The opinion of Sharanjit Singh from NST titled, "What your beef?" bring out to the open the truth about Lim Guan Eng administration.Recently, I wrote a post about wifi and his interference with press freedom. Read http://hklpenang.blogspot.com/2009/01/wirelesspenang-lack-of-sincerity.html
The preferential treaments for certain businesses & media and the "victimizations" of certain businesses & media that do not kowtow to him and his political secretary are open secrets.
Divide and rule the media is practised by the Chief Minister office. Press conferences or press releases are given to selected media based of the issues or topics.
Fish rot from the head down. Many idolized Lim Guan Eng like a saint or god, thinking he can do no wrong. While PKR will bring future troubles to the Penang government, in the longer term the nucleus of the cancer cell is actually Lim Guan Eng.
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SHARANJIT SINGH: What's your beef, Guan Eng?
IT was supposed to be a joyous day to mark his first anniversary as Penang chief minister and also a chance for him to bask in the glory of having dethroned Gerakan from their crown jewel state.
However, far from being in a celebratory mood, Lim Guan Eng -- who is also DAP secretary-general -- was enraged after reading an opinion piece in last week's New Sunday Times.
What's his beef? The astute politician admitted he screamed with rage after reading the article which chastised his administration's style.
Lim was apparently upset and felt maligned over the assertions that he was dishing out preferential treatment to the media and also businesses in the piece entitled "Guan Eng trait that's difficult to swallow".
It is normal for politicians to vent their anger against journalists (and their editors) whenever a story not to their liking sees print.
However, he has since gone a step further and barred all press releases from the chief minister's office from being sent to selected media groups and certain journalists are now persona non grata at his press conferences.
It is Lim's prerogative to give such a directive but he should be mindful that in his one year in office, he has already had clashes with various journalists.
Shortly after assuming office, national news agency Bernama and Utusan Malaysia were the first to come under his line of fire, when they were accused of playing up sensitive issues.
As chief minister, Lim should realise that unleashing his fury this way is at his own peril and his attitude towards the press has become the talk of the town.
All this from the same person who claims to be a champion of press freedom.
Lim had condemned the shortlived ban on reporters covering press conferences at Parliament lobby last year.
Was it also not the same Lim who expressed "dismay, disappointment and shock" six months ago when a Penang-based journalist was arrested for 24 hours under the Internal Security Act?
He was quoted at the time as saying that journalists should be free to report the news and not be intimidated by any party.
While he has been equally vocal in condemning the suspensions of newspapers previously, Lim is now suffering from amnesia about the party's stand on press freedom when a commentary not to his liking is printed.
It is ironic that after just a year in power, Lim has lost the goodwill of the media, including bloggers and non-governmental organisations.
His administration style is now under close scrutiny; a fact acknowledged by his own chief of staff Jeff Ooi in a recent posting on his Screenshots blogspot.
Never has there been such knee-jerk reaction to media reports from the chief minister's office, even during the much criticised 18-year leadership of Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.
"Never before, no matter how unhappy we were with press reports did we ever ban any paper from the chief minister's office.
"It is outrageous that the media is being barred from a public office which dictates policies for all of Penang," a Gerakan member said.
Other state Pakatan Rakyat leaders have now gone behind Lim's back and expressed the view to prominent investors here that Lim should realise DAP is not the only party running the state administration.
Now DAP chairman Karpal Singh has waded into the controversy, stating he would raise the matter at the party' central executive committee meeting later this month.
"I will bring this matter up internally. It is serious and requires discussion.
"It affects the integrity of the state administration and I will not let it go just like that."
Perhaps Lim should consider taking a leaf from the book of former US president Theodore Roosevelt, who based many of his policies on the West African proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
NST Online, 2009/03/08
THE MARCH 8, 2008 WATERSHED: Guan Eng trait that's difficult to swallow
WHILE public relations people and press secretaries are often considered to be stumbling blocks by pressmen in gaining access to industrialists and politicians, the need to be media savvy appears to be what the doctor may prescribe for Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Lim's CAT (Competency, Accountability and Transparency) mantra in running the state government has been put to the test by and on the media this week.
After refusing requests for exclusive interviews from certain publications to commemorate his first year in office, Lim had decreed that he would hold a joint media briefing for all reporters, ahead of the March 8 anniversary.
The Penang press corps was not amused when they discovered that Lim had gone against his word and given an interview to one newspaper, several days before the mass press conference.
This is not the first time that preference has been given to selected media organisations, although his almost-daily media briefings are covered by everyone.
It would have been a different story if a publication had got a "scoop" on Lim. But in this case, it was apparent a game of divide and rule was played with the media.
Any media practitioner worth his salt would tell any public figure that playing favourites with the press does not pay.
And the media is not the only one which has been crying foul over Lim's treatment.
Some businessmen have also been lamenting how certain personalities and projects are being given preference by Lim.
Others, or the less favoured ones, are made to withstand public embarrassment and are exposed during media briefings.
Lim may be right when he told off a journalist that he was the chief minister of Penang and thus deserved more than just a balanced story.
Declaring that he was the "dictator of policies in the state" may be the truth in so far as his position is concerned. However, no journalist -- junior or senior -- relishes being threatened with calls to his editor if they do not write "more than balanced" articles on him.
Just how does Lim expect to build goodwill in Penang if he and his aides go around proclaiming that it is a level playing field for everyone, while in reality the reverse is true?
If the Penang government wishes to continue expounding on its CAT tag, perhaps the time has come for the chief minister to practise what he has been preaching.
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