S. Mahfuz/BenarNews
The Malaysian government’s desire for “absolute control” over information led Reporters Without Borders to drop the nation 18 spots on its World Press Freedom Index released Tuesday – the biggest dip among all counties ranked in the watchdog group’s annual report.
Elsewhere in the region, the governments of Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand used the coronavirus pandemic to repress the media in 2020, the Paris-based group reported.
Just one year after it jumped 22 notches on the index, Malaysia fell to 119 in the ranking of 180 nations.
“Malaysia … embodies the desire for absolute control over information. Its astonishing 18-place fall, the biggest of any country in the index, is directly linked to the formation of a new coalition government in March 2020,” Reporters Without Borders said in an analysis of the report on its website.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (
pic) said the Perak Health Department is looking into the matter. Thanks for the complaint made to the Health Ministry. Actions will be taken immediately, he said in reply to Twitter user @NabilAmirul4, who shared a picture of the incident on Monday (April 19).
According to @NabilAmirul4, the students have been confined to their colleges for an entire semester due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The incident is believed to have occurred at the Perak Matriculation College in Gopeng.
The post has been retweeted about 30,000 times.
There was also plenty of furore on Twitter, with many users deeming the incident unfair.
PETALING JAYA: The coming-together of Parti Warisan Sabah and the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) promises a good platform to groom young leaders to take over, says Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
Wait for announcement - Syed Saddiq on Muda-Warisan team-up malaysiakini.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from malaysiakini.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.