Utusan is considered an Enemy of the State by the Pakatan administrations.
Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim had ordered an end to Utusan subscription, including the daily’s Sunday edition Mingguan Malaysia as well as other publications in the company stable. — see ‘Selangor cancels Utusan subscription‘ (The Star, 21 June 2008)
Three months after the Pakatan takeover of Selangor, the state government sent a circular to all its local authorities, district offices and agencies instructing them to cease subscribing to Utusan.
The Kelantan PAS-government banned Utusan from covering state functions as well as DUN sittings in June 2011.
In Penang, its Chief Minister’s numerous run-ins with Utusan are legendary.
The DAP-led Penang government bans Utusan from covering their functions. — see ‘Utusan Malaysia barred from covering Penang state assembly‘ (Bernama, 11 May 2011).
Guan Eng is reported as personally overseeing the ban on Utusan (see report here).
To date, Lim Guan Eng has won two lawsuits against the paper.
In addition to slander, Guan Eng also accuses Utusan of being “racist” and “villainous”. — see ‘Who is really the villain?‘ (Utusan editorial, 19 Dec 2009)
He also bars Utusan, along with the NST, from attending his press conferences. — see ‘Rescind ban, Penang govt told‘ (NST, 2 June 2012)
During the 11 months when Pakatan ruled Perak, the DAP-led administration had also barred Utusan from covering their state government functions.
In short, the Pakatan governments treat Utusan with great hostility because the paper is viewed by them as an extension of Umno.
Dapsters despise Utusan
Like their leadership, the Dapsters show a profound hatred for Utusan.
DAP election strategist Ong Kian Ming tweeted “1Msia for Utusan to print outrageous lies” (screenshot above).
The Star Editor agrees.
Twits promoted by The Star similarly have a negative view of Utusan. @amuse_gueule is a Twitter “personality” given publicity by The Star is one example. — see ‘The Star promoting anti-BN twits who mock Najib‘
What kind of twit is being promoted by The Star?
Yvonne Ho was featured in The Star on 22 Dec 2012. @smellykatemoss, her Twitter alter ego, has also been promoted before by The Star — most predictably.
From the screenshot below, you can see that @smellykatemoss is a heckler. Just like Hannah Yeoh is the uber heckler, who heckled Najib’s Parliament dissolution speech as “boring”.
Birds of a feather stick in The Star together. (Another screenshot shows Hannah retweeting Yvonne Ho @ smellykatemoss two days ago.)
Do note that Hannah Yeoh has taken a number of her tweets off the public domain, meaning they can no longer be read by the general public.
An increasing number of Hannah Yeoh’s tweets have been off limits to the public ever since monitoring efforts by bloggers (including me) have caught her blocking subscribers who disagree or criticize her.
There were also several occasions that Hannah deleted her tweets when she was caught unable to defend her position.
Star connection to the DAP SuperCyber Bullies
You can see the Star nexus in the tweets where my name is mentioned. @PhilipGolingai is a Star journalist as well as the paper’s weekly columnist.
@saroki19 (screenshot above) turns up 5 mentions in The Star.
As you can see below, the tweets — “I’ll have whatever Helen Ang is smoking please!” and “I don’t think she’s smoking anything. Sucking something perhaps” — were tweeted to The Star group chief editor Wong Chun Wai as well.
“15 percent minority”
I’m among the minority 15 percent of urban Chinese who are not supporting the opposition. These 15 percent non-DAP supporters are rare to be found in The Star.
My contention has been that The Star is using its 5.63 million audience reach to promote DAP 2.0 especially the party’s evangelista cult. Wong Chun Wai is an evangelist Christian — this fact is public knowledge.
The Star is allowing the Dapster cabal to amplify their voices through the Star Media Group whereas the MCA’s own people have not gotten a fair airing the last five years.
Going on a pro-MCA propaganda overdrive – as the paper is doing now – and only in the last five weeks running up to the polling day, is counter-productive.
