Filed under: Astro Awani, internet, journalism, new media, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, barisan nasional, BN, campaign, ceramah, fat bidin, ge13, general election, interview, journalism, Keadilan, malay, malaysia, malaysian spring, media, muhyiddin, muslim, new media, news, pakatan rakyat, police, PR, pru13, The Malaysian Insider, umno, vote, voters, zan azlee
Can an elected leader choose who he wants to neglect?
By Zan Azlee
In a democracy, leaders are elected by the people in a society to lead and govern that certain society. The basic elements of a democratic election is such:
1. The people go and vote for the candidates in an election
2. There is a counting process to see how many votes each candidate received
3. The candidate who garners the most votes wins and becomes the elected leader
As you can see, the concept is quite simple actually. And being in Malaysia, a country where Islam is the official religion, I think it is appropriate to see the relevance of the religion in the governance of the country, even if we see ourselves as secular.
And when a leader has been elected, he or she then has the responsibility and obligation to serve the entire society. I would like to stress here that it is the ENTIRE society that he is responsible for.
Islam actually forbids a leader (or anyone, for that matter) to practice partiality and differentiate one group of human being from the other as if one is more deserving than the other. [Click to read the full article at English.AstroAwani.Com]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, barisan nasional, BN, campaign, ceramah, chinese, cina, corruption, cronyism, fat bidin, ge13, general election, interview, journalism, Keadilan, malay, malaysia, malaysian spring, media, muslim, new media, news, ops lalang, pakatan rakyat, PR, pru13, sedition, solo journalism, The Malaysian Insider, umno, vote, voters, zan azlee
Will we stagnate with the status quo?
By Zan Azlee
JUNE 7 — During the election period last month, I was pretty adamant about wanting to see change, whether it be a change in government, or at least a change in governance.
I had many discussions, conversations and even debates with fellow journalism colleagues, friends and family about this. One of the conversations I had was about how if the federal government were to change, or even if certain ministers or MPs were to lose, what effect it would have.
Say, for example, if a local businessman was awarded a project by the local MP because they were friends or acquaintances. What would happen then if that MP lost during the election and the opposing party took power in that area? Would that local businessman lose business? [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, barisan nasional, BN, campaign, ceramah, chinese, cina, fat bidin, ge13, general election, interview, journalism, Keadilan, malay, malaysia, malaysian spring, media, muslim, new media, news, ops lalang, pakatan rakyat, police, PR, pru13, sedition, solo journalism, The Malaysian Insider, umno, vote, voters, zan azlee
From excitement to fatigue
By Zan Azlee
MAY 31 – Last week, I had lunch with my friend, Liew Seng Tat, a famous award-winning Malaysian film director of Chinese descent. If you haven’t heard of him, then you know zilch about film. Seng Tat is very politically active. He’s not a politician, he’s just one of the many young Malaysians who have had a heightened sense of political awareness due to developments in the country.
He was at all three BERSIH demonstrations and was even beaten up and arrested during the second one (Remember the famous assault on Tong Shin Hospital? He was in the carpark.). He attends a lot of ceramahs and talks, candle light vigils, protests and even became a PACABA volunteer during the recent GE. And of course there are the Black 505 rallies.
He even sends me all kinds of SMSes, Facebook links and e-mails about politics, the government, news of corruption and human rights abuse, etc. But when I met him for lunch a few days ago at Mahbub in Lucky Gardens, Bangsar, his mood and level of enthusiasm was a stark difference than before. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, barisan nasional, BN, campaign, ceramah, chinese, cina, fat bidin, ge13, general election, interview, journalism, Keadilan, malay, malaysia, malaysian spring, media, muslim, new media, news, ops lalang, pakatan rakyat, police, PR, pru13, sedition, solo journalism, The Malaysian Insider, umno, vote, voters, zan azlee
I’m afraid, really afraid!
By Zan Azlee
MAY 24 — I’m going to be honest and say outright that I’m afraid of the recent turn of events in our country, with the numerous arrests being made and copies of newspapers being confiscated But it’s a complicated situation that everything is in right now. And I am seriously tired of all these complicated situations that we’ve been in since the election.
Yes, the election has come and gone. And yes, Barisan Nasional (BN) won and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lost. It’s the worst faring by BN and the best by PR. BN was quick to swear in their prime minister, while PR was quick to declare the election process being a fraud and not recognise the results.
