MALAYSIA: Chinese press 'can fight anti-Islam bias'

Prime Minister of Malaysia urges Chinese media to counter Western media views towards Islam

The Straits Times
Thursday, November 11, 2004

Kuala Lumpur - Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday urged the world's Chinese-language press to counter what he called biased reporting by Western media on the Islamic world.
 
He told the World Chinese Press Convention that misunderstanding towards Islam after the Sept 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States had been 'further fanned into prejudice and even contempt' by some in the international media.

The world press had also unfairly linked Muslims and terrorists so that they were taken to mean the same thing, he said.

Malaysia heads the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement of developing states.

'The Chinese-language press has a unique opportunity to provide a counterbalance to the prevailing international media viewpoint, much of which is shaped by the West,' he said.

He told about 200 delegates from around 40 Chinese press establishments in the region, the US and Europe that they could 'address this unbalanced reporting' and show that Islam was 'compatible with modernity, democracy and diversity'.

Malaysia and Indonesia, for instance, 'successfully rolled back religious radicalism through the ballot box' recently, he said.

'Malaysia is also one of the most economically dynamic Muslim-majority countries which has a consistently growing economy,' he said.

Urging the local Chinese media to continue to work together with the government, he said: 'We may not agree on how news is presented, but we agree to place the good of the people above all agenda.'

His speech is in line with his government's efforts to promote the progressive brand of Islam Hadhari that will help Muslims in Malaysia to pick up the skills and knowledge to compete in a global economy and continue to live in harmony with non-Muslims.

The promotion of Islam Hadhari was a key strategy used by the ruling multiracial Barisan Nasional coalition to trounce the opposition in the March election.

The reach of the Chinese media outlets in mainly Muslim Malaysia ranked only behind those in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said Mr Tiong Hiew King, president of the World Chinese Press Institute.

Globally, he said, the Chinese media could reposition itself to be on a par with the Western press with the emergence of China as an economic power.

'To have a powerful Chinese media which can match the Western media is no longer a distant and impossible dream. We should build a network of cooperation and communication for Chinese all over the world,' he said.

Date Posted: 11/11/2004