Screenshots

Sarawak Tribune was suspended indefinitely for posting the caricatures, Guangming Daily was suspended for 2 weeks, starting from Feb 16 - March 1 for posting a picture-within-a-picture.

But, how about this? :(

*A fly passed by* "Yawn! Huh? What? Cartoon? What cartoon? We are 'All The News That Matters’. This is a non-matter thing. How dare you say that! We are gomen's paper, you know. Can we get back to work now?"

I think you're courting trouble.

No caricature of any prophet was drawn therefore nothing wrong with the cartoon.

OH MY GOD! I thought Jeff Ooi was publishing a cartoon off some foreign newspapers!!!!

Jalan Riong rupanya!!!!

Itu dah kira mempersendakan isu agama!!!!

I want that paper closed down in a few days!!!! (A few days sebab nak tunggu the indecisive decision made).

:)

NST made a mistake by publishing wrong nationality of the video clip of woman from China who was ordered to strip and ear-squat.

source:
http://teresakok.blogsome.com/images/DSCF1209.JPG

Guess what, they escaped scot free, but indeed China Press was punished.

So, I guess nothing will happen to NST simply because they are UMNO mouthpiece.

So, it's not okay to post caricatures of the Prophet in a newspaper, and it's not okay to reference the controversy in a newspaper either.

I suppose it's not okay to mention the caricature of the controversy of a caricature of the Prophet.

Nothing to report here. All's well.

*agrees with T-Boy's point*

I don't see this as being as tasteless as the Muhammad cartoons (and I found those very tasteless and pointless) - I think this comic was trying to point out the absurdity of the whole situation, rather than being inflammatory toward Muslims or whatever.

We can't all be walking on eggshells.

IMHO, it's just bad timing. Even if there's nothing wrong at all to come up with this cartoon piece in the current global circumstances surrounding the recent Prophet Muhammad's caricatures, I'm pretty sure that the big guns of these "well-read" newspaper in Malaysia know well enough of the potential impact it might have on the Muslim masses (that includes the bruhaha Ministers in search of cheap publicity). In short, let's just be more more sensitive and tolerant of each other's religious beliefs, shall we?

quote tiara: "I think this comic was trying to point out the absurdity of the whole situation, rather than being inflammatory toward Muslims or whatever."

so were sarawak tribune and guang ming.

sarawak tribune, regretably published the whole cartoon but with a caption "cartoon not much impact here" so was just trying to point out that the cartoons have not much impact here. it did not purposely published the cartoons to inflame muslims.

and guang ming did not publish the cartoon at all but picture of someone looking at the cartoons holding a paper. they were, maybe also trying to point out the absurdity of the whole situation and did not meant to be inflamatory too.

yet, both were suspended.

and remember tv3? nothing was done ti tv3... and i'm sure now nothing will be done to NST.

jeff i think u didn't censor it enough... u may wan to make darker/more grey.

Oh for crying out loud. It's obviously a declaration of war by the evil West on our country. Can't you blind people see that? It mentioned the name XXX, it put the word "caricature" beside it, what more do you want? It's obviously a blatant show of confidence to the western presses and this evil thing called "freedom of press/speech/expression". We must eradicate them. Give NST a three-year suspension, make the chief editor kowtow on national TV and plead forgiveness from all who have been offended, boycott all English speaking newspapers (they're all in on it anyway) and lastly burn down NST printing presses. This disgusting mockery of X religion has gone on long enough.

I hope all reasonable Malaysians will see this for what it is, take it the right way, and join me in throwing the first flaming torch into the NST offices in Jln Riong. We shall fight back my brothers and sisters.

today these UMNO act as if they're judges appointed by god. Wait till kingdom then we shall see.

The whole government system is bias. Its so corrupt that only a change in gov would wipe of abuse of power. glas that i voted for DAP.

walk the talk mr.lah. The people are fed up with ur empty promises, and i don't think many want to work for you anymore, same goes with not wanting to work with you also.

The cartoon does not state 'Prophet Muhammad' hence it could be of any person called Muhammad - however, it sure is at a very wrong time!

you would like to correct your spelling... 'tentamount'

anyway i dont think this whole comic strip is about the prophet

notice the black shadow behind the artist , it signifies something

Sorry, nevermind the cartoons. Are discussion threads on this forum now shortened to 2 days. What happened ?

Self censorship ? :)

JEFF OOI says: Intentionally so configured to enable faster download of the frontpage. Can always reset to 7-day frontpage archive -- or longer -- if there's real request from readers. But let's also consider the Lowest Common Denominator - the dial-up Internet users.

Guangming Daily was suspended for 2 weeks, starting from Feb 16 - March 1 for posting a picture-within-a-picture?

I still reading this newspaper for the whole week since 16/feb. what is the means of suspended for 2 weeks?

you are wasting time...wasting valuable blog space..don't you know nothing will happen to NST..probably now the bug**rs in NST are laughing at you.

