Freedom of Speech
What is "Sedition?" I've had countless years of experience reading English books and newspapers but unfortunately, I left out the best books of all -- law books. Therefore, I didn't even know that such a word existed. Shame on me! (And I thought my English was quite good). So it was with much curiosity that I followed the unfortunate remand of famous Malaysian blogger, Raja Petra, for "sedition." Am I right? He was jailed for attempting to "sedite?"
I tell you...I must have watched too many American television. I thought we all have the right to "freedom of speech." I guess we don't after all. I wish we had a more robust television drama industry where we could produce more Malaysian television dramas to tell the truth and educate our people that we don't have freedom of speech and counter those "dang American influences." You know, when you watch those police investigation stuff e.g. Law and Order, CSI, NYPD Blues etc and they arrest some dude, the speech they give the suspect while handcuffing him is "you have the right to remain silent, anything you say may be used against you in the court of law...." Wow, i actually remember the script!
Drawing a caricature of George Bush and publishing it all over the world is considered "freedom of speech." But how is it the same if we drew one of a prominent Malaysian political leader? But then again, I have seen many of those caricatures published in our Malaysian newspapers e.g. Dr M, Pak Lah, Samy Vellu etc., and some I believe, were sketched by Dato Lat, the prominent cartoonist.
But talking about "freedom of speech," there are so many gurus out there telling us that we should watch how we speak, otherwise, we might end up offending other people...with our freedom of speech....Dale Carnegie for one, the guy who wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Sigh. Now do you understand why I am confused? I have a headache. I am now going to eat my green sour mango with dark thick soya sauce, sugar and cilli padi.
I tell you...I must have watched too many American television. I thought we all have the right to "freedom of speech." I guess we don't after all. I wish we had a more robust television drama industry where we could produce more Malaysian television dramas to tell the truth and educate our people that we don't have freedom of speech and counter those "dang American influences." You know, when you watch those police investigation stuff e.g. Law and Order, CSI, NYPD Blues etc and they arrest some dude, the speech they give the suspect while handcuffing him is "you have the right to remain silent, anything you say may be used against you in the court of law...." Wow, i actually remember the script!
Drawing a caricature of George Bush and publishing it all over the world is considered "freedom of speech." But how is it the same if we drew one of a prominent Malaysian political leader? But then again, I have seen many of those caricatures published in our Malaysian newspapers e.g. Dr M, Pak Lah, Samy Vellu etc., and some I believe, were sketched by Dato Lat, the prominent cartoonist.
But talking about "freedom of speech," there are so many gurus out there telling us that we should watch how we speak, otherwise, we might end up offending other people...with our freedom of speech....Dale Carnegie for one, the guy who wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People.
Sigh. Now do you understand why I am confused? I have a headache. I am now going to eat my green sour mango with dark thick soya sauce, sugar and cilli padi.
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