• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
The Nut Graph

The Nut Graph

Making Sense of Politics & Pop Culture

  • Projects
    • MP Watch
    • Found in Conversation
  • Current Issues
    • 6 Words
    • Commentary
    • Features
    • Found in Quotation
    • News
  • Columns
  • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Found in Malaysia
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Pictures
    • Videos
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Vault
    • Found in Translation

Time to un-gag information

By the Coalition for Good Governance

December 1, 2009

THE campaign for freedom of information advocated by civil society organisations in Malaysia is now five years old, and finally it has come to fruition. With the new change of state government, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has now taken the bold step of ensuring freedom of information.

In November 2009, the menteri besar announced two groundbreaking moves — to declassify state information, and to enact a Freedom of Information Act by 2010.

The Selangor government’s demand that the federal government publicly release the findings of the tragic Bukit Antarabangsa landslide that happened on 6 Dec 2008 is indeed a valid one. Khalid has cited that Section 2C of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) allows ministers and menteris besar to declassify documents, and hence, to make public the report on the landslide that was prepared by the Works Ministry and tabled before cabinet. However, there has been silence from the federal government.

The Bukit Antarabangsa landslide (Pic courtesy of Raj Kumar)

It is important for the public to have freedom and access to information. This is one of the foundations of democracy that enables ordinary citizens to see what is going on, and to check corruption and mismanagement within the government. It ensures that we, the citizens, can hold our government accountable.

The federal government clearly understands the need to have control over the flow of information. When Datuk Seri Najib Razak took over as prime minister in April 2009, he formed the Ministry of Information, Communications and Culture (KPKK).

As rightly noted by Jac SM Kee and Sonia Randhawa in their paper Violence Against Women and ICT: Malaysia (2009), “the Ministry of Information in particular, has been seen to play a key role in governance.” Under this combined ministry, it will manage and have even greater hold over the flow of information to the public, and consequently over exchange, discourse proliferation and expression.

The truth about the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide needs to be told and discussed. What were the probable causes of the landslide, the findings about the area’s safety, and the possible recommendations for future planning? What of the families of victims who died in the tragedy? These must not be kept secret. Truth cannot hide behind repressive laws like the OSA.

Bukit Antarabangsa is not the only case. In 2008 alone, Malaysia experienced at least eight landslides that took away lives and created hardship for the survivors. Yet the public is unaware as to why such disasters happened.

The time has come to commit to more open and transparent governance. Governments should release to the public all documents now classified under the OSA, and move towards replacing the law with a Freedom of Information Act. The public must demand for these reforms as they have a right to know.

Maria Chin Abdullah
Chair and Secretariat of the Coalition for Good Governance (CGG)
1 Dec 2009

CGG is made up of 23 members of civil society organisations, with 14 taskforces.

Filed Under: Letters to the Editor

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Comments

  • Wave33 on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Adam on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Andre Lai on The Nut Graph stops publication

Recent News

  • The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Nasihat tentang sepupu yang mengganggu perasaan
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The Sunni-Shia split and the answer to Muslim unity
  • Why Malaysia needs the national unity bills
  • Challenging government in the digital age: Lessons from Kidex
  • Najib’s failure
  • Babi, anjing, pondan: Jijik orang Islam Malaysia
  • Kidex and the law – What the government’s not telling you
  • Beyond Dyana Sofya
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Does Malaysia need hate speech laws?

Tags

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Anwar Ibrahim Barisan Nasional BN Bukit Selambau by-election dap Deborah Loh Ding Jo-Ann Election Commission elections Found in Malaysia Found in Quotation Gan Pei Ling government high court Hishammuddin Hussein ISA islam Jacqueline Ann Surin Khairy Jamaluddin KW Mak Lim Guan Eng Malaysia MCA Menteri Besar MP Watch Muhyiddin Yassin muslim Najib Razak Pakatan Rakyat Parliament Parti Keadilan Rakyat pas Penang Perak PKR police politics prime minister Selangor Shanon Shah Umno Wong Chin Huat Zedeck Siew

Footer

  • About The Nut Graph
  • Who Are We?
  • Our Contributors
  • Past Contributors
  • Guest Contributors
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments & Columns
  • Copyright Policy
  • Web Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
The Nut Graph

© 2025 The Nut Graph