Journalists and staff of Nanyang Siang Pau had acted most commendably and courageously when they handed over a memorandum to MCA calling upon the party to divest its entire stake in the Chinese newspaper which it acquired two months ago.
If the MCA leadership could defy Chinese community outrage at its acquisition of the Nanyang Press Holdings through its investment arm, Huaren, it is not going to heed the memorandum, which was submitted by six journalists led by branch chairperson of the Nanyang branch of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cheah Kee Ling, and signed by over 150 staff of Nanyang nationwide including executive and management officers.
The announcement by Huaren that it intends to retain 20 percent of its stake in Nanyang Press Holdings which owns the two Chinese newspapers and that it had received three offers for the remaining 80 per cent of its shares is in fact proof of MCA’s refusal to divest its entire stake in any one of the two Chinese newspapers.
In its continued defiance of the wishes and aspirations of the Chinese community that MCA relinquishes its entire ownership stake of Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd and return the two Chinese newspapers to the Chinese community to see the emergence of free, independent and responsible media as an integral pillar of Malaysian democracy, the time has come for a new phase of the nation-wide campaign to defend the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese community, Chinese education, press freedom, human rights and democracy in Malaysia.
(2/8/2001)