DAP SuperCyber Bully nest in The Star
The MCA ladies have long been complaining about the “DAP SuperCyber Bullies”.
The tweet above calling Ong Kian Ming and Hannah Yeoh “DAP SuperCyber Bully” is by MCA Beliawanis treasurer Jessica Lai and dated 12 Dec 2010.
@imokman is Kian Ming, the DAP election strategist who is an active Christian in the public-speaking circuit.
Zero room for Beliawanis in The Star
A Google search on “Jessica Lai” over the Past Year in http://www.thestar.com.my yielded zero results (screenshot below).
A Google search in the MCA website found Jessica Lai to be a Federal Territory Beliawanis who has been appointed to the Wanita MCA central committee.
Media empire and political power
Penang’s decision to ban Utusan is defended by Lim Guan Eng on the excuse that the broadsheet was the Umno “party organ” masquerading as a newspaper.
The opposition see Utusan as an Umno personality. The question BN should be asking is what personality is The Star?
I’m confidently predicting that the MCA will lingkup in GE13. Which then begs the question: How can the owner of the country’s biggest media empire be the victim of the worst bad press?
Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi came to effectively control the Italian media and this in turn enabled him to gain and maintain political power, said an article published in the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
In parallel, does it make sense to you that if The Star (with its self-proclaimed reach to 5.63 million adults) is really, truly preserving the interests of the MCA that the party will go the way of the dinosaur?
In the last election, a total 8.16 million Malaysians voted.
The Star is telling us that it reaches 5.63 million adults.
But MCA is not getting the Chinese or urban or middle-class or professional votes. The last segment of the electorate that might still vote MCA is only the rural Malays — the Utusan readers.
Helen Ang 
Helen,
at least Utusan stays loyal to it’s owner.
as for the Star…it is of a different case because all that MCA want is the huge amount of dividents.
don’t you think it is a typical chinese irrespective of MCA or DAP, that PROFITS matters MOST?
i believe, the majority Malays believe it too….!
re: “don’t you think it is a typical chinese irrespective of MCA or DAP, that PROFITS matters MOST?”
Anyone holding a negative opinion of the Chinese race is deemed “R-A-C-I-S-T” yang serasis-rasisnya. The cyber Red Guards will come after you.
I find it ironic that online news portals that side with the opposition will always and without fail, call STAR as MCA-owned paper. And DAP cybetroopers will always thrash STAR as no-good-ass-licking MCA-owned paper.
Thank God there are people like you, Helen, who sees STAR paper in a different light.
But I also admire Jocelyn’s courage for not ‘toeing the line’ with the pro-DAP stance of the musangs-berbulu-ayam STAR editors. Her latest column in STAR painted a grim picture of LKS’s chances in Gelang Patah.
re: “Jocelyn’s courage for not ‘toeing the line’ with the pro-DAP stance”
Absolutely.
But everyone can see that she is singled out by the Dapsters as well as the vicious online harassment that has been directed at her and gets worse by the day.
yeah.. I noticed that she’s been consistently harrassed by DAP cybertroopers at many pro-Opposition online forums, FB, twitters and what not. I’m not surprised if she received hate emails too.
but she doesn’t seem to be bothered by those pigs as her political writings have been consistently ‘on-the-fence-kind-of-subtle-opinions’, and juicy sometime!
I’m pretty certain she receives a lot of hate mail.
The thing is that her newspaper has never backed her up. The Star, with its influential reach to 5.63 million viewers, have lepas tangan aje and allowed the harassment of Jos Tan to reach its present level.
In fact The Star is instead the biggest supporter of the DAP SuperCyber Bullies who harass Jos Tan.
I liken her to our famous cartoonist, Lat (who could poke fun of BN politicians and got away with it in his cartoons). Jocelyn could write a-not-so-positive analysis of BN’s politcians and their political antics, but she never got a rebuke from those people or their supporters.
