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Same News Different Reports (Utusan vs The Star)
I read my favorite news portal this morning (Raja Petra’s Malaysia Today) and I had to share this piece of news with all of you.
Jambatan bengkok wajar dibina – Shahrir
(Utusan Malaysia, 19 April 2009) – Ahli Parlimen Johor Bahru, Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad berkata, jambatan bengkok menghubungkan Malaysia-Singapura wajar diteruskan.
Kata beliau, jambatan yang menghubungkan Tanjung Puteri di Johor dan Woodlands di Singapura itu boleh dilaksanakan dengan semangat setia kawan antara kedua-dua negara.
“Sebagaimana kita maklum kedua-dua Perdana Menteri telah mengadakan pertemuan empat mata di Pattaya, Thailand baru-baru ini dan isu perbincangan berkisar projek ikon ini dan saya yakin ia dibincangkan secara serius.
“Saya menaruh keyakinan Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dan Lee Hsien Loong telah memperhalusi dan memikirkan secara terperinci berhubung projek ini demi kebaikan bersama,” katanya di sini hari ini.
Mengenai isu jambatan itu yang dibatalkan oleh bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, beliau menjelaskan: “Jika diamati kenyataan Perdana Menteri Singapura sebelum ini ada menyuarakan komitmennya berhubung projek yang dicetuskan oleh Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad dengan menyatakan kerajaan republik itu hanya bersedia turut sama terlibat dengan pembinaan jambatan itu selepas 2007.”
“Ini membawa maksud ketika itu, Singapura telah siap bina Pusat Kastam, Imigresen dan Kuarantin (CIQ) baru yang menjadi pelengkap kepada jambatan baru bagi menggantikan Tambak Johor yang dibina pada 1924 itu,” jelasnya.
Shahrir berkata, pembinaan projek ikon itu juga boleh dijadikan asas kepada lambang penyertaan Singapura dalam pembangunan di Iskandar Malaysia.
Sementara itu di Raub, Dr. Mahathir ketika mengulas gesaan UMNO Johor Bahru berkata, kerajaan sepatutnya tidak menghentikan langsung pembinaan jambatan itu.
“Bohong, kalau kata rakyat Johor tidak mahu jambatan ini dibina,” katanya.
Shahrir against crooked bridge, prefers better ties
(The Star, 20 April 2009) – Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad is against the revival of the crooked bridge project and has instead proposed that both countries work together to build a straight one.
He said a straight bridge would be good for building better bilateral ties between both governments. The Singapore Government has agreed on the development of iconic projects in Iskandar Malaysia. “Why not build a straight bridge as one of the iconic projects?” he asked.
Shahrir added that a new straight bridge across the causeway would show renewed bond and would benefit both countries.
“It has come to my attention that many Johoreans are hopeful that our new prime minister and Cabinet will revive the crooked bridge project. The public must understand that bilateral ties between both countries will suffer if the project is revived,” he said, adding that the Malaysian Government should consider all implications when reviewing the project.
The Star had reported recently that many businesses have been suffering since the opening of the new CIQ complex last year and they were counting on the crooked bridge project to be revived to boost business in the city.
Shahrir was speaking to reporters at the launch of an anti-drug community service centre for residents of Taman Sri Stulang yesterday.
On the decision to open the old CIQ complex to pedestrians, Shahrir commended the Government and hoped that it would be implemented soon.
Ain’t it just hilarious? 2 mainstream newspapers contradicting each other? Utusan Malaysia is now officially a tabloid. Talk about sensationalist journalism. :-D
Good thing there’s Malaysia Today to shed light on nonsense like these.
I very malas to read about politics (especially Malaysian politics!)these days.
Same shit different days.
You know, I haven’t picked up a newspaper in months. I just have no faith in their stories whatsoever. And yes, hooray to Malaysia Today
well what do you know..some ppl just want to read what they wanted to see…so they just write what the ‘demand’ is in for…hahahahaha~
duh! same difference!
charlenediane – You should if you need a laugh.
Nick Phillips – I don’t buy newspaper at all, except The Star on Saturdays.
AngelBear – Not really, I think it’s to confuse public opinion.
bee – same difference – now that’s an oxymoron! Same and different? LOL!
