Oh brother, Big Brother
Michel Martin for NPR: Trump joins Johnson and Bolsonaro in catching COVID-19. What have they learned? (Nothing.)
Justin Ong for Malay Mail: Fury over high ed ministry’s last-minute move to delay university intake. Ordinary Malaysians and former ministers mobilised to assist affected students.
Jerry Choong for Malay Mail: Whole country affected because of special treatment for non-compliant politician returnees from Sabah. Malaysia recorded the highest cases of COVID over the weekend, 293 on October 4th, and 317 on October 3rd. The last time figures were so high was on June 4th, at 277.
Amplify
A typical standing set-up for my video chats.
Last week, Amplify, a Takeda-sponsored podcast series was launched. It was supposed to be a panel discussion on haemophilia at the world congress in KL but everything went virtual because of the pandemic and the forum turned into a seven-episode podcast miniseries. I was supposed to be moderating the panel discussion, and then I became the series presenter.
I privately joked about how it was like ‘karma’ for me because one of the first live talk sets I did as a producer was about pre-screening for incurable genetic diseases with my presenter at the time, Lee Chwi Lynn. After summarising the news, we had a discussion where I said I wouldn’t spend the extra money on elective tests, just the ones required.
But when it comes to live shows, you aren’t always listening to the whole programme from the start – sometimes, you turn the station on in the middle or towards the end of it. A haematologist who caught parts of the segment wrote in a very strongly worded email about how irresponsible it was for me, a health journalist, to influence the public not to do pre-screening tests because some diseases, such as thalassemia, should be screened since it can seriously affect pregnancy and cause complications. I became more careful with prefacing personal statements made on-air so that anyone catching it in the middle of a programme understands the context.
So today, five years later, I am here to fully atone for that. This project came with a lot of challenges, including technical issues in coordinating speakers from multiple timezones. However, the Takeda team and the UK agency that sought my service were an absolute pleasure to work with. I find the level of professionalism, especially around regulatory compliance and editorial independence to be exemplary, and can only hope that Malaysian science journalism can reach that standard consistently.
This will probably be the last podcasting I will be doing in a while. I always say I prefer producing over presenting a show, but I agreed to do this because I think about that email all the time, and I hope the doctor listens to this show and remembers me, and forgives me.
Listen to the first three episodes here.
What I read, watch and listen to…
I’m reading Indi Samarajiva on the overwhelming racism of COVID coverage:
Thailand worked hard and fought back COVID-19 with public health. Instead of seeing that, NYTimes asked if it was something in their blood. We’re talking about oriental blood magic, in 2020.
I’m watching Narasi TV’s Najwa Shihab interviewing an empty chair after Indonesia’s health minister Terawan Agus Putranto refused interview requests on his ministry’s handling of the pandemic.
I’m making light-sensitive light:
Chart of the week
Data journalist for The Economist, G Eliott Morris, reported a huge spike in American Google searches for moving to Canada after the US presidential debate night.
Fakta, Auta & Data #9: Sejarah pendek Akta Antiberita Tidak Benar
Pada bulan April 2018, kerajaan Barisan Nasional meluluskan Akta Antiberita Tidak Benar. Di bawah undang-undang ini, sesiapa yang didapati membuat atau berkongsi maklumat yang salah, atau sebahagiannya palsu, dengan niat jahat, boleh didenda sehingga RM500,000 atau dikenakan hukuman penjara maksimum enam tahun. Pembangkang menganggap undang-undang itu mengekang kebebasan suara menjelang pilihan raya umum.
Pada bulan Mei 2018, PRU diadakan. Pakatan Harapan berkempen untuk menghapuskan akta ini. Barisan Nasional kalah buat pertama kalinya dalam sejarah pilihan raya Malaysia. Kerajaan PH mula melaksanakan janji mereka.
Pada bulan Ogos 2018, Dewan Rakyat meluluskan rang undang-undang untuk memansuhkan akta ini. Namun, Dewan Negara, yang masih dikuasai oleh BN, menyekatnya sebulan kemudian. RUU itu kembali ke Dewan Rakyat untuk dibaca semula. Artikel 68(2) Perlembagaan Persekutuan menyatakan bahawa Dewan Negara hanya boleh menunda RUU selama setahun, ia tidak mempunyai kuasa untuk menolak RUU sepenuhnya. Tempoh itu adalah untuk memberi masa supaya sebarang pindaan boleh dibuat sekiranya diperlukan.
