[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 18 Aug 1999
Time: 19:57:32
Remote User: -
The MALAYSIAN justice, progress, unity Issue No. - August 1999
Secrets? What secrets? One used to assume that there was confidentiality in doctor-patient relations. It could safely be assumed that the fact that one had hemorrhoids -- piles, in common speech -- or that one suffered a psychological upset was a private matter between doctor and patient. Not any more. Not since the attempt to try and nail Anwar Ibrahim as a homosexual, by fair means or foul. Fortunately, no Catholics are involved as the confidentiality of the confessional would probably have been breached as well. Poor Sukma, allegedly sodomised by Anwar, definitely sodomised with two fingers while in police detention, metaphorically sodomised by having every private detail examined and photographed, his medical history exposed and enlargements of photographs of his anus submitted as exhibits! Thus, yesterday, the AG brought in a surgeon in yet another attempt to try to cast doubts in the minds of the public regarding Sukma’s denial of ever having been sodomised by Anwar, despite the fact that the charge does not refer to this at all. Come to think of it, it is all a little curious that armed with confessions, they have not charged Anwar with sodomising Sukma and Munawar. The NST and The Star headlined the story “Surgeon: Sukma's anus was swollen” and “Doc: Sukma had surgery on anus”, implanting the thought as to why he might have had a swollen anus or had surgery done on it. It was left to Bernama to put the proper ‘spin’ in a report headlined, “Sukma sought treatment for anal fissure, Anwar's sodomy trial told”. That report began with the following three paragraphs: “KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- A consultant surgeon told the High Court here today that he examined Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja in 1997 and found a fissure or a tear and haemorrhoids in his anus. Dr Abel W.K. Arumugam of the Subang Jaya Medical Centre said the tear could have been caused by a rape or the introduction of a large hard object into the anus. However, the doctor said, the most common cause of a fissure (a tear in the anal skin and mucosa) was a large hard stool that passed through the anus of a person.” Note the order: first, say there was a tear; then, say that the doctor said the tear could have been caused by rape or introduction of a large hard objection; then only report that the doctor said the “most common cause of a fissure” was a large hard stool. Of course the idea is that we should ignore the “most common cause” and go with the hypothetical ones. Well, whatever the ‘spin’, the moral of the tale is quite clear: expelling stubborn stool can be a painful experience, and can cause some tearing; but at least this is followed by the joy of relief. Not expelling it is worse as it leads to great dis-ease. And indecision as to the right course of action could eventually lead to the need for an enema -- and that, for sure, is a most undignified and ignominious event. ***** Some spins don’t wash so easily In a report, released by the NEAC, Merrill Lynch has taken a strong investment stance on Malaysia, recommending that foreign investors convert existing cash in their external accounts into equity as it says that local stocks and shares are “still very attractively priced” despite the recent two-day rally. Now we do wonder why Merrill Lynch didn’t release the report itself, but instead had it released through the NEAC? Perchance, Merrill Lynch hasn’t been appointed a consultant to the present government, joining foreign firms Salomon Smith Barney and Goldman Sachs? If so, then the NEAC did a silly thing: they should have made sure Merrill Lynch released the report, independently. To be fair, the report itself is a little more circumspect. In any case, as in the comics series, ‘Spy vs Spy’, let’s look at what another foreign investment analyst is saying. In this age of the knowledge and information society, one must consult as many sources as possible before coming to a conclusion: basing one’s conclusion on just one point of view can be disastrous, as happened in the JE that was not a JE outbreak tragedy. In a report dated 16th August, ING Barings noted -- and we apologise for the ‘fundspeak’ -- “there is a real dichotomy of opinion over Malaysia. Some see it as the ‘lucky country’ -- with the human and natural resources to survive and, indeed, recover on its own. But others think that if Malaysia has been moving in the right direction recently, its stock market has been going up for the wrong reasons. The argument for liking Thailand, Korea and Singapore is restructuring. Countries and companies are taking steps to make sure what happened won’t happen again. But that just hasn’t been the case in Malaysia. For people who think this way, that the structural/strategic issues are still at least as important as the capital control/MSCI issues, it is unlikely that they will feel compelled to go right up to neutral. It would be one thing to go in regardless of the past because it was a very inexpensive market. But on 18 times this year’s earnings and 17 times next year' s, it’s at a 15% discount to Singapore, which most would reckon is entirely justified.” You make up your mind. ***** Hishammuddin is right! Yesterday, speaking from Ipoh, Umno Youth Chief Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said that Malaysians have shown maturity in not believing in rumours and lies over the Internet. He’s right, although the example he cited was inaccurate and spurious. He said that there was a rumour that there would be riots when Dr Mahathir went overseas. What really happened was someone remarked that on some previous occasions, when Dr Mahathir was away, certain untoward events have occured, citing Memali as an example. Hishammuddin was also being a little narrow-minded: Malaysians have shown maturity in discounting lies, whether on the Internet, in the mainstream print media, or on television and radio. And we have done so without fear or favour: unfounded rumours popping up in reformasi mailing lists have been shot down by other members, while equally unfounded accusations by pro-UMNO supporters, calling Anwar names like ‘Brother Liwat’, have also been discounted. On the other hand, well-argued and reasoned analytical pieces have been much welcomed. Given the control and one-sided ‘spins’ in the mainstream print media as well as on tv and radio, it is hardly surprising that many have turned to the Internet for ‘the other side of the story’, the side that is not told in the mainstream media. Websites offering such information and analyses have quickly gained a reputation and following. So much so that investment analyst ING Barings notes in their report cited above: “By the way, for a contrarian reporting source on Malaysia, one website some investors like to use is http://www.freemalaysia.com. Although it is openly political (not that the title wouldn’ t suggest it) in siding with Anwar, it was one of the first to report that Daim was going to end up controlling one of the new merged banking groups.” We don’t like to self-advertise, but if you are interested in some exposés of documents not meant for you to see, do take a visit to our website, if you have Internet access; if not, ask a friend to print it out for you.
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