Ethnic Chinese Party's Bid for 2 Papers Roils Politics : Malaysia Deal Sparks Furor 
International Herald Tribune
May 31, 2001
Thomas Fuller

Malaysia's governing coalition has a knack for keeping internal squabbles out of public view. Rifts between top leaders are usually papered over and disagreements over policies kept quiet.

But a decision by the leader of the country's main ethnic Chinese party to take over two newspapers has broken out into a loud and emotional battle over freedom of the press and the competence of the party's leadership.

The outcome of the squabble could have important consequences for the stability and popularity of the coalition of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad because the Chinese party, the second largest in the coalition, formed the backbone of support for Mr. Mahathir and his allies in the last election.

The sale of the newspapers has also led to public questioning over the way Malaysian politics operates. Most media outlets are owned directly or indirectly by political parties, a fact reflected in their overtly pro-government stands.

At a three-hour meeting late Wednesday, party leaders of the Malaysian Chinese Association agreed to buy the two Chinese-language newspapers, Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press.

But the deal may have come at the cost of party unity. A leading member of the party who is also the country's health minister, Chua Jui Meng, said he voted against the deal, as did the party's deputy president, Lim Ah Lek.

"I have to represent the view of the Chinese community," Mr. Lim said as he left the meeting. On Tuesday, Mr. Chua said the party risked an open split within the Chinese community. "The gap is now big and growing and as a party leader, I feel this is disturbing," he said.

In a sign of how emotionally charged the debate over the newspapers has become, supporters and opponents of the deal scuffled outside the building where the party leaders met until the police intervened.

Journalists at both Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press say ownership by the Malaysian Chinese Association will hurt the independence of their papers. Scores of reporters and editors are protesting the deals either by quitting or through work stoppages.

"We think that this is an attempt by the ruling coalition to manipulate the Chinese readership," said Kua Kia Soong, a frequent contributor to the Chinese-language press who, along with 40 other contributors, has ceased writing for the papers. "But it's a very serious miscalculation."

Both papers are considered relatively independent and have until now been somewhat shielded from government scrutiny and censure because they publish in Chinese, a language that very few bureaucrats in Malaysia, most of whom are Malays, speak or read.

The longtime president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, Ling Liong Sik, has repeatedly said the purchase is strictly a business deal and involves no political motives.

"We will not interfere," he was quoted as saying in the Star, the English-language paper with the largest circulation, which his party owns and which has played down the controversy. "We want to build up a paper that is truthful, credible, reliable and responsible. We want a paper that will care for the underprivileged, the disadvantaged and the poor."

But journalists at Nanyang say the Star's timid treatment of the controversy is a good example of how party ownership stifles independence.

"I don't believe this is a pure business deal," said Ding Lee Leong, the newspaper's chief feature writer, who attended a rally Wednesday protesting the newspaper's sale. "If it was a business deal, why were editorial people already asked to leave?"

Huaren Holdings, the investment arm of the Malaysian Chinese Association, agreed in a preliminary deal Monday to buy a 72 percent stake in the company that owns the newspapers for 230.12 million ringgit ($60.6 million). The deal is expected to be finalized Thursday.

Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press have a combined circulation of nearly 400,000. At least 14 Chinese business and educational associations have opposed the sale.

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