And since they won the popular vote, PR leaders started organising rallies all around the country, knowing full well that the turnout would be huge. Yada yada yada. And that’s when all hell broke loose in the BN camp. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: Keadilan, general election, malaysia, zan azlee, fat bidin, The Malaysian Insider, news, 1malaysia, muslim, malay, media, solo journalism, interview, new media, journalism, chinese, pakatan rakyat, umno, barisan nasional, utusan, BN, PR, pru13, ge13, vote, voters, campaign, ceramah, malaysian spring, cina
Serve all races
By Zan Azlee
MAY 17 — Yesterday, I got back from a working trip to Jakarta and in the taxi from KLIA, the driver started chatting with me about the recent general election. And just for context, the driver is Malay and looked to be middle-aged. I’m guessing around 50 years of age.
At one point, he said to me: “Tengok Kabinet baru yang Perdana Menteri sudah lantik. Langsung tidak ada wakil orang Cina. Biar padan muka mereka. Cina sekarang dah banyak songeh!”
At first, I wanted to blurt out and say that he needs to be certain who he’s talking to. I may look Malay, and I may sound Malay, but I am in fact Chinese (part of me, that is!).
Then I would have continued to condemn him and his racist ways and, hopefully put him in his place and educate him a little about the ways of harmonious living.
But I immediately caught myself before I did anything drastic. And I think it paid off quite well judging from the taxi driver’s reaction. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: writing, new media, internet, journalism, The Malaysian Insider | Tags: Keadilan, general election, malaysia, zan azlee, fat bidin, The Malaysian Insider, news, 1malaysia, muslim, malay, media, solo journalism, interview, new media, journalism, chinese, pakatan rakyat, umno, barisan nasional, lembah pantai, utusan, BN, PR, pru13, ge13, vote, voters, campaign, ceramah, malaysian spring, cina
The race factor
By Zan Azlee
MAY 10 — The race factor definitely played a role in the voter swing in the recent GE13. No doubt about it. So when Umno-owned newspaper Utusan published the front-page story “Apa lagi Cina mahu?” last Tuesday in response to the voter swing, it couldn’t have been a surprise.
Barisan Nasional consists of many component parties and most of these parties (if not all of them) are all race-based. And, of course, the three main parties that make up the coalition are Umno (Malay), the MCA (Chinese) and MIC (Indian).
The logic to it is that Umno will attract the Malay voters, the MCA will attract the Chinese and MIC, the Indians. Hence, they should have it all covered in Malaysia.
Then we look at Pakatan Rakyat, who is constantly preaching multiracial politics, claiming that they aren’t race-based. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, barisan nasional, DAP, election, fat bidin, ge13, journalism, Keadilan, lim guan eng, malay, malaysia, media, muslim, new media, news, pakatan rakyat, pas, PKR, pru13, The Malaysian Insider, umno, zan azlee
DAP CEC dilemma will prove Malaysians’ maturity
By Zan Azlee
APRIL 19 — The decision by the Registrar of Societies (RoS) not to recognise the DAP’s central executive committee, or CEC, is a surprising move indeed even if it is an issue that has been talked about before this. Why did the RoS decide to do so only two days before Nomination Day when it had earlier already decided that investigations would be postponed till May 9?
As far as perception goes, this would actually make it look as if the decision taken by the RoS is a politically-motivated one that would benefit the caretaker Barisan Nasional government. If this is the case, then it would make full sense for the DAP not to challenge the decision and play the “victim” card to gain sympathy and turn the situation around for their own benefit instead.
Also, this decision by the RoS would mean that the DAP would have no recognised leaders to authorise their members to use the party logo during the election. DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng has already declared, with the agreement of the PKR and PAS leadership, that DAP members can run under the other two parties’ logos.
But there are implications to this decision if it were indeed to be taken. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: journalism, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, barisan nasional, fat bidin, GE, general election, interview, journalism, Keadilan, kuala lumpur, mahathir mohamad, malay, malaysia, media, new media, news, oon yeoh, pakatan rakyat, pru13, racism, racist, The Malaysian Insider, umno, zan azlee
The Sun columnist, Oon Yeoh, compares my thoughts with former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir regarding the 13th General Election! Who would you agree with?? Jeng jeng jeng!! Click here to read the article: Hope vs Fear!
