Plagiarism: Views of 'foreigners' who know Malaysia
Writer Sharon Bakar (Bibliobibuli who blogs at http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com) points to the Internet's Hall of (Plagiarist) Shame when she commented on the Brendan-lifts-Albom scam in Rocky'sBru.
She said:
it is quite clearly plagiarism. brendon.
(Brendan?) took the framework of an article written by someone else and used it to support his own article.
if the article he had taken had been known to the wider malaysian public and if he had used it as a basis for a humourous or ironic piece which built in some sense on the original article, that would not have been plagiarism. [...] brendon just took and hoped no-one would notice. and perhaps the worst crime of all - the original piece is powerful and eloquent, while brendon's prose is laboured and earth-bound.
Sharon is a British who has lived in Malaysia for more than 20 years. She writes on books for a number of publications and teaches creative writing.
Meanwhile, refering to the Brendan-lifts-Albom scam, a KL-based foreign correspondent told me this:
...but it is something of a sin in journalism... I can't see the point of plagiarising.
Having heard from two 'foreigners', we haven't heard much from our own people, have we?
Comments
uggh. my typo will haunt me.
brendan.
another question i just asked on rocky's site - is lifting the framework of a post as serious as lifting substance?
i don't feel it is, personally. but it's still not ethical.
btw jeff - how do we tackle this question of book-banning in malaysia? i feel it is extremely serious but the mainstream press just arent' picking it up.
Posted by: sharonbakar![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 2, 2006 08:38 AM
Jeff, they are practicing a 'media gag' on themselves :-)
Posted by: caribenar![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 2, 2006 08:51 AM
just a quick question to sharonbakar..
who decides which books to ban and allow into the country?
because I was about to order a book by Reza Aslan entitled "No God But God", and a friend of mine said that it may have been banned in Malaysia...
Posted by: aput83![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 2, 2006 09:58 AM
the kementarian dalam negeri decide. books may be "gazetted" as banned i.e. appear on an official ministry list, or become "restricted" when consignments get stopped at the border and copies of books felt to be unsuitable confiscated.
if you don't see the book you want on the official list, it may still be restricted - and as such possibly available at the moment in some bookshops but unlikely to be there once stocks run out. if in doubt order from amazon.
btw - i won't post anymore about the banned book issue here and hijack jeff's blog (btw - now am getting gazillions of hits - "the jeff effect"!) but if you are patient enough to read some of my archived posts, you'll get a fuller picture.
Posted by: sharonbakar![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 2, 2006 10:19 AM
okay so what's the difference between brendan and syed, again?
nst, nst, apa nak jadi?
nst, nst, tak lama lagi mati.
nst, nst, sedarlah cepat!
nst, nst, cepatlah pecat!
Posted by: C-Fu![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 2, 2006 12:25 PM
sorry double post, but it has to be said.
hey jeff, will ya put a pic of brendan like that tembak guy at the side of your blog? i mean hey, if his offence is as serious as you journos think it is, then you "owe" that to the malaysian journos :p
Posted by: C-Fu![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 2, 2006 12:30 PM
just wanted to say a quick thanks for the point, jeff.
re: syed/bp - i do hope the choice of SN wasn't due to TDM's 'nst is run by non-malays! tak boleh!' nonsense. But I guess he was next in line anyway?..
Posted by: nat![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.my/nav-commenters.gif)
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November 2, 2006 05:33 PM