Zainuddin Maidin - A Confused Man.

Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin reminded newspapers not to be overzealous in their bid for press freedom, by carrying more commercial and sensational news, while neglecting the national interest. He said such unhealthy competition should not have taken place in the media industry in Malaysia as it would only create bigger problems especially when it involved the government. "This is not a competition which could show that a media organisation is freer than the other by producing such reports.

So let me get this straight. Is Zam saying if more commercial and 'sensational' news is carried, then the media is over zealous in their bid for press freedom? I'm not sure at this point whether he has been misquoted and for his sake I hope so, because only a thoroughly confused person is capable of coming out with that kind of 'illogical logic'. Of course he does not clarify what constitutes sensational news. Commercial is also an ambigous term; is he referring to advertisements or business news? Statements devoid of logic are the prerogative of the mentally ill and intelllectually compromised, not ministers especially not the Information Minister.

He further compounds his illogical arguments when he says "although the ministry was not fully empowered to control the media, this did not mean that they should regard themselves as having full freedom to report on sensational news, which could later cause problems for many parties. We must remember that in a developing nation such as ours, we have to have a controlled media and not entirely free. This does not mean we want to have full control of the media in the country. The media themselves should be responsible by not carrying reports which portray that they are freer than others. We trust that media practitioners in the country can decide wisely on the information to be published."

Now does he or does he not want to control the media? He says that the ministry is not fully empowered to control the media, yet they should not consider themselves as fully free! Again he resorts to confused arguments when he says that countries like Malaysia must have a controlled media and in the same breath he asserts that this does not mean that they (the government) want to have full control!!??

Having read and re-read his statements I finally decided what he probably means is that " listen hear you media jerks, just because I don't have full powers over you, don't think you can go overboard with your coverage. While I don't want to swat you lot like flies with what powers I have, it is better for you to behave and while you have the right to publish please remember that I have the right to punish and I will, so listen hear you media jerks, just because...... and it goes on and on and on.