Tengku Adnan Denies Sin Chew Report
Well, that's what he said at a Press conference, according to Rocky who was with him at the function at the PWTC in Kuala Lumpur today.
Tengku Adnan, when asked by reporters about his attack on bloggers and, specifically women bloggers, explained that he was referring to Nila Tanzil, the Indonesian blogger who jotted down her unpleasant experience covering Visit Malaysia Year 2007 programmes in January.
He was not attacking bloggers in general and, certainly not women bloggers.
According to Rocky, Tengku Adnan said something to the effect that he loves and respects women, that he relies on women for support in his electorate, and he wouldn't have been in this world if not for a woman (his mother).
Read Rocky's account here.
You want my opinion? Well, I think I am missing something here. I think he has not handled Nila's complaints well. I don't think the issue has been resolved at all. If he it is being resolved, it sure is taking the ministry a mighty long time.
I think he also needs to understand me (and bloggers) better, and I (we) need to understand him better too. So, can we talk?
But you know what I think? There are still so many people, including civil servants, who have no inkling what blogging is and what bloggers do.
Many, without even bothering to find out, believe that blogging is something evil. Out of their own ignorance, they fear bloggers. They are spooked by the spectre of bloggerism. (You know, like communism, socialism and all the evil-isms.)
A very good friend of mine encountered such ignorance only a few days ago. She was made to feel that because she is a blogger, she must therefore be anti-Government. She must be writing bad things about the government.
That's a load of crap, if you ask me.
Worse, the person making those remarks had no idea what blogging is in the first place, and what my friend has been blogging about all this while!
What an ignoramus!
Oh Malaysia!
32 comments:
Oh Malaysia? I love that phrase.
What about: Oh Rashid?
Bloggers like you have good intentions I'm sure. I assume the serious ones among you want to effect change. But judging from the issues you choose to highlight, it does appear that you are on an anti-government drive. And you do invite comments which are anti-person or anti-establishment. Bloggers like you who have been privileged to serve mainstream newspapers as political correspondents or high-ranking editors must play a more responsible role. Invite constructive criticism. Ask your readers (like Queen Rania) for their ideas on how to bring about change or correct an injustice. Challenge their minds by engaging them in useful discourse rather than encourage negative/destructive thinking.
You will of course argue that your agenda is noble/pure. Is it really? What I've seen is that behind the socio-political postings is the insidious intention to hit out and hurt.
You never talk about the good things that are done and how they can be made even better. You don't build on your country's strengths so that it can become stronger. You only praise each other and not the other people who sweat and toil to effect development. You spur each other on to think about the mistakes that people make, not the good that they do. Why don't you say for instance "In this case if I were the Minister I would have done this and that...Now what would you have done?" And be serious about it - not sarcastic. Life is too short to waste on negativism or cynicism. Move on bloggers and really effect the change you promise. This will prove that you are indeed cleverer than the Ministers you say are dumbos. They can't be all bad! There must be some who are good and do good things. Praise them for a change.
Perhaps then you will be taken seriously.
A Dialogue between Ku Nan and female bloggers? That would be interesting.
Give us a free press where our voices are heard loud and clear then we will talk recipes and our neighbours' rambutan trees in our blogs.
If there is anyone good up there, they should be fighting to get the people's voices heard first. If they are afraid then they are no different from the rest and have no business being there.
Where is the free press? Please don't insult us by telling us that the press is already free enough, please don't tell us that we are freer than many developed country but chose to 'close one eye' that there are lesser developed country with freer press.
People don't go out venting their anger and disgusts for nothing. Do you, for the love of god, believe that this so-called soft approach of yours will work.
It is the duty of any responsible government to listen to the people whether their voices are loud or soft. It is not for them to insult the people. They work for us and they better get use to the idea.
So you mean that if they were to insult us, the very people whose voice they muffled and who incidentally pay their salaries over the other hugh under-counter incidentals they secured for themselves, we are supposed to engage in constructive criticism?
What is constructive criticism anyway? You only offer constructive criticism to people who would listen, not to ones who would go out and hire mercenary writers and accuse you of not being able to differentiate an opinion from a rectum. It is very easy to try to act civil about the whole matter if one intentionally closes one or both eyes to the real going ons in this country. We see it with both eyes opened and our mouth stitched.
why is it so difficult for a politician to apologise? he had such a good opportunity to do so at that gathering.
he could have said:
my irritation at one particular blogger made me generalise about all bloggers. but i should not have allowed the perceived untruths of that blogger to irritate me and made me blow off steam. i should be more in control. and for that i am truly sorry. i offer my apology to nila tanzil and offer my condolences to her on her recent bereavement. and to all bloggers and female ones in particular, i am sincerely sorry for hurting their feelings."
there! that isn't too hard to say, is it? come on, tengku adnan. you can do it.
Dear Ms NAS,
I said this in Rocky's Bru and would like to say it again.