I am 100% sure nothing will happen

so were sarawak tribune and guang ming.

Here’s the fundamental difference—Sarawak Tribune and Guang Ming violated a religious taboo for many Muslims by debasing Muhammad by caricature. That’s the reason why they were suspended, not because they ‘made fun’ of the whole incident.

NST, on the other hand, merely includes “Muhammad” in a comic. It was done in mockery, yes, but of whom? Islam, Muhammad, or the foolish Muslims and Westerners who insist on carrying this debate to the highest levels of drama and whining?

This is, really, a non-issue.

I find it very strange.

If someone prints cartoons and says that is bad and we should not do it then the paper gets closed down and the world thinks that evil.

But if someone describe the cartoons in words, no one shuts the paper down.

Why? Both pictures and words are tools of communication.

Hi Jeff.

A 2 day allowance for discussion is really too short. Inadvertently, you are also promoting the "hangat tahi ayam" syndrome. Even before we can warm up to an issue, it's already over.

For dial in subscribers, they should set the preference of their browsers to "no image" to speedup download.

I believe all of us should encourage broadband subscription. :)

Thank you for listening.

It seems many people ignore the sideline "Kevin finally achieve his goal to be most feared man in the world".

I'm not sured when will this religious "WHITE FEAR" will end. I must remind everyone, if you over-react, anything can be caricatured to you.

Bad taste? Again, it depends who you are, what value you hold.

This comics just show yet another Bolehland policy : hypocrisy. In the old chinese story, it is called, "Allow powerful to raised fire; forbid the public put on lights".

Yes, I just hurt they have removed ALL THE MIRRORS on the walls in NST and Putrajaya -- to do a face-lift the big bots have to go to the TO-LET!:(

Yes, I just hurt they have removed ALL THE MIRRORS on the walls in NST and Putrajaya -- to do a face-lift the big bots have to go to the TO-LET!:(

Thanks to those overzealous and fundamentalist religious people, the caricature of Mohammad was thrown into a limelight no other caricature had before. But, those caricature by the Danish cartoonist was very mild and more of a tongue in chick thingie.

There are many more worst depictions of Mohammad to be found many websites. Websites like www.prophetcartoons.com and www.islamcomicbook.com , not only make fun of the islamic religion but also making a mockery of the holy verses of the Quran.

It is very dishearthening to learn such derogatory remarks being made on religious people. In many of those websites, the Prophet Mohammad is being likened as a sex craze , dirty old man or worst still, a paedophile.

I guess we should just take this little comic strip as a joke and not be inflamed by it. Muslim extremists who decide to take on the streets and burning effigies, flags and etc for the slightest provocation would only further cast a bad light on the religion.

C'mon guys ,its just a cartoon,nothing more.But since its from Jalan Riong,I'm Gonna RIONGIZE the issue and start burning Riong Tabloids bearing in mind that they JUDGED,JURIED AND EXECUTIONED the SARAWAK TRIBUNE before The Ministry of Internal Affairs.What goes around comes around.

ps: jeff,better darken the grey censorstrip.

Talk about making Mountain out of Molehill, all of you who are crying bloody murder over this need to GROW UP AND GET A SENSE OF HUMOUR.

Like Tiara said, this is not making fun of religion, it's making fun of how stupidly people react to the most insignificant of things. Just like now...

That's right, its making fun on how people react to the original cartoon. That's not equal to making fun of religion. It’s also making a joke about “if you don’t see it, then it isn’t there”.

But, it’s just a cartoon. The violence is real.

whatsoever - Only the EVENING edition of GuangMing is suspended-lah> Why no read properly one?
If you believe the Star, GM also had an "afternoon" edition suspended -- even people in the media bizness are cuntfused, so I won't blame thee-lah:)

Just like you look over the shoulders if you said "May 13" I guess soon we got to look over our shoulders any time we want to say "cartoon" lest someone decides you are making fun of or refering to "The cartoon"!

See no evil,
Hear no evil,
Speak no evil.

Cartoon no evil??

Jeff, in the end...

They will indeed decide to put u under ISA and close one blind eye on NST.

Heh, u should work for government, then maybe you will escape...

Talk about freedom of speech and BIAS!...
Bah.. those are just nothing but just sayings..

Everyone, check out this breaking news:

NGOs, PAS Lodge Police Report On Offensive Cartoon In Newspaper

Dear people,
I am a malaysian and a fellow muslim. fyi, in Islam, we can not potray,draw,sketch nor use prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a joke in any way. We value our prophet Muhammad and treasure him (pbuh). He is the messenger of Allah. From him (pbuh) and Al-Quran, we learn the islamic way of life. So, I urge people not to make fun of our prophet Muhammad and our belief. Please respect other people's belief. In this NST case, even though the cartoon maybe was purposedly drawn to make fun of the whole situation, it can still convey the message of making fun at our prophet muhammad (pbuh). So this is a serious matter since with this kind of cartoon, people will think it is ok to include the prophet name in daily cartoons and laugh at it. Please understand that I think all Muslim can be offended by this cartoon of NST and we can not take this lightly. Thank you.

