Classic Malaysian Minister! - The Sequel
Sequels don’t usually live up to their predecessors, but this one is gonna be a box-office hit!
Doha-based News Network, Al-Jazeera interviewed Zainuddin Maidin (better known as ZAM) our Minister of Information over the phone LIVE moments after the BERSIH memorandum for freer & fairer elections was delivered to the Royal Palace.
If you don’t know by now, Malaysia was witness to the biggest rally in recent memory. 40,000 Malaysians braved warnings by the Prime Minister as well as water-canons, tear-gas and policemen to march peacefully to the Royal Palace and make their voices heard.
Anyway, back to the LIVE interview which was broadcast all over the world. If you can’t understand Fuck-wit language, here’s a transcript of the interview below which I got off here.
What follows is a transcript of the phone interview that Malaysia’s Minister of Information Zainuddin Maidin (ZAM) gave to the Doha-based TV Network Al-Jazeera (AJ) over the 5.00pm bulletin yesterday, moments after the BERSIH memo was delivered to Royal Palace at the close of the biggest anti-government protest in Malaysia in ten years.
ZAM: ….I commend your journalists trying to project, to exaggerate more than what actually happened. That, that, that, that’s it. We, we are not, the, the — and I, I congratulate your journalists behaving like an actor, that, that’s —
AJ: As you say that, sir, we’re watching scenes of protesters being sprayed by chemical-filled water …
ZAM (interrupts): Ya, I am watching, I hear, [?] …. trying to do it everywhere but in Malaysia people are allowed, to, you know [?] … Police have allowed the procession to go to the Istana Negara, you know, do police, first police, like, they handle them, they [?] them, they … the police don’t, don’t, don’t fire anybody …
AJ: Our correspondent came back to the office, sir, with chemicals in his eyes!
ZAM (speaking over her): … You, you, you, you are here with the idea, you are trying to project, what is your mind, you think that we are Pakistan, we are Burma, we are Myanmar, everything you, you are thinking …
AJ: Well unfortunately when you refuse to let people protest, it does appear so.
ZAM (speaking over her): …Ya, ya, we are not like you, you have early perception, you come here, you want to project us like undemocratic country. This a democratic country!
AJ: So why can’t people protest then, if it’s a democratic country?
ZAM (interjects at “protest then”): Ya, people protest, people then — first they protest, we are allowing protests, and they have demonstrated. But we just trying to disperse them and then later they, you know, disperse, but later our police compromise. They have compromised and allowed them to proceed to Negara. Police, our police have succeeded in handling them gently, right? Why do you report that and you take the opposition, someone from opposition party you ask him to speak, you don’t take from the government, right?
AJ: Why did you not break up these protesters –
ZAM (interrupting): Pardon? Pardon? Pardon?
AJ: Why did you not break up these protests more peacefully?
ZAM: I can’t hear you. I can’t hear you.
AJ: Why did you not break up these protests more peacefully?
ZAM: No we, we are, we, this protest is illegal. We don’t want, this, the, normally … (slight pause, then continues to talk while she interjects)
AJ (interjecting): OK, so let me return to my former question. Why is this protest illegal?
ZAM (babbling on): Ya it’s illegal protest because (AJ: Why?) we have the election in Malaysia. It’s no, no point on having the protest, we are allowing to have every, an election every five years, never fail. We not our like, are not like Myanmar, not like other country. And, and you are helping this. You Al-Jazeera also is helping this, this forces, the, you know, these forces who are not [?], who don’t believe in [?] …
AJ (seems to want to say something, but decides not to): I don’t … many thanks for joining us.
ZAM: I don’t, ya, you, Jazeera, this is, is Al-Jazeera attitude. Right?
(she doesn’t reply. In the background, the chants of the protesters fill the silence)
November 20th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
What a wanker.What’s more the “son-in-law” and nazri tried to defend the gvernment’s decision on al-jazeera.Malim ikhtiaz with the help of the moderator proved them to be such knobs.They call the protest illegal,but when the organisers tried to apply for a permit,their application was rejected.When they appealed the decision,their appeal was thrown out.Yet, when Khairy applied for the condi rice demo,they got the permit with ease.I wonder if the BN ever face any difficulties in receiving permits?I can’t imagine them ever having had a permit rejected.Viva la reformacion.