But she would definitely receive harsh responses from the opposition-paid cybertroopers when she wrote something that did not paint a good picture of their paymasters.
Reading your Messiah Complex comment when describing Haris Ibrahim left me thinking.
When we talk about politics & religion in Malaysia, we’d invariably see the same two religions; Islam & Christianity.
Since PAS was built on an (supposedly) Islamic platform, naturally religion would be intertwined with their political agenda & aspirations. But, we see lots of deluded proclamations of what’s kosher & what isn’t in the name of religion. In fact we’ve even seen an assassination planned due to one such proclamation. And lets not forget the infamous vote for free pass to heaven or hell speech.
That said, the proclamations are never one sided. Both PR & BN would try to take the religious high ground whenever convenient. Not surprising since UMNO is the largest component party in BN. What’s missing from BN’s use of the religion is that it usually isn’t as preposterous as PAS.
As for Christianity, the refrains are more one sided. We hear anti establishment sermons, prayers & statements. More so since the Allah issue blew up.
Their standard line if I may simplify would be along these lines. We claim in the name of God the Father, for Jesus the Son & led by the Holy Spirit. Numerous bible quotes would accompany the mantra.
Strangely, we don’t see the other religions doing the same do we? We don’t see anyone claiming anything for Buddha or for the Tuapekong or for the Hindu God’s & Goddesses. Nor do we hear anyone claiming anything for Sikhism even when they do use the term Allah in their scriptures or for the Ba’hais.
It always comes down to the Muslims, understandable since they’re in the majority & the Christians, even when they’re forever falling back to the 9%. Not even the biggest among the minorities are they?
—
On another note, Catholics believe in offering petitions be it for the departed, for thanksgiving or for requests (intentions). Tomorrow I’m planning to offer for the intention of “BN’s victory in the GE”. I do wonder what will the church make of that intention. They may even just decline to accept it.
If they’re Catholics reading this blog or if you have Catholic friends, I urge you to send in petitions for the intention of BN’s victory in the GE if you believe that BN is the best option for our nation. It is time to send a message to the religious & church leaders that not all Catholics are hoodwinked by PR. We will not be following blindly their self possessing agendas like lambs.
Maybe it is time to claim this nation & its churches from the cancer that is DAP & born again evangelists who wants to remove the splinter in our eyes whilst ignoring the plank in their own.
The brains of the DAPster and Gunting are probably between their body’s reproductive and waste treatment system, they cant think of anything else but s*x and crap…. utterly childish.. and they claim they are high class
PR’s version of freedom of speech; apply to everyone except Utusan Malaysia. They want freedom of speech al the West, but they couldn’t take it if one media consistently reports news that not in their favour. Hypocrites, at its highest form.
I’ve never heard BN ever ban any local media from covering any of its events.
typo ‘al’ = ‘ala’
p/s Helen – is there a way we can edit our comments?
I quote this from ‘The Mole’ – Nurul Izzah’s on free speech.
A reader, Adi Kencana, in an email to The Mole wrote:
“Nurul Izzah is never shy to proclaim herself as a champion of free speech. She also claims to be against political violence.
So, why did she send her goons to disrupt and intimidate ex PKR Lembah Pantai Community & Welfare Bureau Director Parthiban’s media conference on PKR’s dirty tactics during voter registration?
What happened to Parthiban’s right of free speech? What happened to Nurul’s anti political violence stand?
This shows her to be a hypocrite. Saying something in front of the rakyat and doing the opposite behind the rakyat’s backs!”
The reader also attached an address to a blogsite which also reported on the same issue.
READ HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE
http://apakecoh2.blogspot.com/2013/04/samseng-nurul-izzah-mengganas-lagi-di.html
The real enemy of the state – Pakatan Rakyat
Helen,
One Chinese school in its noble effort to improve Malay language proficiency among its Chinese students subscribed Utusan Malaysia. Imagine the upset the move has created among many in chinese community. In the end, the school was forced to cancel the subscription.