Filed under: Astro Awani, internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, barisan nasional, fat bidin, GE, general election, interview, journalism, Keadilan, kuala lumpur, malay, malaysia, media, new media, news, pakatan rakyat, pru13, racism, racist, The Malaysian Insider, umno, zan azlee
No votes for racists
By Zan Azlee
APRIL 12 ― I turn to my right, and I see two Malaysians. Their names are Cherish Leow and Cynthia Ng. I look further down to the left; I see another Malaysian. His name is Thinesh Kumar. This is my workplace.
I look to my left, I see four Malaysians. They are the Lau family. I look further ahead and I see another Malaysian. His name is Steven Tan. This is my residential area.
I look to my right, I see a Malaysian. Her name is Ang Swee Poh. I look further down to the right, I see another Malaysian. His name is Ganesh Selvacumarasamy. This is my family.
I look to my left, I see a Malaysian. Her name is Jasmine Abu Bakar. I look in my arms, I see a Malaysian. Her name is Athena Azlee. These are my wife and daughter.
Then I read in the news and see prominent Malaysians endorse and encourage racial politics, in particular, one former Inspector-General of Police.
He says that racial politics is relevant to our society because the different races need to be able to share power so as to have a stable and peaceful country.
Bullshit! I say it’s just a divide-and-conquer strategy to ensure certain people get the power. What do you think? Could my humble opinion actually be right? [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, allah, fat bidin, islam, malay, malaysia, muslim, new media, The Malaysian Insider, zan azlee
Islam says to obey your leaders
By Zan Azlee
APRIL 5 – Linawati Kate Adnan is my colleague and she sits next to me at work. One Friday, as I was leaving the office for Fridays prayers, she looked at me with full horror in her eyes.
“Zan! You actually pray?”
“What the hell is that suppose to mean?”
“Hahahahaha!!”
True story! And since we’re on the topic of Friday prayers, last week’s sermon really woke me up from my regular afternoon slumber in the mosque. The Khatib called all the Muslims who were in the prayer hall to obey and be loyal to our country’s leaders and that this is an Islamic obligation.
Apparently, based on Quranic verses and the Prophet’s hadith that this is an obligation for all Muslims and that rebelling against them is a huge sin. The sermon went on to say that the act of rebelling includes disputing a legitimate decision made by leaders who were given the powers to govern a country. Back up right there! [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: Astro Awani, broadcast, internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, allah, bergoglio, cardinal, catholic, christian, fat bidin, interfaith, islam, journalism, malay, malaysia, multiculturalism, muslim, pluralism, pope, pope benedict, pope francis, roman, The Malaysian Insider, zan azlee
Habemus Papam!
By Zan Azlee
MARCH 29 ― I have a friend by the name of Marcus Lim. He is my colleague at Astro AWANI. Marcus is a devout Catholic and we have interesting conversations about our faiths whenever we feel too lazy to do some actual work in the office.
The day that the new pope was decided on, I came into the office and as soon as I saw Marcus, I yelled out, “Habemus Papam!” (We have a pope!) I doubt that Marcus actually knows Latin, but he replied:
Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum:
Habemus Papam;
Eminentissimum ac reverendissimum Dominum,
Dominum Jorge Mario Sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ Cardinalem Bergoglio,
Qui sibi nomen imposuit Franciscum.
(I announce to you a great joy:
We have a Pope!
The most eminent and reverend lord
Lord Jorge Mario Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Bergoglio,
Who takes the name of Francis.)
Okay. I kid! He only managed to utter the first sentence before he started uttering gibberish since he doesn’t actually speak Latin. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: broadcast, directing, documentary, internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, agbimuddin kiram, askar, conflict, documentary, fat bidin, ic, islam, journalism, kiram, malay, malaysia, media, muslim, new media, news, project ic, sabah, sarawak, sulu, The Malaysian Insider, war, zan azlee
I see what IC
By Zan Azlee
MARCH 22 — Sijah Ejut is a true blue Malaysian. She is an Iban tuai rumah (village head) who has lived her entire life on the outskirts of Sibu, Sarawak. She has never been out of the country, and her ancestors have lived on the land for centuries. You can’t get any more Malaysian than that.
Yet, she only managed to register her citizenship and get an IC at the age of 27. And because of that, she couldn’t finish her schooling. She couldn’t even travel around freely because the police would stop and accuse her of being an illegal immigrant.
Sijah’s isn’t an isolated case. Almost the entire population of her village does not have ICs (or had trouble getting ICs) even though they are all Bumiputeras.