Tenku Adnan CC( TA Cerebrally Challenged)is a Woodchuck and his lies are woods.So the riddle goes:
"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"
Asw:
"The Woodchuck would chuck all the woods if woodchuck could chuck wood"
So go on chucking wood Mr 'honorable'Minister.
I would be honoured. Thank You
Well Nuriana, that is the real world. Blogging is for real and it is here to stay. Great for democracy. Have a nice day.
<"Praise them for a change. Perhaps then you will be taken seriously," farted Old Female Fart.>
Bloggers have to praise the ministers in order to be taken seriously? Is Old Female Fart a nick that Rehman Rashid uses (rectum and fart are relatives, no?).
Come on, let's stop farting around like a rectum. Bloggers like Nuraina A. Samad will continue to criticize the ministers because these ministers can and should do better. Take Adnan for example. Don't you agree, Ms Fart, that our Minister the Tengku could have done better? Why didn't you do what you have just suggested, i.e. tell the minister what he should do to improve relationship with bloggers, esp female bloggers, in Malaysia, Indonesia and elsewhere? That would have been constructive. Rocky's Bru suggested that T. Adnan meet the women bloggers. Marina Mahathir suggested that he starts by apologising for his sexual slur (an apology goes a long way, don't you agree? and an apology is what you owe Nuraina A. Samad for saying she appeared to be on an "anti-government drive").
Some commenters will continue to leave poison behind. Some will leave constructive opinions.
But like Kata Tak Nak says, "it is the duty of any responsible government to listen to the people whether their voices are loud or soft .... They work for us and they better get use to the idea."
i got frens,male n female said to me like this-"kau ni macam pompuan la..blogging je!"
adnan ni gila glam!
Hey, Clark Gable, I sure would like to see TA/KN 'chuck wood' for TM poster!
We do not need to praise the Ministers - we are paying them - that is reason enough to be taken seriously!
The Minister's attempt to dismiss the entire issue with just 'Indon blogger a liar' remark is a gross condescension to All women.
Listen up women of Malaysia, and do the right thing at the next general elections.
Perhaps Nuraina herself can confirm whether it is her intention to "continue to criticize the ministers..." and whether she would need an apology from a commenter who is expressing an opinion.It's "made in heaven" that sounds like a "kentut haprak"!
Each time a Minister is "cornered" his only line of defence is "I was misquoted" or "I never said that".
Which would mean, the newspaper had lied.
Ironically, these Ministers, as far as I can recall, had never accused any mainstream newspapers of lying nor sought an apology for the embarrassment.
Even more puzzling is when newspapers take it lying down. Any newspaper worth its salt would defend itself.
In this case, I would prefer the newspaper concerned to come forward and expose the Minister by making public the tape recording of his tirade against women blogers.
I am inclined to believe this minister is lying through his teeth.
Among Malaysian ministers, apologizing is a show of weakness, not strength of character.
Rubbish answer from Ku Nan
Ena and all,
In reference to Old Fart's pronouncement that you are doing an anti-government campaign here, do go to this blog by E-woon.
http://iamamalaysian.blogspot.com/2007/03/i-am-not-anti-government.html
dear Ms Fart,
Thank you for visiting and commenting. and yes, you are very much entitled to your opinion.
let me correct you though, because you were making an assessment of me and my postings.
no, i have no agenda. Noble/pure or otherwise.
Do read my earlier postings. Perhaps you may get an idea of why I blog and what I have been blogging about.
Not many ministers have made it to my blog, though. Heck.. I think T Adan is the first.
You know, Ms Fart, taking exception to T Adnan's not-so-nice remarks about women and women bloggers does not amount to taking an anti-govt stand. And I don't think his remarks were representative of the Malaysian government.
As I have said, you are entitled to your opinion. And I thank you for commenting.
But,let me just say that you are wrong about me and my intentions.
Thank You.
Thank you for your clarification Nuraina. Thank God you haven't allowed "made in heaven" to hand down the last revelation.
Ms Fart,
Are you serious with all that you had said?
How do you defend an indefensible wrong?
If you are a woman, how can you take insult of your gender lying low?
By highlighting a wrong, it's already constructive to bring about change and in the process correcting an injustice.
Politics is too serious to be left to politicians as if they are gods.
Well said kak ena! Moreover, this is her blog. It's her prerogative to blog what ever she wants to. Anti-gomen or not. That is what blogging is all about. It's a journal of what's in your mind and heart and she chooses to 'speak' it out in HER blog.
i'll get pissed if someone comments on what i shouldn't blog.
this one u can publish ;D
i have an agenda, a Malaysian agenda.
old female fart...
So u want blogs to be like the mainstream media? Another govt propaganda spinning only feelgood stories while the general public continues to be duped? No way maam!!
Here in blogosphere is where I get my feelgood. I feel good knowing there are many others who r being hurt.Hurt for paying the price of wat u call 'the sweat n toil to effect development'.
So to all bloggers...lets continue to wham , bam ...n Thank you maam....
