When fools rule

“[Our brilliant] Information minister Zainuddin Maidin also said that the report on the website on the seven Minnal FM deejays was of a seditious and racial nature and could incite anger in the people and create suspicion towards the government.”

This was what was reported in Bernama yesterday.

This is a follow up to a previous report that the Info Ministry has lodged a report against three media organisations over the Minnal FM reports.

I wrote two reports on Minnal FM and I now reproduce them here to see if Zam’s wild accusation of the original report being “seditious and racial nature and could incite anger in the people and create suspicion towards the government” stands.

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Radio DJs punished for supporting Hindraf
K Kabilan | Dec 3, 07 5:54pm

State-owned Tamil radio station Minnal FM has sacked several presenters - including some popular ones - for supporting the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).

Sources said that others have been suspended.

It is learnt that seven presenters were affected in the exercise, including two presenters working on contract. The station has 20 full-time presenters.

The severe action was for either taking part in the Hindraf-organised rally in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25 or for giving prominence for the rally and Hindraf on air, added the sources.

Among those sacked or suspended are popular DJs K Meenakumari, K Sillalee (left) and V Jamuna (right). The latter was a hugely popular contract presenter.

Minnal FM’s director Raja Sekaran was not available for comment while queries to the station remain unanswered.

Restructuring exercise

However, a source close to the station said that the dismissal was a staff-restructuring exercise undertaken by the radio station which is increasingly losing out to private Tamil radio station THR Raga.

“There are talks within Minnal to hire fresh faces to revamp the station. Maybe that’s why some of the contractual presenters were let go,” said the source.

Another source said the station was in the midst of offering a different category of employment to the terminated presenters, and as such would need to give them new contractual terms.

A former Minnal FM presenter, however, said the station director has been unhappy with the work of the seven presenters and finally decided to terminate them on the grounds of their involvement with Hindraf.

Hindraf has been under fire recently over its demands for the upliftment of the Indian community which the organisation claims is sidelined by the government, a charge denied by the government and the Indian-based MIC.

On Nov 25, the organisation managed to gather a crowd of 30,000 at Jalan Ampang to march to the British High Commission to deliver a memorandum seeking the assistance of the Queen of England.

The gathering was denied a permit and the police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd.


'Lift suspension of Tamil radio deejays'

Dec 4, 07 5:32pm
State-owned Tamil radio station Minnal FM has been urged to lift the suspension imposed on several presenters over their alleged involvement in the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally.

Media watchdogs Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) said they were concerned that suspected involvement in the rally has been used as a basis to suspend the presenters.

“The action taken against the presenters only creates the perception that the government is intolerant (of) the democratic rights of its employees,” they said in a joint statement today.

The groups said the suspension indicated that Minnal FM viewed as an offence, the involvement of its staff in their personal capacity in public assemblies.

“CIJ and WAMI would like to stress that freedom of assembly is a right guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and the radio presenters should not be discriminated against the right due to their professional relation to the government,” they said.

“We call upon Minnal FM to suspend the investigation and reinstate the presenters immediately.”

When contacted by CIJ for comment, station director M Raja Sekaran declined to confirm the matter and answer questions, according to the statement.

Allegation by SMS

Yesterday [we] reported that seven Minnal FM presenters have been taken off the air over alleged involvement in the Nov 25 rally and for their support for Hindraf.

Sources said several of the presenters, some of whom are hugely popular, were sacked while others were suspended pending investigations.

Attempts to contact Raja Sekaran have proved futile. However Tamil-language daily Makkal Osai today quoted popular presenter K Meenakumari as confirming the suspension of the seven presenters, including herself.

The daily also named the remaining six presenters: K Sillalee (left), V Jamuna (right), Mahendran Veluplay, Kavirajan Jagarajan, Vijayan Muruti and Dhayalan Sharmugan.

“We have been accused of taking part in the Hindraf rally, which is not true. We have been asked not to enter the broadcast room until the probe is completed,” she was quoted as saying.

She added that Minnal FM decided to take action against them based on a short message service (SMS) which claimed that the seven presenters were supportive of Hindraf and were at the rally.

The Hindraf rally attracted about 30,000 people, who marched to the British High Commission to submit a petition claiming they have been marginalised since being brought into Malaya as indentured labours.

The government has condemned the rally as illegal and dismissed claims that the community is marginalised.

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And it is based on this second report that Zam is threatening to lodge a police report against Wami and CIJ for supporting the 7 presenters!

Hmm! What can I say? Only fools will start attacking shadows for fear of life, or only total idiots will get to say whatever they want and get away with it!