The press in black – but the dream lives on

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Black is the colour of anger, sorrow and hope

Chinese-language newspapers in Malaysia published black & white front pages on World Press Freedom Day May 3 and May 4 in protest against police assaults on journalists on April 28 and in sorrow at Malaysia’s dismal rankings in world press freedom indices.

“
…some people quit due to the difficulties, some people left in disappointment and some people are muddling along. However, there are also some people who are still insisting on pursuing the ideal, taking all cynical remarks indifferently and calmly, and guarding a weak spark.

…without an ideal, there will be no future. And there will be hope only if we retain our dream.

We hope that one day, we will no longer be forced to cover our mouths.

We hope that one day, we will no longer be forced to lock up the truth in the black box.

We hope that one day, we will no longer put on black shirts in great sorrow.

We hope that one day, we can sing in the words of the old spiritual, as Martin Luther King, Jr said in his famous speech “I Have a Dream” — “Free at last ! Free at last!…”

LIM MUN FAH
Translation by Soong Phui Jee
Sin Chew Daily
mysinchew.com

3 thoughts on “The press in black – but the dream lives on”

  1. Why “One Day”. Why not today ?

    If the whole main stream media takes a pledge to report the truth and nothing but the truth and stick to it through fire and brimstone, what can anybody do ?

    To the politicians and those with hidden agendas the access to the press is like oxygen. The cannot function without it. All it takes is a little bit of intergrity.

    But I am not holding my breath. This sense of outrage ostensibly being felt by this press guys surfaced only when shoe was on the other foot. All these while when it was the innocents on the receiving end they were quite happy to collude with the offending side.

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