I feel good..yeah!!
old female fart,
Here's a big fat pooooooooooooooot, pooooooooot (fart) back to you.
Like Rectum Rehman Rashid you seem to think through your ars h*;e!
People, especially those in government, always think that if you are critical, you must be anti-government. I was once invited to speak on AIDS to the wives of our mission officers in New York and the head of mission's wife herself said to me, "But you're anti-government, aren't you?" Huh? And this was before 2003.
When people in government don't know how to think clearly enough to defend their actions, they resort to cheap accusations like this.
I think it is imperative that all thinking citizens be critical of government officials, especially politicians, if they are doing and saying idiotic things. Saying that bloggers are liars are indeed personal opinions (I hope, and not government policy), therefore we should respond to that person directly. It is obviously an idiotic statement and if anyone concludes that by countering that statement, we think the Minister is an idiot, than so be it. I have yet to see anyone come out and defend Tengku Adnan as a genius. Not even the mainstream papers.
Yes there are many bloggers who treat the blogosphere as one big neighbourhood gossip fence. But I still think that the cream rises to the top. Rocky has just got his 1,000,000th visitor and that's because he does have credibility.The ones who do nothing but talk nonsense are never going to get that number, or retain it.The more sober ones are still the ones who will have the biggest audiences.
So blogging is here to stay and politicians will just have to deal with it. They should start blogging themselves and they'll soon find that if they are any good, they will become more popular than their wildest imaginings.
Ye lah tu.... if so, why did he take one whole week to answer. Huh. Crap lah this guy
Sis,
For those who wanna see the Video taken after the National Press Club-Celcom VMY Treasure Hunt 2007, here is the link
Adios
Seems to me , after listening to the press conference once again, that it was all on account of a misunderstanding.The journalists were taken around to retail outlets and malls to expose them to the mega-sales that was on and that they can write about . And my understanding was that Nila chose to 'multitask' and wanted to shoot footage for her tv travelogue show also. but provisions were not made for her to do so. this disappointed her and she voiced it in her blog. Her TV station probably also saw that she overstepped her assignment task and suspended her for voicing her dissatisfaction in her blog. that is my reading thus far, of the events leading to this imbroglio ( cebak! i sound like RR now with that big word! )
i would suggest that the Malaysian Tourism Board bury the hatchet with Nila ( and all bloggers, Indonesian and Malaysian ). They can use their good offices to get Nila reinstated and offer her another visit to Malaysia where she can shoot the travelogue that she wanted for her tv show. it will be a win-win situation for all concerned.
BUT back home here, Tengku Adnan should unreservedly apologise for his generalistions on female bloggers and all the other unrelated comments he made when he was in a huff.
Hopefully, when all is said and done, all parties would have learned from their mistakes and realise that bloggers (the credible ones, at least ) just wanted to right what they perceive as wrongs and are not anti-establishment.
I think that is the way to go handle ( damage-control )this situation, before it gets out of hand. We all, I am sure wish that the matter can be resolved amicably and not have repercussions on our VMY 2007 cmapaign.
Q.E.D.
It is wrong for old female fart to say that "bloggers 'invite' comments". Bloggers just write on a topic of interest (to him/her, the nation, etc.), then whoever wish to comment may do so. And we should realise that commentators or posters may not have their own blogs, but they certainly have rectums to express and share.
As for the antiques and behaviour of some of our politicians, one must be blind not to notice the lack of integrity, and the corruptness of our system.
Unfortunately it is in our culture not to disagree with, or criticise, even raise our voice when talking to anyone considered higher ranking, higher status, etc.
This is prevalent, due partly to upbringing.
And I quote,
"They can't be all bad! There must be some who are good and do good things. Praise them for a change.
Perhaps then you will be taken seriously."
Is this a red-herring comment?
Takkan nak kena kipas baru nak dengar kot? But...but...but.... they can't be all bad she said?
So those who needed to be praised to prompt them to take 'people' seriously, are they the bad or the good ones?
Hey OFF, where did you crawl in from.Anyway enjoy the fresh air in blogsphere. If you refuse to change, get out of the way of people who want to change. No go back to where you were hiding unless you are enjoying this freedom that bloggers have created for themselves. If you wish to remain, we will not stop you, but learn to hold your breath on "hot air". Peach mam, or are you man hiding under a skirt?
There's hope for blogosphere if there were more intelligent and rational commenters like KERINCHIGUY instead of hotshots like ZORRO who take love taking potshots at people. Please rise above the "mengata" syndrome and discuss issues instead. Only then will politically-inclined Malaysians (especially the UMNO lot) cease to identify themselves with or alienate themselves from particular politicians and their camps and seek out their ideologies and ideas for a change. We should question them on this in the run-up to the elections.
Let us all rise above the "mengata" syndrome, OFF?
Tak tumbuh tak melata, tak sungguh, takkan orang nak 'mengata'.
And has the royal minister made a public apology?
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