BIG MISTAKE - deprivation of FREEDOM and RIGHTS , lack of DEMOCRACY....

The reporting by the main-stream newspapers radio and television was so-biased in favour of the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional......and in fact, I believe, what Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi now really means is that they(the BN) made a big mistake in not controlling and/or shutting down the alternative media and sources of communications like Malaysiakini, other internet newspapers, web-sites, Blogs, etc... Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, most Malaysians are SMART today and do not anymore uncritically believe what is being reported in the controlled and biased mainstream media. Before, if something appears in the newspaper, radio and/or television, the ordinary Malaysians will unquestioningly take it to be the whole truth and nothing but the truth --- but NO MORE..no more. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the BN should now really consider relinquishing the long-existing controls/restrictions that it has on MEDIA - it should relax all restrictions and make it easy for persons to be able to publish newspapers/ magazines that can sold and circulated to any person, easy for persons to start up radio and television stations, remove the restrictions placed on the Opposition newspapers/ magazines that state that it can only be circulated/sold to members of the party. Of course, I do not think that our "independent" Election Commission will be going to do anything about how mainstream media was used unfairly by the BN and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in GE 2008, and still now. Election Commission will also not do anything about how the BN used "ground-breaking" ceremonies, handing out land events, and other such events during the election campaign period .. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the BIG MISTAKE was the lack of freedom and rights in Malaysia, and the fact that the BN had forgotten that it is the people who they are supposed to listen to and serve whilst in government.... The BIG MISTAKE was the shutting out the voice of people .... and believing that THREATS like 'May-13" and the 'we will stop development if you vote Opposition' will still work... The BIG MISTAKE list is long and definitely the "biggest mistake" was certainly not ignoring the 'cyber-campaigning on the Internet'.....The damage to the credibility and support for the PM and BN had been withered away long before elections was called.. BN still managed to win 140 seats because of the still existing fear, and/or ignorance perpetuated by the controlled media... but its hold on the people of Malaysia is slowly withering away ...and today we find that this "FEAR" is also withering away within the BN and UMNO, whereby members are getting courage to stand-up against the PM and the 'so-called leaders' - this was seen in PERLIS...and now in TRENGGANU... If there was FREE elections within UMNO and by secret ballot, where division nominations are not taken as votes, where challengers to the top posts are permitted, where every member of UMNO is allowed to vote, I believe that both Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib and the other top leaders will today be defeated -- and so the solution would be that the leaders of UMNO will try to cowardly delay UMNO elections...until maybe the time when they feel they can win... Abdullah: Big mistake to ignore cyber-campaign

Mar 25, 08 2:45pm

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today said his "biggest mistake" in disastrous elections was to ignore cyber-campaigning on the Internet which was seized by the opposition. The powerful Barisan Nasional coalition suffered its worst-ever results in March 8 polls that left five states and a third of parliamentary seats in opposition hands. The opposition, which was largely ignored by government-linked mainstream media, instead waged an enormously successful online campaign using blogs, news websites and SMS text messages. "We certainly lost the Internet war, the cyber-war," Abdullah said in in a speech to an investment conference. "It was a serious misjudgement. We made the biggest mistake in thinking that it was not important," he said. "We thought that the newspapers, the print media, the television was supposed to be important, but the young people were looking at SMS and blogs." The comments are a major about-face for the government, which had vilified bloggers, calling them liars and threatening them with detention without trial under draconian internal security laws. In line with promises to reform after the humiliating election results, Abdullah said the government would "respond effectively" and move to empower young Malaysians. "It was painful ... but it came at the right time, not too late," he said. Malaysia's mainstream media are mostly part-owned by parties in the ruling coalition, and what was seen as biased coverage in the run-up to last month's vote alienated voters and boosted demand for alternative news sources. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Malaysia 124 out of 169 on its worldwide press freedom index. It says mainstream media are "often compelled to ignore or to play down" opposition events. (AFP)