UtusanCertain newspapers tend to twist stories more, even if it’s given that all of them are the same MSM. Like how one such newspaper tend to write favourable stories about Tun Dr M and whitewash negative publicity about him.I get the sense that the days of Mahathir are back. I first came to Malaysia, when Mahathir was the most famous Malaysian, and noone came close. If anyone dared discussed politics, it was whispered. Noone openly dissented, dissent was silent and stealthy. It was a poisonous environment of fear and self censorship. And thats back, or its coming back soon, as soon as Najib realises that the open honest approach is not going to work, because Malaysians are cynical and don’t believe it anymore.
As far as I was concerned, back in 2001 and 2002. These were my views 7 years ago, and they have changed substantially since.
1. The opposition were PAS, and PAS were a bunch of extremist arseholes.
2. Anwar was in jail because he was a dodgy double dealing bastard. The gay excuse was a convenient way of removing him.
3. Mahathir had put Malaysia on the world map.
4. Soros was responsible for the economic crash of 1998.
7 years later, my views are:
1. The opposition might be arseholes, but they are cleaner arseholes than the arseholes in charge. They are also competent, honest, but a bit doctrinaire. PAS is getting its act together and realising that ban this and ban that just alienates people. They are becoming more sensible, mature and pragmatic.
2. Anwar should never have been jailed, and his solution as finance minister would have seen Malaysia recover more healthily economically, cleaned out the cronies, and restored Malaysias International image far quicker.
3. Malaysia would have ended up on the world map anyway, even if Mahathir had never existed.
4. UMNO and its cronies were responsible for the economic crisis of 1998 by excessively printing money inappropriately.
What I’d like in 2 years time.
1. Najib Razak and his cabinet has done or is doing a good job.
2. UMNO has reformed and become the United National Malaysian Organisation.
3. A truce is called between Anwar, RPK etc, and an acceptance of opposition and less iron fist by UMNO/BN is seen as the way forward.
But frankly, none of this is likely to happen. There are nasty and dangerous parallels in Malaysia to Yugoslavia. Replace Marshall Tito with Dr Mahathir, and there are similar problems, and if it were’nt for the Sultans being in charge of the armed forces, it would have disintegrated a long time ago. South East Asians generally do not understand or comprehend the “softer” Western style approach, preferring the rice bowl economic stability with corruption proferred by regimes such as the Lee family, Suharto, Marcos, Mahathir, or if you want seriously corrupt, the Thai regime under the Monarchy, Military, Police, and cronies. South East Asians want it, but the moment they have it, it fails. Pak Lah, believe it or not was our best chance at getting a proper functioning democracy, and he blew it.
Seriously, Malaysias future is limited once the oil starts running out in 3 years time. UMNO believes that its their god given right to run, rape and pillage the fucking place. They are’nt patriots, they are leeches, bloodsuckers of the highest order, in cahoots with their….chinese and indian buddies, such as Francis Yeoh, Vincent Tan, Ananda Krishnan to name a few. If the social contract merely involves a few billionaires and a bit of rent seeking, while the folk beneath struggle, then its not worth the paper its written on.
In the Star I believe.. Utusan Malaysia is just a waste of time and money.
JL – Yup.
Diarmuid Curran – I like reading your lengthy comments. You should blog about this.
Cyril Dason – Actuall, even in The STAR, they can be crap too. Sinchew’s better.
Too risky to comment excessively on it. I have to self censor a lot, since I sense a clampdown on speech is imminent.
But then, you can’t wipe out a bunch of online mosquitoes like us that easily.
Diarmuid Curran – I disagree on the clampdown on speech – especially online, except for excessive posts that promotes racial hatred.
Name a dead chick whose name rhymes with Hallelujah, and sing Handels song with that name which we should not use at an UMNO Ceramah in 2013, and see how free things are then.
The old saying, like Father like Son comes true. The truth about Abdul Razak Hussein was really like has never been told, and we will never find out. But anecdotal evidence suggests, and this is what I was told by older Malaysians.
“When that bastard came back from London in a coffin, I breathed a quiet gentle sigh of relief”
“He was an oppressive racist extremist arsehole and a control freak who stabbed the Tunku in the back”
“That was a good night when he went, I spent $30 on a bottle of Champagne” (That was 1976 lah, ok)
And….these were the nicer comments, I assure you.
Most youngsters only remember Mahathir and Pak Lah. There was a liberalisation under Hussein Onn, who even went after the more corrupt elements in UMNO. That looked like it would continue under Mahathir, but the 1979 Iranian revolution, the rise of PAS, and an economic recession in 1987.
Malaysia alternates between good cop and bad cop. Tunku, Hussein Onn, and Pak Lah were good cop. You’ve now got bad cop. And hes very fucking bad, just wait and see.