Malaysia Today
Type of site | Political news blog |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Singapore |
| Owner | Friends of Malaysia Today |
| Created by | Raja Petra Kamarudin |
| URL | http://www.malaysia-today.net/ http://www.m2day.org/ http://mt.harapanmalaysia.com/2008 |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Required to comment on articles |
Malaysia Today is a popular Malaysian news blog. It is known for being critical of both the governing Barisan Nasional coalition and opposition parties such as the Democratic Action Party and Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Its founder and editor is Raja Petra Kamarudin, a former political detainee. Founded in August 2004, it has claimed that it has received almost 100 million hits since then, and alleges it has a readership larger than that of the New Straits Times, a major English language daily newspaper in Malaysia. [1] According to The Star, Malaysia Today receives 1.5 million hits a day, and is one of the top ten political sites in Malaysia.[2] The website is currently hosted in neighbouring Singapore.
Note: the URL of Raja Petra's website is "www.malaysia-today.net". A site with a similar address, "www.malaysiatoday.com", is unrelated.
Founding
Malaysia Today was launched about two weeks before the release of Anwar Ibrahim from prison on September 2, 2004; Anwar was once Deputy Prime Minister, but fell from grace after his actions during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and was sacked by then Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad. Anwar was imprisoned in 1998 after he was found guilty of charges of corruption and released in 2004. Raja Petra, who was the webmaster of the Free Anwar Campaign website, decided to form Malaysia Today shortly before Anwar's release as part of a "Free Malaysia" campaign. Raja Petra took credit for predicting that Anwar would be released several weeks before it actually occurred. [3]
Objectives
The stated goal of Malaysia Today was to test "how far Malaysia under its new Prime Minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) can honour, respect and tolerate free speech." Raja Petra also promised "no censorship", opening a commenting section for readers to place their comments, no matter "how unreasonable or stupid" they were.[4]
The website is reportedly unpopular in both government and opposition circles, due to its criticisms of both sides. Raja Petra claimed this to be because "We will whack Umno. We will whack the powers-that-be. We will whack the opposition. And we will whack the opposition leaders," in line with the website's "no censorship" policy.[5]
In 2005, Malaysia Today became known for its criticism of Prime Minister Abdullah's son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin in a series entitled "The Khairy Chronicles". In January 2006, the series was briefly halted because, according to Raja Petra, "'certain parties' met to discuss how to close down Malaysia Today and end The Khairy Chronicles once and for all." However, he claimed to have escaped prosecution because the government was unable to directly link The Khairy Chronicles to him.[6] The series and Malaysia Today remains accessible as of June 2008.
Censorship by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission
On August 27, 2008 it was discovered that Malaysia Today website was blocked by the Malaysian authorities. Apparently, the news portal could not be accessed through any TM connections, although by using proxy connections users are still able to accesses it. TM is run by Telekom Malaysia, Malaysia’s largest Internet service provider. Online news site Malaysiakini has confirmed in its report that RPK’s Malaysia Today has been blocked by the order of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). [7] Malaysia's telecoms watchdog ordered internet providers to block access to Malaysia Today (www.malaysia-today.net) website because it posted comments that could incite the country's multi-racial society. This has sparked protests from a resurgent opposition and members of the public. The opposition said that the website ban was another example of power abuse by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government. Raja Petra said the move was a surprise to him. "I didn't think that they would go ahead because their own charter guarantees no-censorship," he said. "This is the first time they officially blocked my website."[8]
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad said that he does not agree with the Communication and Multimedia Commission's move to block access to the Malaysia Today website. He said the government broke its promise and had openly shown it could meddle with the security of the Internet. He said in his website, chedet.com, that such an action exposed "a degree of oppressive arrogance worthy of a totalitarian state", and that the Government would soon lose credibility and respect among the people. Dr Mahathir said that he did not often agree with Malaysia Today and its editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin, whom he said had been sometimes quite irresponsible. However, he said court action should instead had been taken against Raja Petra.[9]
The website, however, is still accessible via various mirror sites.[10]
See also
Notes and references
- ^ Kamarudin, Raja Petra (Jan. 2, 2006). "The pen is mightier than the sword". Malaysia Today.
- ^ Tan, Joceline (Jan. 14, 2006). Petra survives the bad press. The Star.
- ^ Kamarudin, Raja Petra (Feb. 20, 2006). Didn’t I tell you so? Malaysia Today.
- ^ Kamarudin, Raja Petra (Dec. 6, 2004). This prove to be untrue as BobbyNZ's comments on his good friend Anwar to be bisexual and a traitor to his nation in 1997/8 and other pertinent comments were wiped out. (What a shame!!) His political agenda was exposed. "Malaysia Today: the Free Malaysia Campaign". Malaysia Today.
- ^ Kamarudin, Raja Petra (Dec. 30, 2004). "A taste of one’s own medicine". Malaysia Today.
- ^ Kamarudin, Raja Petra (Jan. 22, 2006). "Khairy Chronicles in review". Malaysia Today.
- ^ "Plans for action against Malaysian bloggers". Daniel Chandranayagam. Global Voices Advocacy. 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Malaysia ban on anti-government website draws outcry". Reuters. Yahoo! News. 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Dr M slams 'blocking' of Malaysia Today". TheStar. TheStar. 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://mt.m2day.org/