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Malaysia
by Peter Eng
Eng, based in Bangkok, has covered Southeast Asia since the mid-1980s.
As a liberal voice in authoritarian Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim got good press when he was deputy prime minister. But that all changed after his boss, Mahathir Mohamad, sacked him in September, then -- in a story that made international headlines -- had him arrested on charges of corruption and sodomy. Anwar denied the charges, saying they're part of a plot to prevent him from succeeding Mahathir. Tens of thousands of his followers flooded the streets demanding "reformasi!" ("reform," the rallying cry of protesters) and Mahathir's resignation. Suddenly unsympathetic, Malaysian journalists have bowed to government pressure and sullied Anwar's image with tales of perversion that would make the U.S. supermarket tabloids proud.
While other media quake, one small publication, Aliran Monthly, continues to confront Mahathir head-on. Its normal circulation of 8,000 has more than doubled in recent months as Malaysians shocked by Anwar's plight seek out the news they cannot get in the mainstream media. For many educated middle-class people, the English-language magazine has become a must-read. It asserts that if the former number two official can be so harshly treated, then the rights of all Malaysians are threatened.
"A Nation on Trial" was the title of a recent issue that devoted all forty pages to the Anwar affair and related developments. Following reports that Anwar was beaten while in jail, the magazine has called for an end to the Mahathir reign. It also has urged across-the-board democratic reforms, and provided detailed eyewitness accounts and photos of the pro-Anwar rallies and their violent suppression by security forces.
"Aliran is the only alternative medium in the country. We give you the other side of the story," says P. Ramakrishnan, the magazine's editor and president of the nonprofit social reform group that publishes the magazine.
Says Jacqueline Ann Surin, a journalist at a major mainstream paper: "Journalists see Aliran as an important other voice. Many write for it using pseudonyms. Some of the best analysis of the Anwar issue I've read has come from Aliran."
Mahathir has corralled the media during his seventeen years in power. All publications require a license every year from the government, and Mahathir has the power to withdraw it. Under the Official Secrets Act, the government can hide virtually anything from journalists. The Internal Security Act, which was used against Anwar, permits detention without charge. And all the mainstream media, print and broadcast, are owned and dominated by the parties of the ruling coalition or by groups closely associated with them.
In a 1987 crackdown on dissent, the authorities closed three newspapers and detained politicians and activists including the then president of Aliran. Some fear a replay. In July, the editors of the two leading Malay-language dailies, Berita Harian (Daily News) and Utusan Malaysia (Malaysian Herald), resigned under pressure. Both editors were Anwar supporters. In August, the chief executive of TV3, a private television station, also quit.
Since Anwar's sacking, journalists have diligently toed the line because of warnings from their editors or the authorities, and they fear losing their jobs. The result: what Aliran calls Anwar's "trial by media." Before the actual trial -- which is still in progress -- began, normally staid front pages purveyed allegations as truths and blared explicit details -- in a heavily Muslim country -- of the sex charges against Anwar. we were sodomized, cried the headline of a story about his alleged partners. The papers have ignored or ridiculed Anwar's denials.
Many Malaysians no longer believe the papers. Some are angry. At recent demonstrations, crowds burned copies of Utusan Malaysia and stoned one of its vehicles, smashing its windows.
"My own father told me he won't read my paper anymore," says a senior editor at the New Straits Times, the major English-language daily, which recently ran a commentary favoring the detention of foreign journalists who criticize Mahathir. Another journalist says she tries to slip her more sensitive stories into print when sympathetic editors are on duty.
Besides Aliran Monthly, the only media with pro-Anwar coverage are those of the opposition political parties and the flourishing dissident Web sites on the Internet, including one called Saksi for "independent journalism" (http://www.saksi.com). Harakah, an Islamic opposition party, pro-Anwar tabloid, has seen its circulation soar more than four-fold in recent months to nearly 300,000. That rivals the circulation of the largest mainstream daily. The Ministry of Home Affairs recently reminded the editor that party papers can be sold only to party members. (Aliran Monthly is the sole Malay-produced "alternative medium" licensed for general sale.)
Aliran's fifteen executive committee members are mostly middle class people, including university teachers, an investment analyst, an environmental activist, and Ramakrishnan, a retired primary school teacher. Without pay, they write many of the articles in the magazine, which started in 1980 and went on-line last year (http://www. malaysia.net/aliran). To guard its neutrality, the magazine carries no ads. Supporters give small donations to keep the magazine running, and drop by the office to help mail out subscription copies.
The editors believe the government has not censored the magazine because, as an English-language publication, it does not reach the Malay heartland that is Mahathir's base of power. But, says Ramakrishnan, "if the circulation continues to grow, I don't know if they will be so tolerant."