And imagine Sijah Ejut’s outrage now that she knows that one of Malaysia’s most wanted men, Agbimuddin Kiram, and the rest of his mob could have been among those given ICs and made Malaysian citizens? [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: army, atm police, conflict, fat bidin, journalism, journalist, lahad datu, malay, malaysia, media, military, mindef, muslim, new media, news, pdrm, philippines, sabah, sulu, terrorist, The Malaysian Insider, zan azlee
Information in times of conflict
By Zan Azlee
MARCH 8 – When conflict happens anywhere around the world, notice that conspiracy theories start coming alive. Allegations of propaganda and spin also start to emerge. For example, when 9/11 happened, many people believed (and some still do!) that President Bush Jr planned the attacks so he could continue to hold on to power.
This isn’t much different in Malaysia with the case of the invasion of Sabah by armed terrorists from southern Philippines. A conspiracy theory speculating that the government of the day is actually creating this whole incident to create panic before the elections is one. Another conspiracy theory that is making its rounds in the media is that the opposition had planned the invasion all along together with the terrorists.
Then there are the dozens or so accusations of fabrication and manipulation of information released to the public. Remember the first police deaths? First, the news said that they were killed by a mortar. Then, it was said that they were shot by snipers. A few days ago, the Interior Minister and Defence Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein and Zahid Hamidi, released pictures of the dead terrorists killed in an operation.
It took them a long time to release the photos and, of course, more conspiracy theories cropped up regarding the photos. Why did it take so long to release it to the public? Are those real terrorists? Was it a staged photograph? It’s quite funny actually. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: athena, fat bidin, freakonomics, gender, jasmine abu bakar, journalism, media, men, new media, stephen dubner, steven levitt, The Malaysian Insider, women, zan azlee
Women can be just as good
By Zan Azlee
MARCH 1 — I’ve always been a proponent of gender equality. I believe that anything a man does in the world, a woman can do just as well or even better.
And that is why I never hold the door open for my wife whenever we go anywhere. Neither do I carry the groceries when we go shopping. She is woman, hear her roar!
Then my daughter Athena Azlee was born and my feminism spirit soared through the sky. I banned all princess paraphernalia and media content in the house, and Barbie was sent to melt in hell. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, allah, barisan nasional, BN, fat bidin, hindu, india, indian, islam, journalism, malay, malaysia, multiculturalism, muslim, new media, news, pluralism, religion, ridhuan, ridhuan tee, taliban, The Malaysian Insider, umno, vishwaroopam, zan azlee
Ridhuan Tee.. Malaysians’ patience has its limits!
By Zan Azlee
FEB 22 — I have spent many years of my professional career trying to promote and encourage a multicultural and multireligious Malaysia. I have had to face personal sacrifice, peril and risk to bring my fight to the fore. Well, not really lah. But I do feel very passionate about it.
A career which started out really as a personal interest has become much more as I feel that I now have a responsibility to my country and countrymen. I want to play as much a role as I can in shaping Malaysia to be the coolest country on the planet. A country perfect for my daughter Athena Azlee to grow up in.
I normally don’t get angry or mad in my writings or even in my documentaries. I rant, and mostly whine, but I never fill my content with anger and hatred. So imagine my disgust when I read what Ridhuan Tee Abdullah (yes, my favourite columnist!) wrote in his column in Sinar Harian on February 18.
Commenting on the lifting of the ban of the Indian film “Vishwaroopam”, Tee crafted out 786 words of disrespect towards the Malaysian Indian and Hindu community. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, barisan nasional, BN, election, fat bidin, gangnam, general elections, journalism, mahathir, malay, malaysia, news, pakatan, pakatan rakyat, PR, psy, sharifah zohra jabeen, teng chang yeow, The Malaysian Insider, zan azlee
Foot in the mouth?
By Zan Azlee
FEB 15- Sometimes, people get their feet stuck deep in their mouths that it is impossible to pull it back out. Sad for them, but good for me, since I get something to write about. The first case I would like to discuss is one that I’m sure everyone reading this column would be very familiar with – Sharifah Zohra Jabeen.
Here is a lady who is obviously not very smart trying to make it look and sound like she’s smart. Look what happened now. She’s gone into hiding out of embarrassment. And she still hasn’t responded to my challenge in a previous article to debate her on a topic of her choice. I guess she’s scared that she’ll get her other foot stuck in her mouth too.
The second case is something that happened very recently, and that is, the response that Penang state BN chief Teng Chang Yeow gave regarding K-pop artist Psy… And then there is something former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday which also caught my attention. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, fat bidin, islam, journalism, kuala lumpur, malay, malaysia, media, muslim, new media, race, racist, The Malaysian Insider, zan azlee
So who are the racists here?
