We had a set of news bites earlier on 10th Feb., but the backlash from the publishing of the Prophet’s caricatures has yet to end - with global news pouring out almost every day. So, I thought it would be right to post an update on Malaysia’s side of the firestorm.

1. Malaysia’s Biggest Anti-Cartoon Protest - 3000 protestors marched towards the Denmark Embassy around a week back, shouting:
   

   “Long live Islam. Destroy Denmark. Destroy Israel. Destroy George Bush. Destroy America…”

   Well, I would have to say that even though it had this kind of not-so-nice slogans, it was still a non-violent protest, and therefore, there isn’t anything too serious about it. But I guess the one thing people would be looking at is the 100% increase in attendance compared to a similar protest the week before (which attracted only 300 people).

2. Denmark Asks Malaysia For Help - So, it seems Denmark fears future backlash and asks for Malaysia’s help to “…explain the situation and their respect for Islam…” as the current chair of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).

If all goes well, these we’ll be the last negative news bites we’ll see about the cartoon firestorm, at least in Malaysia.

I wonder how I missed reporting this. Anyway, the New Straits Times reported that 10 of the 11 suspected gamblers who had their heads shaved during lock-up will no longer file suit against the police. This, of course, comes after they announced their intention to sue the police and the government for RM 1 million a few days back.

Apparently, “…the group did not want the action of a few police officers to tarnish the image of the entire police force…” and were “…pleased with the outcome of the meeting as we were able to explain what happened on the night of our arrest and express our dissatisfaction.”

News spreads fast these days, really fast. When one internet news release on how a Malaysian engineer was part of the the 2002 West Coast terror plot came out, tens (or maybe even hundreds) of similar news releases were reported within hours (and let me tell you that I am seeing more even now). Just check out the screenshot of my RSS feed reader (which is the easy-to-use Bloglines, by the way) below. I’m sure what I’m talking about will be pretty obvious then, given that the regulations attached to reprinting generally require you to use the same title.

And that’s actually a screenshot of my feed reader right now (6.50 pm), hours after my morning and afternoon dose of similar news releases.

So, what’s this hot piece of news about? It seems that “…Malaysian engineer Zaini Zakaria was among three men al Qaeda was preparing to take part in an attack on the West Coast…” but he cut himself off from the organisation “…when he saw media coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks.” Since then (December 2002), he has been detained without trial in Malaysia.

There’s just too much news coming out of this cartoon firestorm. While it was almost certain that a mere call-up wouldn’t be enough of a punishment for Sarawak Tribune, few would have expected the latest developments in Malaysia:

1. Sarawak Tribune Suspended - The Ministry of Internal Security has taken action, and it comes in the form of a suspension for the offending newspaper. As expected, a single resignation wasn’t enough, with the Deputy Information Minister stating that the suspension:
   

   …should serve as a warning to newspapers to be responsible in practising press freedom…

   More specifically, it seems that “…the Cabinet was concerned with a trend by certain media and political parties which sought popularity through sensitive issues.”

   But this suspension is probably a minor response if compared to the blanket ban:

2. Malaysia Slaps Blanket Ban on Prophet Caricatures - I don’t think you would want me to paraphrase the fact that it is now illegal to “…publish, import, produce, manufacture, circulate, distribute or possess caricatures that may “jeopardise public harmony and safety, which may cause chaos, or endanger public peace or national interest.” Well, I’m not sure what other caricatures can “jeopardise public harmony and safety”, but I have to agree that publishing these Prophet Mohammed caricatures was a foolish move - given the time (tension-filled world) and place (Muslim-majority country).

   And now, let us end with a possible explanation for the firestorm:

3. No Historical Precedent To Muslim Fury - There’s an interesting piece over at Malaysia Sun on how there is supposedly no historical precedent for the furore that has erupted due to Prophet Mohammed’s caricatures since “…depictions of Mohammed are in the collections of such institutions as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris and the Edinburgh University library.” But more interesting is the possible reason provided for the uproar: “…tensions that were already there between the Islamic world and the West.”

