Sharil Tarmizi was not firm enough with Utusan Malaysia, Umno hardliners and cybertroopers who abused social media with racist, religious rants.
FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: The Opposition is not shedding tears over the departure of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi whose contract expired December 31 last year and was not renewed.
“I was not happy with Sharil as MCMC chairman as he had not been firm enough with Utusan Malaysia, Umno hardliners and cybertroopers when they abused the social media with their racist and religious venom and hatred,” said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang in a statement.
“Sharil should have acted firmly against those who had exploited the cyberspace and misused and abused the social media with lies and falsehoods to incite racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension.”
Topping the list of those guilty of transgressions on the Internet in the past few years, when Sharil was MCMC chairman, would be the Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia and the army of Umno cybertroopers who had no qualms or compunctions in disseminating lies and falsehoods on the Internet to incite racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension, reiterated Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP.
The unhappiness with Sharil spans both sides of the political divide.
Lim noted with a chuckle that Utusan Malaysia editor Zulkifli Jalil said in a commentary that Sharil’s contract was not renewed because MCMC, under his watch, had given free rein to those who had incited racial hatred, thereby failing in its role as a regulator.
Utusan Malaysia, Umno hardliners and cybertroopers would have squealed the loudest if Sharil had acted professionally and impartially against Utusan Malaysia and the Umno cybertroopers, added Lim. “They were the chief culprits in the misuse and abuse of social media to incite racial and religious hatred in keeping with their larger ulterior objective to conjure imaginary fears, threats, bogeys and enemies that the Malays and Islam are under siege and only Umno could save them.”
What Utusan Malaysia, Umno hardliners and cybertroopers want, charged Lim, was for MCMC to harass and victimise pro-Pakatan Rakyat websites while leaving the pro-Umno websites alone, although it were the latter who were most guilty of the inflammatory and incendiary lies and falsehoods on the Internet to polarise the racial and religious situation in the country.
“Does Umno/BN want Malaysia to slide down the slippery slope to be a failed state by appointing an Umno stooge to be MCMC chairman?” asked Lim. “The position of MCMC chairman is much coveted due to its influence in the lucrative awards for communications tower contracts that are to be built in rural areas.”
“Will the appointment of an Umno stooge as MCMC chairman open the floodgates for the parceling out of RM2.2 billion cash-rich opportunities among Umno cronies?”
In the second quarter of this year, pointed out Lim, MCMC will award the contract for 600 towers to be built in rural areas. The contract for the first 400 towers came up to around RM900 million (US$252 million). The next phase will cost more than RM1.3 billion (US$360 million).
FMT
KUALA LUMPUR: The Opposition is not shedding tears over the departure of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi whose contract expired December 31 last year and was not renewed.
“I was not happy with Sharil as MCMC chairman as he had not been firm enough with Utusan Malaysia, Umno hardliners and cybertroopers when they abused the social media with their racist and religious venom and hatred,” said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang in a statement.
“Sharil should have acted firmly against those who had exploited the cyberspace and misused and abused the social media with lies and falsehoods to incite racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension.”
Topping the list of those guilty of transgressions on the Internet in the past few years, when Sharil was MCMC chairman, would be the Umno mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia and the army of Umno cybertroopers who had no qualms or compunctions in disseminating lies and falsehoods on the Internet to incite racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension, reiterated Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP.
The unhappiness with Sharil spans both sides of the political divide.
Lim noted with a chuckle that Utusan Malaysia editor Zulkifli Jalil said in a commentary that Sharil’s contract was not renewed because MCMC, under his watch, had given free rein to those who had incited racial hatred, thereby failing in its role as a regulator.
Utusan Malaysia, Umno hardliners and cybertroopers would have squealed the loudest if Sharil had acted professionally and impartially against Utusan Malaysia and the Umno cybertroopers, added Lim. “They were the chief culprits in the misuse and abuse of social media to incite racial and religious hatred in keeping with their larger ulterior objective to conjure imaginary fears, threats, bogeys and enemies that the Malays and Islam are under siege and only Umno could save them.”
What Utusan Malaysia, Umno hardliners and cybertroopers want, charged Lim, was for MCMC to harass and victimise pro-Pakatan Rakyat websites while leaving the pro-Umno websites alone, although it were the latter who were most guilty of the inflammatory and incendiary lies and falsehoods on the Internet to polarise the racial and religious situation in the country.
“Does Umno/BN want Malaysia to slide down the slippery slope to be a failed state by appointing an Umno stooge to be MCMC chairman?” asked Lim. “The position of MCMC chairman is much coveted due to its influence in the lucrative awards for communications tower contracts that are to be built in rural areas.”
“Will the appointment of an Umno stooge as MCMC chairman open the floodgates for the parceling out of RM2.2 billion cash-rich opportunities among Umno cronies?”
In the second quarter of this year, pointed out Lim, MCMC will award the contract for 600 towers to be built in rural areas. The contract for the first 400 towers came up to around RM900 million (US$252 million). The next phase will cost more than RM1.3 billion (US$360 million).
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