As I said earlier, very few Chinese read Utusan Malaysia. They mainly form their opinions after reading vernacular newspaper, Star or any blog that usually hostile to Federal govt (meaning UMNO).
As such, they do not comprehend issues that matters to Malay/Muslim community. They still believe the illusion that Najib is hated among Malays or UMNO will “bungkus” after the election.
They fail to undersatand that many Malays view Chinese as “racist’. Only it is not said out loud.
As for MCA, it is better to bury it once and for all through this coming election. MCA simply allows STAR to promote DAP which is unacceptable.
Meaning UMNO does not need MCA to reach the Chinese. And MCA still acting in ways that make itself “redundant”.
(1) Where can I access the Utusan readership ethnic breakdown?
(2) “bungkus”. BM has fantastic words to describe the fate to befall MCA. English words just lack the same ooomph.
Helen,
For Utusan circulation, you can check here: http://abcm.org.my/
while for demographic, would be: http://adqrate.com/newspaper/details?id=64&type=1
Thank you so much for the links!
Utusan has 1% Chinese readership.
Close to a quarter of its readers are in the rural areas. This figure is important to our national politics.
Almost half of its readers are 40 years and older.
actually, you can also look at the numbers for Si Gunting as well at adqrate -you’ll be pleasantly suprised and oh so terribly impressed.
I did ,)
MCA is so money minded that as long as it can collect its RM60 million Star dividends (2008), it is willing to lepas tangan. Si Gunting nak buat apa jua sekalipun dibiar aje asal untung terjamin.
Helen,
Sometimes i wonder which is worse, MCA or DAP.
MCA for letting DAP taking over as “voice” of the chinese through STAR.
Or DAP that in order to stay relevant creates imaginery enemy in Chinese mind. No prize for guessing that the enemy is UMNO and whatever it stands for (meaning the interests of malays).
MCA I believe overestimate its relevence. To be taken seriously, MCA must earn the respect of the very community it claims to represent. Meaning no other way than locking horn with DAP in the very heart of Chinese majority constituents.
Meaning, no need to put Ghani Othman to fight Kit Siang. Let MCA fights Kit Siang in Gelang Patah.
MCA is letting its newspaper provide a platform for those like Ong Kian Ming – who got 5 hours of airtime for a single interview on The Star‘s On the Spot live session programme – so that the Dapsters can bully the 15% Chinese minority.
The amount of space that The Star gave Hannah Yeoh was simply incomprehensible when compared to the paper’s blackout on Beliwanis MCA.
Helen,
So, let us bury MCA for good. If MCA is “gunting dalam lipatan”, let us put MCA in its proper place “LIPATAN SEJARAH”.
I read them all. The Star, selangor kini ( free- paid by rakyat selangor), utusan, BH, etc, except for Harakah. I don’t dare to read harakah because, not to indulge into the temtation of buying ‘ penile enhancement medicines’. Too many ads to ignore in harakah. And I am serious on this!
If Utusan is a UMNO party organ, then it should say so on its masthead.
It is no longer read by so many as in the past. Utusan’s problem is it tells outright lies and then apologises in small print. See the various court judgements and damages awarded against Utusan in so many cases.
The NST which was a proud newspaper has also been reduced to a mere shadow of itself by lack of balance (some will say ethics) in its reporting.
Besides how long will these two papers last? The move to the web is coming very very soon. You will be able to read your paper on iPad or computer in future. It will be cheaper and faster. You will also be more selective. This has already happened in the more advanced economies.
:)
(1) re: “You will be able to read your paper on iPad or computer in future.”
The Star has pioneered this area in Malaysia.
(2) re: “It will be cheaper and faster. You will also be more selective.”
The Star has done well compared to its competitors in this respect. In the digital age, people have shorter attention spans and demand a more multimedia format. The Star‘s style of presentation – like its overkill on the Alvivi sex bloggers – snags it the 5.63 million audience.
