Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin a.k.a ZAM is feeling paranoid, to the extent that he mentioned about bloggers for a record of three times in the month of May 2007 itself.
Zainuddin advised readers suspicious of the information posted on blog websites to refer to the mainstream media to get the true picture.
It is feared that these (blog sites) will be misused by those who have an agenda to spread slander. By right, there should be a mechanism to control this phenomenon, including by classifying web bloggers as professionals and non-professionals.
He advised the people not to be carried away by the negative views of certain individuals about the government through postings in their blog sites.
"They try to incite the people’s ill-feelings (through their blogs)," he said.
"We do not consider them (bloggers) as a threat but we do not want to return to the era where we depend on rumours (for news),"
As much as I understand it’s his pleasure to curb bloggers, his brain is deadlocked in figure out the best reasoning to exercise constraint on bloggers too. Doesn’t matter he as the minister being seen as a laughing stock by international medias, at least he was perceived to be doing the right thing within his league of gentlemen.
So, after going around the bush for a while, he has finally came to a point where he agrees that bloggers do not pose any threat towards the Government.
Indeed, if we’re to look into ZAM’s concern, it’s right for we bloggers to ask ourselves, who are we to pose any threat towards the Government?
Instead of feeling paranoid, he should have thanked bloggers for doing a huge favor for the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in working with him rather than work for him, telling him the truth and not what he wants to hear, telling him not only the good things, but bad things too?
Don’t worry ZAM, we’re here to continue working with your boss.
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Madmonk says,
It’s ok, the Minister of Smoke signals has been sending the same smoke all these while, and the limited vocabulary used like "incite" , slander etc seems to indicate so far that he is just polluting the blog cyberspace. He probably knows his time might be up sooner than expected, that is the next judgement day (GE).As mentioned this Smoke minister do afterall really belong to the Stone Age.
only 20,000 out of 11 million are engaged in political blogs. such a small number and therefore not a threat. time to tell the PM to take a nap coz the bloggers are no threat.
by the way, how did he get the figure of 20,000 huh? have some snoppies spying and counting the number of interent users visiting political blogs? scary isnt it if big brother is looking over your shoulders.
Zam is so self-contradictory that one would suspect that he is trying very hard to reassure himself that bloggers are really not that influential.
I have news for him (ha! and who is the Minister of Information?). They are influential. Period.
Anyone can make some guesses who is monitoring and you bet monitoring is on. I read in the Stone age that Mimos might be one. Govt ministries like higher education has off and on, monitor websites like Tony Pua on education. The bukit saman, you know which I mean, another one. Political offices do that, whether individual basis or as directives, we can make only two guesses; either yes or no. And of course, the bad smoke ministry….am I right, but I am afraid too much listening to stone age of volcano dust can cause this disease, named:
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Allergy cause by the ministry!
A lawyer who brought a complain of me blogging about their case in court had told the Judge that I was blogging on that particular case, which is deemed subjudice. At that juncture, he had to spell out the word blog, as well as explain to the judge what blogs were all about.
So do you think for all this noise that Zam is making, does he know what blog is?
If blogs are not a threat, as is now his claim, then why bother?
Zamthing’s up!
Yea, he says blog is not a threat and its only for the bloggers themselves. And he says only 20000 of 11 million internet users blog. If we write for each other and we read ourselves. Why in the world is he scared ? NO one is gonna read right, except bloggers ?
Aiyo, takut cakap takut la…
They juz want things to be covered and no one noes the truth but, too bad..
Andrew Rag,
You’ve got the point!
If it’s only 20000 readers who read each other, why bothers? That shows how insecure he is in a way, but in another way insist to act macho in ZAM’s way.
Malaysia’s Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin is increasingly showing himself to be irrelevant. His self-proclaimed credentials as a journalist committed to his craft, has been debunked a long time ago. Even the mainstream newspapers are fast losing patience with this dinosaur. It is a wonder that he is still in the limelight, hogging precious newspaper space, to spew his dribble against anyone who dares to have an alternative point from the offical government line.
Just weeks after raising the alarm that bloggers are doing immeasurable damage to the nation’s unity, Zainuddin now says that political bloggers only make up 20,000 of the 11 million Internet users in the country, and hence only a few people read blogs. Then why is he worried? Why the contradictory stance? Why is UMNO anxious about sites like Malaysiakini, Malaysia-Today, Screenshots? Malaysia-Today claims it gets daily hits of more than 2 million. I am sure that type of figure drowns out any imaginary numbers his TV stations can muster.
China, the rising world power, has been unable to effectively filter the Internet. Zam, as he is more inclined to be called, thinks he can – by shouting threats at an increasingly sophisticated urban populace. He has warned them that their writing is a threat to "national unity". If thinking aloud and producing analysis is a threat to the nation, then one must wonder if he is really talking about bloggers being a threat to UMNO. His McCarthystic behaviour in demonising ordinary citizens who happen to have a point of view about Malaysia is truly disturbing.
Where do we as a nation want to go? Does the government want this country to develop wings and fly or do they want the people to be forever docile, secure in the bosom of UMNO? Even if that means that this country becomes an insecure nation afraid of its own shadows, riven by racial suspicion for eternity?
What I have read about Zam demonstrated an anachronistic world view which swims in Zam’s brain. The sad thing is that he is proud of his world view. I suppose when one is in the throes of power, and wishes to please his master, that’s what people do. In any case, such behaviour has proven to be well-rewarding for many Ministers in our nation’s esteemed cabinet. But I do hope that the Prime Minister loses patience with this Information Minister and drops him in the next Cabinet reshuffle.
That Zam guy is a real sham!
His face is so thick that he lies thru his teeth! :)
Come to think of it, he makes Ku Nan looks so innocent
He is not afraid of socio-political bloggers? Here is the challenge to prove that he is not afraid. He must direct the Star and NST to print, our posts and the posts of our commentators. I dare you Zam, Kali and Wong. Print our posts.Chicken? or yellow-bellied.
[SK] Right, chicken.
Zam him! :)
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