PETALING JAYA, 7 June 2010: The New York Times (NYT) has retracted its statement that an advertisement in its paper, congratulating Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor for an award, was placed by the Malaysian government. NYT director of public relations Abbe Serphos said in an e-mail sent out on 1 June, “In our internal systems the […]
Jacqueline Ann Surin
Whose interest does the UUCA serve?
By Jacqueline Ann Surin(© lumaxart.com | Flickr) AS an editor, I’ve sometimes had to remind journalists who merely copy and paste from a press release that they are paid to think, question, and make sense of the issues they are writing about. A journalist’s role is not to be a stenographer. It’s to be a public intellectual that […]
Why freedom of expression?
By Jacqueline Ann Surin(pic courtesy of theSun) WHEN Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak first came into office, he declared that under his administration, there would be greater freedom of expression and the press. Regrettably, “little concrete action has followed” his promise, according to an annual review of freedom of expression in Malaysia in 2009. Indeed, according to […]
Living 1Malaysia
By Jacqueline Ann SurinKrishen Jit (© kyotoreviewsea.com) ON the Sunday morning of 25 April 2010, when Hulu Selangor voters were going to the polls, I was sitting in a Sikh gurdwara in Kuala Lumpur. It was the fifth death anniversary of a dear friend, Datuk Krishen Jit. His spouse, Datin Marion D’Cruz, had organised for prayers to be […]
A curious BN government
By Jacqueline Ann SurinAll illustrations of Alice in Wonderland characters by Peter Newell, 1890(source: public domain | Wiki Commons) NO doubt about it. Some days, I think I’m Alice. In Wonderland. Because reading the news on some days, I just want to blurt out, “Curiouser and curiouser!” The latest news that made me feel like Alice was reported […]
Why MP Watch?
By Astro AwaniIN this TV report by Astro Awani, journalist Marlina Manaf interviews The Nut Graph‘s editors Jacqueline Ann Surin and Deborah Loh about the purpose of the MP Watch: Eye on Parliament project. The report, which was broadcast on Astro Awani at 7:45pm on 18 Feb 2010, also examined some of the responses that The Nut […]
Asking the right question
By Jacqueline Ann SurinIN mid-March 2010, I participated in Inti College’s Mass Communication Day. During the event, I was asked for the best advice I could give if someone wanted to be a successful journalist. My response was, always ask the question “How do you know?” Indeed, as an editor of a news site that aims to be […]
Who is Najib Razak?
By Jacqueline Ann Surin(pic courtesy of theSun) IN just a week, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would have been prime minister of Malaysia for exactly a year. Twelve months down the line and all I really want to ask him is, “Will the real Najib please stand up?” After all, we know that the sixth premier of Malaysia is […]
In Geli we trust?
By Jacqueline Ann SurinScreenshot of Geli’s Facebook accountTHERE’s a new movement in town and it seems all set to change the political landscape. Gerakan Anti-Liwat is barely a couple of weeks old. But with a Malay acronym like Geli, it’s hard not to be tickled by this latest of citizen initiatives to keep society’s morals on the straight […]
The price of speaking up
By Jacqueline Ann Surin(Pic by circo de invierno @ Flickr) CONSIDER this. Despite the available evidence of Al Islam‘s unethical undercover report in which the magazine’s Muslim journalist spat out the holy communion to photograph, no action is going to be taken. The Attorney-General’s Chambers decided this despite the police reports and a memorandum lodged by Catholics about […]