahar, F. (2017, November 18). Malaysia has a hand in prompting China-US to discuss security in South China Sea. Retrieved December 10, 2017, from The New Straits Times: http://www.nst.com.my

 

Written by Nur Hawa Shafiqa A Zulkefli

Identity

The Star

The Star Online was launched on June 23 1995. The first Malaysia news website, The Star Online has always provided the readers with the updated news, compelling content and insightful opinions. The contents are including current news, business, sports, community, technology, lifestyle, and world news. In 2014, it was recognized as one of the best website in Asia by the World Association of Newspaper and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). Basically, The Star has its million strong followers on Twitter and Facebook.

BBC

The website of BBC news is responsible to gather news and production. The website is the most frequently accessed news website in United Kingdom (UK). It was recorded that around 70 million users has visited the website in a week. Basically, the website contains international news coverage including entertainment, science, as well as political news. BBC News Online is closely linked to another department website which is BBC Sport. There are similar layouts and contents from both sites. BBC provided its readers with variety form of information such as news, weather, shop, and travel. BBC website was named as best news website. Previously, it has won both Judges; Award and the People’s Voice Award for best news site.

Practicalities

The Star Online and BBC news has quite differed in style of reporting. However, BBC News provides its reader with wider information about the issue faced across 150 countries. The article about the issue is compact with information compared to The Star Online. It is full of knowledge regarding Ransomware, how and why it occurs. Unlike BBC, The Star offered readers with incomplete information about the issue, and the news was too loose.

BBC writing style was unbiased. The issue reported in BBC addressed more on global politics conflict between US and North Korea. Both writings were based on facts but the truth was not assured. However, The Star Online and BBC News are credible sources. The unbiased report in BBC was questioning the US government’s action in blaming North Korea.

Based on BBC reports on the particular issue, BBC applied the concept of openness in the style of writing, explore in-depth about how and why the world has to face the unprecedented cyber attack caused by WannaCry Ransomware.

Unlike BBC, The Star Online was not transparent in providing the readers with information. Information inadequacy in The Star Online may lead the readers to find other sources to keep searching for information on the related issue.

Contrasting to Malaysia, press freedom in other countries like United States is not as strict as Malaysia. Therefore, media practitioner in the countries outside Malaysia practices free speech. The article of the issue discussed has shown dissimilarities between two different media, offers readers with different style of writing. BBC news is more open in their writing as compared to The Star regarding the issue.

Written by Irfarina Ahmad Nazli

In September 2017, multiple newspapers reported of a sensational headline which bore the words ‘beer festival banned’, garnering debates and international attention. Among these newspapers were The Star and New Straits Times, and online news portals including Free Malaysia Today and Malaysia Kini, and similarly, international news companies like Reuters and The Seattle Times.

This beer festival, or more popularly known as Oktoberfest, is the world’s largest beer event held annually, usually in towards the end of September to early October, hence its name. Large quantities of beer, recording to up to 7.5 million litres consumed in Germany alone, is served during this period and is conducted like a public festival would. To date, this event has attracted over six million visitors each year.

                                                             Image courtesy of Google

On the other hand, Malaysia too has been hosting Oktoberfest annually since year 2011. At the time it was first held in Malaysia, the event managed to garner about 200 participants while in 2016, the number more than tenfold to 3,500 participants and is expected to see 6,000 visitors this year if it was approved (The Malay Mail Online, 2017).

However, since 2014, the event began to draw opposing views, especially from religious groups like Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) stating that it is not respectful to Muslims as they are observing Hari Raya Aidiladha around the same period the event was to be held. They also felt that Malaysia, being an Islamic country, should not have even approved the festival in the beginning, stating that this event may promote crime, free sex, rape and other malicious activities though it is under the pretext of encouraging tourism.

Additionally, Amidi Abdul Manan, the Deputy Chairman of People’s Justice Party (PKR) claimed that such festival drew concerns for public safety as the hosting country was reportedly said to have called the police 2,017 times to address 1,191 criminal cases
surrounding the time the event was held (The Star, 2017).

While Malaysia raised multiple eyebrows regarding the ban, local news report failed to mention how even Glasgow, a city in the United Kingdom too was against such celebration, refusing to grant the event managers alcohol license as reported by Express in 2016, an online news portal (Logan, 2016).

It was said that the festival caused the city to risk public safety, as hiccups in managing the event was evident in previous years, including lack of security, high levels of intoxication among its thousand visitors, and multiple violent outbreaks, making the Police Scotland and city councils hesitant in giving their approvals.

On a personal viewpoint, drinking beer is not completely banned in Malaysia. Citizens are still able to consume this beverage at its designated areas such in pubs or hotels, only that is it not encouraged to be done in such a huge public area, like the Oktoberfest would. The way the newspapers were reporting about this festival ban was as if drinking beer was banned altogether, making one wonder the need to be championing another country’s less related culture in a Muslim majority country.

In light of this issue, it can be said that the rights of the minority have not been compromised as beer itself is not banned, and yes, it does pose certain threats to other people in the surrounding area especially by irresponsible drinkers. Collective rights apply in this matter and if ever anything unpleasant comes out of it, it is Malaysia that will bear the brunt of consequences, tarnishing its name, and drinkers could hardly be blamed as they are partly unconscious of their behaviour when intoxicated. To sum up, Malaysia is not quite ready for festivals like Oktoberfest until proper conduct can be displayed by the “drinkers”.

In the author’s neighbourhood for example, the common ground or the public park in SS14 Subang Jaya meant for everyone to relax and exercise has been abused by thoughtless “drinkers”. Most often, our park is littered with empty beer cans (SJ Echo, 2017) and at times, pieces of broken beer bottles are left behind, causing harm to youngsters or the elderly whom regularly do recreational activities here.

SJ Echo, the Subang Jaya city’s newspaper also reported of the nuisance these “drinkers” have caused, coming in groups of 4-5 people in the night to drink and making noise, much to the dismay of the residents surrounding the park. Sometimes they were too drunk to leave and slept till sunrise at the park, oblivious to Subang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPSJ) bylaws that punishes the act of drinking and littering in neighbourhood parks.

Therefore, the author agrees with the idea of placing a ban on Oktoberfest until Malaysians can illustrate exemplary behaviours and higher responsibility as part of the community.