By Zan Azlee
FEB 8 — “It was never like this back in my day.”
“We mixed with everyone when I was a child.”
“Race was never an issue. We were all Malaysians decades ago.”
Shut up! I’m sick and tired of listening to the older generation going on about how race relations in Malaysia was so much better 30 years ago. I’m not denying it. I’m sure it is true. Everyone from that generation says so and they all seem to agree with one another. Things have deteriorated, no doubt. But, when I think about it… has it really?
People go on and on about how things are so polarised, that there is no interaction between the different races and how each race is so insecure that they look at each other in fear. But I would like to be a little micro and anecdotal here and see if it is possible to extrapolate it to tell the macro story of race relations in the country. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: broadcast, internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: fat bidin, gaza, harry fear, independent journalism, interview, islam, israel, journalism, media, new media, palestine, The Malaysian Insider, zan azlee
Staring Fear in the eye
By Zan Azlee
FEB 1 — I recently interviewed a young Brit by the name of Harry Fear for “Vantage Point”, a current affairs talk show on Astro Awani. Before interviewing him, I did a little bit of research and found out he is an independent journalist, human rights activist, writer and scholar.
The reason he was being interviewed is that he had spent 12 weeks in Gaza, Palestine, in November last year, during and after the Israeli Operation Pillar of Cloud siege.
When Fear arrived at the studio and I finally got to meet him, we chatted a little before the show. I asked him how he would like me to refer to him. Independent journalist, human rights activist, writer and scholar?
He laughed and said that was a mouthful and sounded so presumptuous. He said he would much rather be referred to as a campaigning documentary film-maker. And as someone who has always believed that objective journalism is bull crap and that subjectivity is fine, as long as it’s honest, I took to that definition straight away. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: fat bidin, ipad, journalism, magazine, media, new media, news, newsweek, the daily beast, The Malaysian Insider, zan azlee
Digital isn’t the death sentence for Newsweek
By Zan Azlee
JAN 25 — I’ve been looking high and low for the last printed edition of Newsweek since the end of December 2012 all around the Klang Valley, but have been unlucky. I had basically given up, when lo and behold, I see stacks of it two days ago at a newsstand in Kota Kinabalu where I had been shooting a documentary for the past week.
So I bought a couple of copies (who knows, it might become a valuable collector’s item in a couple of years) and sat myself down at a coffee shop to go through it.
Here’s a little bit of backgrounder for those who are not familiar. Newsweek is a news and current affairs magazine that has been around for 79 years, and is a bitter rival of Time. Due to the pressures of technological and market evolution, they have made the decision to cease their print edition and concentrate only on their digital version.
This isn’t much of a surprise considering that hundreds of newspapers and magazines have been forced to stop operations because of the dwindling circulation and sales in the Internet age. Newsweek itself had an international circulation of four million copies in 2003. By 2010, this number dropped to 1.5 million. That is definitely a huge drop.
But Newsweek is an institution. Back in the day, they had their own building which was so prominent in the New York City skyline. They were (still is!) a respected journalistic organisation. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
Filed under: internet, journalism, lecture, new media, The Malaysian Insider, writing | Tags: 1malaysia, bavani, fat bidin, journalism, ks bavani, listen, malay, malaysia, news, sharifah zohra jabeen, SW1M, The Malaysian Insider, zan azlee
Sharifah Zohra Jabeen, I challenge you to a debate!
By Zan Azlee
18 JAN – You were way out of your depth. It was obviously clear. And that was the reason why you had to pull the microphone away from KS Bavani when she was speaking. But you definitely had no realisation of this, I’m sure. You thought you were all that in your sophisticated looking pant suit and fancy title of President of Suara Wanita. Trying to go for a SW1M? Try not to sink instead!
You were at a university, University Utara Malaysia, a learning institution where people go to (where most of them are actually legal adults) to obtain an education. You were a part of a panel forum. A panel forum, which I’m very sure, had an objective to bring forth discourse and intellectual discussion, and to share that with the students.
The forum, which was titled ‘Seiringkah Mahasiswa dan Politik’, had given the panelists a chance to speak, and also had a session that was opened to the floor, a chance for the students to speak. If the panelists were allowed to share their thoughts and opinions, then by all means, the members of the floor should be given that chance too. It is a forum anyway. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]