Apabila RUU itu kembali ke Dewan Rakyat pada Oktober 2019, ia menjalani semula proses pembentangan, pembahasan dan pelulusan. Dalam pusingan kedua, kalaupun Dewan Negara menolak RUU itu, Dewan Rakyat masih boleh mengemukakannya kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong untuk diperkenankan. Yang di-Pertuan Agong mempunyai masa 30 hari untuk berbuat demikian, dan sekiranya tiada keputusan dibuat, ia masih menjadi sah secara automatik selepas tamat tempoh itu. Dewan Negara kali ini akur dan meluluskan RUU tersebut pada Disember 2019.
Transcript for audio
I’m remembering the late Liew Vui Keong, Batu Sapi MP, who passed away from lung infection last week. In his short stint as the former de facto law minister, he had worked on various progressive reforms including abolishing the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 and lowering the voting age in Malaysia to 18.
Many other initiatives were cut short because of the political crisis that ousted the Pakatan Harapan coalition government in February this year including plans to introduce alternatives to the mandatory death penalty, anti-stalking legislation, decriminalisation of suicide, the repeal of the Official Secrets Act 1972 and replacing it with the Freedom of Information Act, limitation to the Prime Minister’s tenure to two terms, the Independent Police Complaints Commission to address deaths in police custody, and the push to reinstate MA63. Many of these laws or amendments were expected to be passed in mid to late 2020. But that’s not happening.
Because of the nature of my work, I focused a lot on the developments of the Anti-Fake News Act – from its rash implementation in April 2018 under the Barisan Nasional government just a month before the general election, and its subsequent abolishment a year and a half later under the Pakatan Harapan government. Here’s a snippet from an episode of Ring True, the miniseries on misinformation that I produced in mid-2019 – just before the law was scrapped. Its hosted by Caroline Oh, featuring clips from Gobind Singh, then Minister of Communications.
CO: In April 2018, Malaysia passed the Anti-Fake News Act. Under the law, anyone found maliciously creating or sharing information that is false, or even partly false, may be fined up to RM500,000 or face jail for a maximum of six years. The law applies to anyone, inside or outside of the country, irrespective of nationality – as long as the fake news concerns Malaysia or its citizens. Malaysia became one of the first countries in the world to enact such a law. The Pakatan Harapan coalition considered it oppressive and vowed to repeal it if elected. They claimed the law was bulldozed into effect by the then Barisan Nasional government to curb free speech ahead of the May general election.
[CLIP – SPLICE MONTAGE PH POLITICIANS] <The Pakatan Harapan position remains the same. The Anti-Fake News Bill must be abolished… There are enough laws in this country, which already cover false news. But why do you need this law? I really don’t know how the lawyers in Barisan Nasional could have agreed to put forward such a preposterous piece of legislation. Just before the elections, why are they rushing? Why didn’t the just call it, “Don’t-Talk-About-1MDB” Act?>
CO: They weren’t the only critics. The Malaysian Bar and Reporters Without Borders argued that anti-fake news legislation “stifles debate” and poses a “major obstacle to the freedom to inform.” In May 2018, Pakatan Harapan pulled off a historic win at the general election. They set out to do what they promised to do:
[CLIP – GOBIND SINGH BERNAMA EXCLUSIVE] <The first 100-Day project, the push for media freedom is on the top of the agenda, Anti-Fake News laws, and so forth. Of course, we have said in the past that we will abolish that particular act. I’m looking into it. My ministry is working on that now. Of course, if we are able to get it into parliament in its first sitting that would be good.>
CO: In August 2018, the lower house passed the bill to repeal the Anti-Fake News Act. However, the Senate, still dominated by Barisan Nasional politicians, blocked it a month later. At the point of this recording, the bill will go back to the lower house of parliament for yet another vote. However, it looks to be only a matter of time before its repeal. Article 68 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia states that the Dewan Negara can only delay bills for up to a year.
And indeed, one year ago this week, the retabled bill was passed in the lower house, and in December 2019, the Senate, too, passed the repeal of the short-lived oppressive law.
The 22nd Block: Amplify