Yes, tip of the iceberg it was indeed. Our PM has indicated that action against the Sarawak Tribune is likely to be taken. In the process, he highlighted that “…press freedom is not without its limit. In Malaysia, our newspapers are free, but they also understand what it means.”

But even if action is taken, I believe that it is likely to be minimal - especially in light of the Sarawak Tribune’s front page apology to the Muslim community for the publication of the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.

And… Vanessa Atkinson beats top seed Nicol David in a rather tight game (9-6, 9-2, 9-10, 9-7) that saw Atkitson drop her first game in New York. This means that Vanessa Atkinson has captured the first major women’s squash title this year, and is progressing steadily towards unseating our champion Nicol David of her World No. 1 ranking.

If Nicol David fails to win the Kuala Lumpur Open (Feb 15-18), of which she is defending champion, Vanessa Atkinson will regain the World No. 1 ranking lost to her in January this year.

Note: I’m not very sure about what I wrote in the paragraph above this one. It could be that Vanessa Atkinson has already regained the World No. 1 ranking with this victory over Nicol David (regardless of whether Nicol wins or loses the KL Open). Support for this version of events can be seen in today’s New Straits Times:

The Malaysian faced World No 2 Vanessa Atkinson of the Netherlands in the final early this morning with the winner is assured of the World No 1 ranking next month.

Edit: Today’s (9th Feb.) Malay Mail article on Nicol David’s loss clarifies this. Apparently, this loss will not affect her World No. 1 ranking.

When I said earlier that it was only a matter of time before an editor of the Sarawak Tribune newspaper would have to resign, I probably didn’t realise that it was just the tip of the iceberg. Today, it has been reported that the Internal Security Ministry has summoned the senior managment of the Sarawak Tribune to explain the caricature reprinting incident.

And according to the news report, this isn’t Sarawak Tribune’s first time at pushing the limits either:

Noh revealed that the Sarawak Tribune had been issued three notices last year, advising it to be careful with the type of pictures it published.

“The paper has been cited over pictures of sexily-dressed women and horrific pictures of accidents which show a lot of blood and gore,” he explained.

Truthfully, I’m not terribly interested in seeing how this will progress since this is a pretty clear-cut case. But as a Malaysian, I sincerely hope that the situation in Malaysia does not degrade the same way it has in Afghanistan and Lebanon (I doubt it will anyway).

(Source: The Squash Site)

On a more positive note (compared to today’s other posts), our top women’s squash player - and current World No. 1 - Nicol David, has progressed to the Apawamis Open finals by beating Rachael Grinham (AUS) in the semi-finals, 9-7, 9-2, 1-9, and 9-5.

The day before, Nicol David beat Engy Kheirallah of Egypt to reach the Apawamis Open semi-finals. Her next match will be against Vanessa Atkinson of the Netherlands - who could unseat Nicol David from her World No. 1 ranking if Nicol fails to win either the Apawamis Open or the Kuala Lumpur Open on Feb 15 to 18.

RM 1 million is the magic number this time as the 11 men who had their heads shaved while in police custody will sue the government and police for exactly that much money. Not surprisingly, the lawyers that will take the case of the 11 men are DAP lawyers, with DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng saying that:

It is an illegal practice (to shave a detainee bald) as the Lock-Up Rules do not provide for it. I have been detained before and never have they shaved my head bald.

Hopefully, gambling rules pertaining to mahjong will also be made clear as this case progresses as it seems unfortunate that, “Now nobody in our village dares to touch mahjong and all the elderly folk have to pass the time drinking tea and having no fun.”

Given the recent condemnation of the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad by our Prime Minister, it was only a matter of time before an editor of Sarawak’s Sunday Tribune newspaper would have to resign. Why? Because he allegedly allowed the reprinting of the controversial caricatures “…all alone by himself without authority in compliance with the prescribed procedures as required for such news.”

But in my opinion, his greatest mistake was allowing this headline to pass inspection: “Cartoon not much impact here.” (Source: paper form of the New Straits Times) In a predominantly Muslim country, I believe it should be obvious that the caricatures would have significant impact. That is, if they were allowed the (un)necessary exposure. The caricatures have not had much impact solely because of the discretion of Malaysia’s largest newspapers and of course, our PM’s call for calmness.