Reyhsa: The Prophet Muhammad isn't even in this cartoon though, and the cartoon isn't about HIM - it's referring to everyone else "screaming bloody murder" (as ViceIce put it).

Wow, this is really sad.

The cartoon does not depict the prophet. It does not imply or say anything about the prophet, positive or negative. It is not about the prophet at all.

The cartoon is about a controversy that is currently raging in some benighted parts of the world, whipped up by demagogues who gain power through strife.

Anyone who thinks it is about the prophet, is so wrapped up in the need to feel victimised that they have completely suppressed their critical thinking skills.

I feel nothing but pity for anyone who is offended by the cartoon the NST printed. Clearly these people are unable to function in a society where anyone thinks differently from them. I wish I could say that such people are a dying breed, but it seems that every new generation brings with it another batch of closed-minded xenophobes who get their satisfaction from lashing out against anything different from themselves.

I have no pity, however, for the demagogues who stir them up. For them I have only loathing. They are the manufacturers of hate and anger, the ones who try to tear the world apart for their own political gain. Anyone who stands on a soapbox to encourage others to protest against these cartoons deserves nothing short of an eternity of punishment at the hands of the almighty.

unu,
Love your way of putting things :) Brilliant.

I reckon the whole thing is a brilliant spin just to show that NST is not beholden to the Government.

Here we go again!

Much ado about nothing... when will it end??

It's clear the Western media is taking this opportunistic "freedom of expression" thing to rub as much salt as possible into the whole affair. I can just see them laughing themselves silly to see other people tripping over the mess they continue to make.

In response to all these comments regarding the cartoon,let me humbly give my "two cents" worth of opinion as a devout Muslim albeit progressive in his nature.
Firstly, I personally found it to be funny.In a nutshell, the artist was trying to put sense on all the hullaballoo surrounding this. In his limited and ignorant perhaps, knowledge of Islam and how Muhammad (peace be upon Him) occupies such exalted stature in the religion, such innocent display of artistic expression merely suggests that its not a big deal after all, and it did not even display any images or provocative drawings of the Prophet.
Well here comes the dilemma, any references on Muhammad at all that can be deemed negative, whether intentional or otherwise, or making fun and having a laugh at the expense of Muhammad's name are strictly forbidden, and for us Muslims is a grave sin tantamount to blasphemy. In the theological aspect, Islam does not exist without Muhammad, much like mankind would not exist without Adam. For all the long line of prophets that have been in narrated in the Qur'an, Muhammad is of a higher level, more so than Moses (pbuh),Jesus (pbuh),Abraham (pbuh)..the historical figures in major religions. Muhammad is known as the Messiah, the last of all the Prophets and with him Islam is complete as a religion, a faith that not only demands obeyance in terms of deed (prayers, fasting,haj pilmigrage etc) but also protecting the good name and honour of our beloved Muhammad from being denigrated to mere fodders in someone's weekend comic sketch.
A show of protest through violence,which I strongly disagree is nevertheless a show of love and duty to protect our beloved Prophet's sacred image by the poor and perhaps not brightly educated ones by our brothers in Pakistan, Indonesia and other parts of the world. The way of dialogue and passive protest through strong diplomatic pressure and perhaps economic sanctions would be most prudent in my view, coming from one who believes in the good nature of peace and love in humanity. But please do bear in mind that as Muslims, we are ONE as Ummah (brotherhood) and in solidarity (Ukhuwah).. much like the sayings of Mohammad, "We(Muslims), are all brothers and kindred in spirit, and not one gets hurt without the others feeling it.." while pointing to the fingers in one hand to symbolise the meaning of it.
It is wise for me to believe in good faith that ignorance played a part in the artist's cartoon depiction, but sinisterly for the NST to produce it in a Muslim-majority country. To do so would akin to stirring a hornets nest, provoking backlash from the silent but faithful and further providing ammunition for the zealots to further inflame the otherwise fragile yet stable relation of believers and kafrs(non-believers).
Much lest i ramble on and being called a spin doctor on Muhammad's PR team,let me quote a passage of history on the birth of Islam..while Muhammad (pbuh) was on dakwah (missionary works) to spread Islam in Taif(now part of Saudi Arabia),He was heckled and stoned by the people until His clothes was drenched in blood. Then an angel appeared, and said he would wipe out the entire village and all its inhabitants if He (Muhammad) wishes to do so.
His reply? "No, for ignorance made them do so and I would only pray that some day this part would embrace the religion that I bring."

What if the cartoon says :-

1.0 Guatama Buddha
2.0 Lord Krishna
3.0 Lord Murugan
4.0 Lord Sutch.......Guess NST will not have to face any inquiry right ?

Err... People how do you know the cartoon is about Prophet Muhammad. I think it is about Muhammad bin Muhammad Taib the UMNO guy ;-)