(3) re: “This has already happened in the more advanced economies.”
Jgn marah ye, kalu sy kata: The Chinese are more entrepreneurial and technopreneurial. That’s why The Star is ahead of the game in the media industry.
Similarly, the DAP is far, far more advanced in the psy and propaganda war. And without peer in the smear campaigning, if I may add.
Now imagine The Star covertly lending its infrastructure to the DAP.
Do not need to imagine … its already is :-)
Hahaha. Not everybody believes me about The Star.
But like the Oracle Daim and his 2008 tsunami prediction, me too got one success under my belt, that is, saying in Nov 2012 that Wong Tack and his so-called green movement smelt of DAP politics.
And now I’ve been proven right about Wong Tack.
Actually, I’ve got another one. Much, much earlier I also warned that DAP was capitulating to PAS demands for hudud.
So whaddya suggest we can do about Si Gunting?
Suggest to let nature takes its course as sooner or later there will be a breaking point either between PAS and DAP and/or PAS and PKR -as the fundamental “beliefs” of PAS is in contradiction with both DAP and PKR …
My earlier remark was “So whaddya suggest we can do about Si Gunting?”
Gunting dalam Lipatan = The Star
After the MCA is packed off to Dinoland, what will become of the paper over the next 5 years, I’m wondering.
We need to see the list of candidates. MCA promised 50% new faces, more or less. I think it is time a new generation of BN politicians are presented. PR did it and they have a slew of them today. I just hope they are young and intelligent. They can be ignorant of political realities, but we need to groom new people.
LOL. So that they can rileks on the park benches all in a row?
Of the current crop in office, Senator Wow-Terribly-Impressed is among the youngest.
See also,
http://lifeofaannie.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-my-grand-aunt-in-kluang-wants.html
Gan or anyone, as long as we give the right people chances to do things differently. We need all types in an organization. Maybe he is the rileks in the park type :P.
MCA is probably desperate for young professionals.
I’m going with the prediction of the rest of the pundits that MCA is dead in the water. In a little over 3 weeks, we shall see how the cookie crumbles.
Helen, the STAR will continue to be the leading English language newspaper in the country over the next 5 years IF its owners decides not to rock the boat, i.e. maintain the status quo and changes, if any, made on gradual and non-contoversial basis. However, if the MCA decides the STAR need to be more of a party mouth piece, expect its Pakatan-inclined readers to react against such moves and, on worst case scenario, a boycott may even eventuate … based on current evidence, theres little chance of the MCA killing its golden goose regardless of its fortunes as a political party
I agree with your assessment.
B’cos The Star is indeed the goose that lays the golden egg of RM60m dividend (2008 figure quoted, the amount must surely be more in 2012/3), therefore:
(1) its owner adopts a hands-off policy allowing the paper to continue catering to its Jerusubang readership and its advertiser market that targets the Anak Bangsar purchasing power
(2) its owner would not want to chance its Pakatan-inclined readers to react adversely to a BN-positive tone in the paper
(3) in the balance of things, the MCA weighs its flailing fortunes as a political party as being of less importance than collecting lucrative revenue from its media empire (penny wise, pound foolish?)
(4) in view of the above, BN should appraise that MCA is not pulling its weight in contribution to coalition media machinery (the pro forma accusations that the paper is the “MCA mouthpiece” is not wholly accurate, The Star is a nest of DAP sympathizers)
(5) in view of the above, the BN war room is justified in taking whatever steps necessary to stanch the hemorrhage that the MCA is causing to the BN because of the party’s absolutely “non-winnable candidates” when pitted against DAP opponents (thus any seat given to MCA contest is a sure throwaway)
(6) in view of the above, there is no need for the BN high command to have any qualms of conscience in taking the necessary measures to ensure the survival of BN b’cos the MCA itself is not all that interested in preserving its life as a political party
MCA can venture into business full-time after it bungkus in another 3 weeks.