ISA: Just three letters
Sep 13, 2008 News Breaks
Update (4.42pm)
Sin Chew Daily journalist Tan Hoon Leng has been released, sent back to her house in Bukit Mertajam at 4.15pm.
Malaysia Today news portal editor Raja Petra Kamarudin, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) here and in Penang.
The Star SMS News Alert at 12.24pm:
Sin Chew reporter Tan Hoon Cheng may be released from ISA as soon as today, says Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar.
No more ISA arrests expected but it will depend on situation of public order, says Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar.
12.35pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Tags: Internal Security Acts, ISA, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Sin Chew Daily, Tan Hoon Cheng, Teresa Kok
Tian Chua: Separated at birth
Sep 12, 2008 People
I was reading Marina’s blog this afternoon which she blogged about members of PKR flying over to Taipei today (yes, there’s something about Taiwan!), apparently to meet up with some of the BN MPs who are currently there for an “agricultural study” trip in Taiwan.
She said:
Well, nice to know PKR can be equally as silly as their BN counterparts. Sounds like a slapstick movie, one group of people chasing the other all over Taiwan.
Which is really funny I thought. Then I read the comments on her blog and one of them read:
Datin, I like those two sentences. Hehehe…I can imagine this scene in cartoon form.
So, I started wondering, if Tian Chua was a cartoon character, how would he look? And then I thought of it. And, in a tribute to pop culture and the fascination lots of magazines (and even Perez Hilton) has about finding people who look similar (and as they call it, seperated at birth), I present - in jest, of course:
Separated at birth
Tian Chua and Lao Fu Zi
Cute kan? Just thought we could do with a laugh (okay fine, it’s lame but at least deserving of a smile) in the current political climate (Malaysiakini just revealed that Sin Chew Daily journalist who reported the news on Ahmad Ismail and his notorious remarks during the campaigning for the Permatang Pauh By-Elections has been arrested but it is unclear if it’s under the ISA).
Oh, and I curi-ed pinjam the pictures above from Wikipedia and this site respectively. Hope it’s cool.
10.18pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
ISA for RPK
Sep 12, 2008 News Breaks
Less than 24 hours after Energy Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor announces that Malaysia Today, among other websites that were blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) recently, would be reinstated, this happens.
Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who runs Malaysia Today, has been arrested under the archaic Internal Security Act.
I suppose it was a matter of time, after all, Shaziman had hinted that the ISA, among other laws, could be used against owners of these subversive websites in an article in The Star.
The article reads:
Shaziman said action would now be taken against the owners under diverse laws such as the Sedition Act, the Penal Code, the Communications and Multimedia Act, and even the Internal Security Act.
“In the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Prime Minister informed the Home Ministry that detention under the ISA should be considered if the situation in the country had reached a dangerous and unacceptable level.
“This is important to preserve racial harmony,” he said.
Not sure if it’s related to the RPK case, but The Star also reports that three newspapers too has been presented with show-cause letters - The Sun, Sin Chew and Suara Keadilan.
My boss, in his blog New Malaysia, cites the reasons for at least one show-cause letter.
In the case of Sin Chew, it is understood that the authorities were unhappy with its report on the racist remark made by Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail.
2.11pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Tags: Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, Internal Security Act, ISA, Malaysia Today, New Malaysia, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, RPK, Sin Chew, Suara Keadilan, The Sun, Wong Chun Wai
Malaysia Today to be reinstated
Sep 11, 2008 News Breaks
Just got a message from The Star’s SMS News Alert stating that the Cabinet has instructed for Malaysia Today (link might not work until it is reinstated, btw), among other blocked websites, to be reinstated.
It reads:
Cabinet has ordered SKMM to reinstate access to all blocked websites including Malaysia Today, says Energy, Water and Communications Minister.
For those who don’t know, Malaysia Today, which belongs to blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, was blocked on Aug 28 to a lot of criticism. A mirror site was soon launched, however. Then, Energy Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor denied that the government instructed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) to block the website.
For the full story, click here.
3.10pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Tags: Malaysia Today, Raja Petra, SKMM
Only botak-heads need apply
Sep 11, 2008 Sounds Like Pop
Talk about interactive advertising! I’ve always admired great advertising minds for their creativity but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered anything like this before.
Yup, Air New Zealand is looking for people who are “follically challenged” or willing to shave their heads to wear a henna tattoo with a message at the back of their heads for about two weeks (that’s about the time it takes for the henna to wear off, I think).
The best part is, they are doing it as an competition. There will be three casting sessions - at Christchurch, Wellingotn and Auckland (which is just a party really, the airline promises live entertainment plus food) and all botak-heads that they feel qualify will be thrown into the pool (maybe your names, no decapitation involved) for a draw. 75 lucky baldies will be selected and paid $1,000.
How cool is that? For a media practitioner (and former marketing lecturer), I think this is brilliant. It’s great advertising (75 bald men with a message on their head for two weeks? Who’s NOT going to look?), public relations (so many media organisation’s going to town with the story, including the Los Angeles Times even), promotion (it’s a contest, and party - who doesn’t love those?) and cheap (other than overheads and cost to the agency fees maybe, they are essentially paying only $75,000 for the advertisement - a million and one times less than billboard advertising, posters, newspapers, airtime etc that it would normally cost).
The only thing, I wonder if they factored in, is whether any of the 75 botaks can sue them if the henna doesn’t come off after two weeks? ;)
Oer.
9.29am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)
Yes, that is an advertisement above. Click the image for more details. Email ads[at]nikicheong.com to advertise. LOOK OUT FOR THE NEW LOOK OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS.
Tags: advertising, air new zealand, bald, marketing
