FREEDOM, be it personal or of the right to information, struggles to see the light of day in Malaysia. The plunge in Malaysia’s World Press Freedom Index rankings from the 73rd to 107th comes as no surprise.

It would be wrong to blame only the Anwar Ibrahim government for the demise of press freedom in the country.

Does the media in Malaysia practise journalism ethics? Do reporters take pride in their work, or are they working only for their pay cheques?

How many media houses, be they mainstream or online, have the courage to question the Madani government on the sudden deaths and adverse effects caused by the Covid-19 jabs?

Has journalism ethics, like the Hippocratic oath, suffered a fatal blow at the hands of the Madani administration?

It is a tragedy that the bedrocks of journalism ethics – truth, accuracy, and objectivity – and the Hippocratic oath to do no harm have become irrelevant. Have “hot and spicy” news and events become the order of the day?

The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) index, which ranks media and journalistic freedom in 180 countries, gave Malaysia a score of 52.07 compared to 62.83 last year, while neighbouring Thailand is all smiles, having improved its ranking from 106th to 87th to the top spot in the Asean region.

The same abysmal state faces Malaysia’s education system. In 2014, the World Bank sounded an SOS saying poorer nations such as Vietnam had outperformed Malaysia in the field by a significant margin.

The World Bank had said: “The quality of cognitive skills of Malaysian students, as measured by standardised international tests, is not on par with the country’s aspirations to become a high-income economy.”

A decade later, the World Bank once again zoned in on Malaysia’s dismal education system, saying the children are not receiving sufficient education despite spending much time in school.

Did the media merely regurgitate the World Bank report, or did it have the audacity to question the government about how the national education budget is utilised?

In the “Bending Bamboo Shoots: Strengthening Foundation Skills” report, the World Bank revealed that the average Malaysian child spends 12.5 years in school but learns the equivalent of only 8.9 years.

Vietnam, which has a smaller education budget than Malaysia, offers its students 12.9 years of schooling for 10.7 years of learning.

In Singapore, the average child spends 13.9 years in school and learns the equivalent of 12.8 years.

The World Bank said t that by the age of 15, Malaysian students have fall behind their peers in Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Singapore in reading, maths, and science as measured by international assessments.

Did these revelations nudge the Malaysian media to demand clarity from Anwar?

End ‘carma’

RSF must not absolve the Malaysian press of its responsibility to the people and nation.

Local media suffers from a malaise that leaves it uninterested in raising sensitive subjects.

An experienced reporter who heads an “unbiased” portal thought the news of an attempted suicide by a trishaw rider in Malacca to be too “hot and spicy” and declined to report it.

Is unbiased journalism not the backbone of democracy? Why walk on eggshells in fulfilling a duty so sacrosanct?

When the mainstream media in 2011 censured the Bersih rally “Walk for Democracy,” Nobel laureate A. Samad Said, who was among the thousands who took part in the protest and was later arrested for it, had this to say:

“Writers seldom take a stand. Most of them are ‘carma’ and are always prepared to not take a stand. This has caused all the evil to grow and spread tremendously.

“For the mainstream media, Bersih is dirty. I am also surprised (that) these experienced pressmen, who have won awards here and there, can smear Bersih. I know they are from the ‘carma’ group.

“Fortunately, there are still a small number of writers who dare take a stand, who know that Bersih is pure.”

By “carma,” Samad meant “cari makan”, or making a living.

Fahmi Fadzil, minister in charge of media affairs, has time and again been bashed for his actions against media outlets.

RSF, meanwhile, had this to say about press freedom in Malaysia:

“The government exerts a great deal of political pressure to deter the media from tackling sensitive subjects or criticising politicians and government officials.

“The authorities are after investigative reporters and the monarchy is an extremely sensitive subject, as are discussions on race and religion. Any form of commentary or reporting deemed critical of the monarchy can result in prosecution, leading to widespread self-censorship on the matter.”

No sooner had it assumed power in November 2022 than the Anwar administration was threatening TikTok. Why? The government was unhappy over the opposition’s extensive use of it.

But X, YouTube, and Facebook stood their ground and refused to to delete their content in line with their free-speech policy.

More governmental displeasure followed in June last year, when MalaysiaNow was summarily blocked for 48 hours.

The TV Pertiwi and Utusan TV websites were also blocked, as was a blog run by former MP Wee Choo Keong. He was granted leave to file a judicial review against Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for blocking access to his blog.

This troubling turn of events compelled RSF to warn Putrajaya against cracking down on freedom of expression.

“RSF is very concerned by this wave of suspensions by Malaysian authorities, without any explanations or judicial control, of news websites critical of the government,” RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau director Cedric Alviani said last September.

The RSF index is based on an assessment of the media landscape in 2023, a year in which bloggers and the online media were censured and the first ranking of press freedom in Malaysia under Anwar’s leadership.

Last year’s index, based on the events of 2022, which was an election year, saw Malaysia score its best ranking of 73rd from 113th the previous year, putting it ahead of its Asean neighbours.

Earlier this year, Putrajaya admitted asking MCMC to tell TikTok to delete certain videos.

Is the Pakatan Harapan government’s high-handedness in dealing with the press emboldening its officials, such as the health minister’s press secretary Nik Azmi Nik Fathil, who showed “unprofessional” behaviour at a May 16 press conference?

Putrajaya Media Club (PMC) said it had received several complaints from the media claiming Nik Azmi had belittled journalists asking for explanations to the statistics in the Health Ministry’s 2023 National Health and Morbidity Survey.

PMC said Nik Azmi had interrupted journalists asking questions while his boss Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad looked on.

Nik Azmi has since apologised for his behaviour.

There is a reason the media is known as the fourth pillar of democracy. Press freedom is not a given; it must be safeguarded without fear or favour. – May 20, 2024.