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Heck, MerdekaReview is in Chinese. I'm ashamed to say I can't read it. Will someone point me to the "Translate to English" link please?

"Honourable retirement from journalism" eh? Why do I feel myself reaching over for a very big pinch of salt?

hann:
hey, we meet again, pls hand me the "salT while I serve thee a cup of Haridas piping hioty tehtarik!

this guy Toman and his big boss Idris Buang were scapegoating Lester Malanyi all the way, now Toman wants to flag himself as a "honourable" hero. Yes, I heard Mark Antiony say so many times too: Brutus and all the assasins were honourable men ... trasnfer the Roman public square to the Malaysian opoliitcal (BN) stage ... and Shakespeare would have quietly smiled in his grave...
Maybe Toman will send some bouquets at the Sarawak Tribune tombstone: R.I.P. -- I hope it stands for my more optimistic (when I was a child...)version: RISE IF POSSIBLE.

With friends like Idris and Toman, the people at ST need no enemies...

Uh oh... not again... We will see what happen...

Yeah, lets see who else gonna be banned. Banning party just started ^^

There is a site called "babelfish" which can translate two forms of Chinese text into English.

Goto:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/

Well, since the government had suspended Sarawak Tribune, lets hope the government will do the same to the others if other media also did the same wrong (if really proven GuangMin Daily & TV3 had done so).

Hopefully its not a case of the government bullying the small guy and let the big guys go.

Suspension shouldn't happen and suffice that the people like the editors have apologised and resigned. Case close and move on. Some commented and feel closure of this paper is the right punishment but majority of my Sarawakian friends think otherwise. Some mentioned the necessity of severe punishment to maintain racial harmony but are you guys sure of this? Sacked the right person or even fine the paper but don't hentam sampai mati ... be merciful

Look lokes this issue is not winding down as reported by AP today.

Malaysia holds biggest anti-cartoon protest, declares possession of drawings illegal

By EILEEN NG
Associated Press Writer

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysia outlawed the possession of cartoons of Prophet Muhammad as thousands of Muslims marched Friday in the country's biggest demonstration against the caricatures, calling for the destruction of Denmark, Israel and the U.S.

"Long live Islam. Destroy Denmark. Destroy Israel. Destroy George Bush. Destroy America," shouted angry protesters who marched in a steady rain to the Denmark Embassy from a nearby mosque. Police put their number at about 2,000.

It was the second week that demonstrators have targeted the embassy after Friday prayers. But last week's protest attracted less than 100 people, indicating that anger is growing in Malaysia, viewed as a model of a tolerant, modern Islamic state.

The protest came a day after the government ordered a nationwide ban on possessing or distributing the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad first published in a Danish newspaper that have outraged the Islamic world, saying they could trigger public tensions.

"You are playing with fire Denmark. We are ready to fight," said Hanifah Maidin of the youth wing of the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, which organized the protest.

Speakers condemned Danish and European newspapers for publishing the caricatures, demanding an apology from the Danish government. Riot police stood guard in front of the high-rise building where the embassy is located, as a police helicopter hovered above.

An English-language banner held aloft read: "Distasteful depiction of the prophet is a declaration of war against Islam," while some protesters waved pictures of Iranian Islamic revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini.

The protesters dispersed peacefully about an hour later.

Danish Deputy Ambassador Steen Hommel expressed relief that there was no violence, and urged Malaysians not to boycott Danish products.

"Danish companies and individual Danish citizens are not part of the issue. It's sad to see a blanket judgment on all things Danish," he told reporters.

In a statement late Thursday, the Internal Security Ministry, headed by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said it was an offense for anyone to publish, produce, import, circulate or possess the caricatures. The measure was ordered to curb the circulation of material that could cause uneasiness among Malaysians and disrupt public order, the ministry said.

The statement did not specify what penalties could be imposed on offenders, and ministry officials couldn't immediately be reached for further details.

The move came as the ministry ordered a small Malaysian newspaper, the Sarawak Tribune, to cease publication indefinitely after it reproduced one of the caricatures last weekend. The Tribune's publishers apologized for what they called an editorial oversight, but the ministry said the newspaper had to be penalized because its action was "irresponsible and insensitive" to Muslims.

Malaysia's newspapers operate under government licenses that must be renewed yearly and bar them from publishing potentially provocative material on religion, race and other topics.

"Danish Deputy Ambassador Steen Hommel expressed relief that there was no violence, and urged Malaysians not to boycott Danish products."

I don't want to pay blackmarket price for my favourite Kjeldsen Butter Cookies - http://www.kelsenbisca.com/KelsenBisca/English/Brands/Kjeldsens/Kjeldsens+product+range.htm

Also from BBC:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4699716.stm

To quote:
"AP news agency reported that the prime minister had also declared possession of the cartoons illegal."

I have just surfed the net and saw the cartoons so I have 'possesed' them in my mind now. So arrest me then.

I think the next thing that Malaysia is going to ban the internet. Ooopss...can't do that! Tun M's baby MSC gonna burn is ashes!

Remember folks, the cartoons are like the Greek mythology Medusa or the Three Monkeys. You can't see it, you can't talk (in the form of reprinting it in media) and maybe later you can't even talk about it!

oh yeah! coming up next! gag order! gag order on the cartoon. no no talk about it verbally or written form. if you are itchy and wanna talk about it, you will sure kena!

i don't see it as gag order.

by the way, i'm still yet to open the Kjeldsen Butter Cookies I bought 2 weeks ago... :)

Cheers.

Hey desiderata, old buddy,
I didn't know Toman was scapegoating Lester. By grain of salt I thought he had been forced out too. Got the wrong end of the stick eh? :) Oops.

