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by Sim Kwang Yang

I am glad to see Malaysian Mirror launching the trial run of its Chinese version. It is a welcome addition to the increasingly crowded bull market for the Chinese New Media.

Together with Chinese school system, Chinese guilds and associations, the Chinese newspapers in this tripod Chinese institution have been responsible for shaping the self-identity and political direction of the Chinese community in Malaysia since the 1920s.

With the emergence of Chinese political parties after independence, the Chinese newspapers have always played a pivotal role for the Chinese citizens to imagine themselves as members of a single ethnic community.

The water-shed in the evolution of Chinese newspapers in recent history must be Operation Lalang in October 1987.

Then during Operation Lalang, the publishing licence of the Sin Chew was suspended together with the Star and Watan for a period on various allegations. When Sin Chew resumed publication in 1988, the paper had been bought over by Tiong Hiew King, the boss of the timber giant Rimbunan Hijauh and a leading light in the Sarawak United People’s party (SUPP).

I had been a regular contributor to a column on Sin Chew for some years before that, but after Tiong took over the paper, I was told bluntly that my services would not be needed.

I continued to write for Nanyang Siang Pao, though after Operation Lalang, the editors of all Chinese newspapers were so scared that self-censorship was the norm. I was told certain topics should never be touched.

Then in 2001, Huaren Holdings – the investment arm of MCA – bought over Nanyang Press in a controversial deal opposed by a large swathe of the Malaysian Chinese population. With Nanyang in the hands of the MCA, all the major Chinese press were then in the hands of the BN and their supporters. The BN monopoly of the printed Chinese press had allowed them total control of information flow and public opinions in our country.

Over 100 influential writers in the Chinese press had signed a common pledge to boycott these BN-controlled Chinese papers after the fall of Nanyang. My name was second on the list. Then on New Year day in 2003, the Oriental Daily was officially launched.

It was the new kid on the block, and tried hard to compete with Sin Chew and Nanyang by being critical and independent. But this paper is owned by the KTS group, a Sarawak-based timber conglomerate. They have to renew their publication every year.

The breakthrough in Malaysian media came when the net news portal Malaysiakini launched their Chinese version in 2005, with Yong Khai Ping the long-time student activist as their editor. A month or so later, Merdeka Review with a former Sin Chew journalist and former New Era College lecturer Zuang Ti Peng at its helm was also launched.

New platform

You could say that these two net publications transformed the Malaysian Chinese media landscape. Like the English and Bahasa Malaysia versions of Malaysiakini and Malaysia Insider, they provide a new platform for free but professional and responsible journalism, the like of which has never been seen in Malaysia before.

From then on the bunch of critical and independent members of the Chinese intellegentia who had been exiled by the mainstream press suddenly discovered a fertile garden for them to till and sow their seeds of a free and democratic Malaysia.

Once again, old and young writers like Lee Ban Chien, Josh Hong, Yang Shan Yong, and a whole host of prmonent writers who had been silenced by the BN controlled press found their lucid and analytical narrative bouncing off an increasingly young and Internet savvy Malaysian Chinese audience.

With numerous Chinese language socio-political blogs springing up at the same time, the Chinese citizens of Malaysia are now treated to a vision of what a truly free Malaysia media could be like.

Here on the Internet, the latest news items are reported in real time, while the print media can only sell their news in the hard copy the next day. Here, fiercely independent and eloquently composed comments converge like one hundred flowers blooming at the same time.

The net effect of these Internet news portals and the blogs is that they have made the printed newspapers like Sin Chew and Nanyang superfluous; in fact, I had just terminated my subscription to my last copy of Chinese newspaper, the Oriental Daily.

Then a few months ago, Lai Zao Kwang, a former opposition legislator and a prolific writer who invented the new vocabulary of “too lan”, launched his news portal The Rock News, or Fung Yin She Pao. Apart from the usual alternative views and news, they even offer a very varied diet in international and financial news, as well as the latest gossips in sports and entertainment world.

'The more the merrier'

And now, the Malaysian Mirror has joined in the fray by launching their Chinese version as well. In our struggle towards an open pluralistic society, I say, “The more the merrier!”

There are some 16 million Internet subscribers to the Internet Malaysia, and something like 500,000 bloggers. The market is big enough to accommodate the small number of players so far to carve out their own niche. With the constant upgrading of our Internet infrastructure in Malaysia, the virtual market in the country can only grow by leaps and bounds.

The emergence and rise of the alternative media in Malaysia is proof to how IT digital technology can change our political life. A net news portal is relatively cheap to launch and run. It is the most powerful weapon to break through the monopoly of news and views enjoyed by traditional powerful print media usually funded by corporate giants. The leverage has arrived for small media operators to dislodge powerful conglomerates in the fight to win the hearts and minds of Malaysians.

SIM KWANG YANG can be reached at kenyalang578@hotmail.com.

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