//"Long live Islam. Destroy Denmark. Destroy Israel. Destroy George Bush. Destroy America," shouted angry protesters who marched in a steady rain to the Denmark Embassy from a nearby mosque.//

Yes, very good display of the herd mentality the rest of the Arab world is showing. Yes, let's rehash all the "Israel, America, Bush" slogans, why don't we? Very mature way of tunjuk-ing perasaan I must say. I guess we should all be thankful that they didn't have the inclination (guts?) to torch the embassy. You gotta love the way these people see everything as a declaration of war against their religion. Sigh...

Jeff, better be careful. Illegal to "publish, produce, import, circulate or possess". I think you kena on at least two counts already.

Oh dear, what have we done now. Jeff and the the rest, please go to muttawa.blogspot.com to see examples of depictions of the Prophet done in the past by other people. Are there double standards here? I'm confused.

Jeff

You asked: "Did Buletin TV3 and Guangming Daily do the same FOOLISH things as Sarawak Tribune?"

Yes, they are fools if they did... and I think you are a BIGGER FOOL yourself for linking your topics on the issue to the cartoons images. Don't you agree?

JEFF OOI says: You must now say Internet should be banned since links float around freely. You must now say Jeff Ooi should be condemned a rapist since I have the arsenal that can rise to the occasion anytime it's linked to the arousing source. Mustn't you?

Great minds -- you and I -- think alike. Just that FOOLS seldom differ.

sigh.. when will this all end? perhaps i'm insensitive, but i just feel that everyone is over-reacting. yes, it's the hot topic of the day, but it's over. everyone agrees the cartoons were an insult. some feel it's justified, some feel it's not - fair enough; no one will get the other side to agree. those responsible for allowing it to be published have been punished (probably justly in the Malaysian context). now we're going after people publishing pictures of the pictures - if this were America, the lawyers would be circling for a kill right about now.

yg arif:
if you visit Jeffooi's or any Msian blogger's place, please don't abuse the privilege by "muddying" the tehtraik served , will you?

hey, start your own blog, and I'll give you back the same traetrment - embellishment and psotulation to add salt to injury, SE7EN fold -- that's a challenge!

If I'm a court reporter, I quote the charge of alled sodomy commuitted by a former DPM, am I guilty of "committing" defam,ation or worse yet, encouarging the act of sodomy?

Yg Arif, your "pattern" of trying to put the generous host -- JeffOOi -- in hot waters by the most tenuous of association of "alleged" or perceived offence is not appreciated by "great minds" here. My apologies, I often differ with this visiting wolf in sheep's clothing, no?

PS: Hi hann, thanks for brotherhood & acknowledgment -- shall we toast "yeesang" on this 2nd last dae of Eat, Drink & Be Merry? Care to drop by at Desi's Place for tehtarik?

Yeah, but like I said in an earlier post on a separate thread, Singapore has also banned publication of the said cartoons.

The Singapore Straits Times newspaper has run an editorial that said that there is no such thing as absolute press freedom and that the Danish paper in question should have known better.

Yet I see no cries of outrage over Singapore's stand. The Singapore on-line fora are noticeably silent on the issue.

While Malaysia is being criticised for its stand vis-a-vis the cartoons and the decision to suspend the Sarawak Tribune newspaper.

It only goes to show that if you make nice-nice with the West, the powers-that-be are willing to overlook such ambiguities, whereas a country like Malaysia gets in the neck from both domestic and foreign critics.

It's this double standards game all over again.

Dear Desiderata

Like you, I disagree with YgArif on his comments but I will not react the way you did. My upbringing prevents me from doing so.

I wish to share this quote with you:

“Be mild with the mild, shrewd with the crafty, confiding to the honest, rough to the ruffian, and a thunderbolt to the liar. But in all this, never be unmindful of your own dignity.” John Brown (1800-1859) White anti-slavery militant

YgArif,
Yes fools don't differ indeed. But if you think that Jeff is a fool, then you're welcome to make your views heard here (which you've already done), and you're also welcome to take them somewhere else where they'll be appreciated more than they are here.

Spock,
If the cartoons are not published in Singapore, I'm guessing it's a decision taken by the collective editors NOT to publish. The Singapore Straits Times editor, in refusing to publish claiming that he was against the cartoons, has made a stand and a decision, based on his/her own principles. Whereas in the case of the ST, Guang Ming and TV3, they made the decision to publish/show, and were punished for it. I think the real issue here is not whether they were published or not, but the reaction shown by the powers-that-be when they ARE published. Perhaps you're missing the point here somewhat?

Desiderata,
Kinda hard to find teh tarik here in London (and when you do it's 1 pound 50), but when I return to my tanah tumpahnye darahku in the summer, I'll be sure to have a teh halia with you :)

If Guangming is guity, then the whole media is also guilty for even mentioning that the Holy Prophet was slighted because such news drew curious Malaysian to the internet in search of those cartoons which were not difficult to locate.

Let's be realistic on what constitutes hate and what constitutes news. Kill hate but don't kill news.

to dignity2u:

thanks for solomonesque quote:
but i'm practising one componet, "rough to the ruffian..", ain't I?

To hann: thanks for in-prinsip acceptance of my offer -- like howsy, dear Hann, you can contact me via email & even HPhone sprinkled over my weblog -- this journo likes to make a nama for himself, maybe even get noticed enuf by the right people to be recruited into Latukship:)

Meanwhile, I'm worried about kindly souls planting materials at other peoples' homes to make it hot and even xplosive:(

Desiderata

Please read carefully "But in all this, never be unmindful of your own dignity.”

Otherwise, you are "rough to the ruffian" and end up a ruffian too.

someone who works for TV3 as a broadcast journalist told me: "no.. only newspaper headlines... cartoon not visible at all... plus swak tribune hq (bldg)"

Sarawak Tribune lives on online? http://sarawak_tribune.newstrove.com/