2014-01-23 WSJ: Pigs Lose Face In Malaysia

[sozaburo]

Lyhyesti: Malesiassa myytävän New York Timesin keskiviikon numerosta on sensuroitu possujen naamat mustilla palkeilla. 

Pigs Lose Face In Malaysia

(http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-BF111_MYpig1_G_20140123041957.jpg)

Censors in Malaysia sometimes feel there are things people just shouldn't see. Nudity is one of them. Pigs, it appears, is another.

Readers of the International New York Times sold in Muslim-majority Malaysia found on Wednesday that the faces of piglets appearing in a front page photograph had been covered with black blocks. A second photograph of the animals on page 19, which accompanied a story about growing demand for pigs raised outdoors, received similar treatment.

The move has sparked a wave of criticism online and deepened concerns about religious sensitivities amid a recent increase in tensions between Muslims and Christians.

"Just like cats, pigs also have rights to be photographed and show off their cuteness," Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, an activist with the Lawyers for Liberty group, wrote on Twitter.

KHL Printing Co Sdn Bhd, the company that prints the overseas edition of The New York Times in Malaysia, as well as the Wall Street Journal, declined to comment on the censorship, citing a confidentiality agreement with their client. They directed questions back to the International New York Times.

A spokeswoman with the International New York Times said the company was unaware of the censorship before the newspaper was printed. "We are discussing the matter with our printing contacts in the region," she said.

The International New York Times is distributed as part of a pullout in The Malaysian Reserve business daily. Syed Mohd Fazilla Hussain, the chief executive officer of The Malaysian Reserve, declined to comment.

The Home Ministry, which grants the publication permits all local newspapers must obtain, denies ordering the photographs to be censored.

"The printer understands the sensitivity of our culture and they did it on their own initiative," an official with the Home Ministry said.

Censorship is not unheard of in Malaysian newspapers. It might even have caused less of an uproar were it not for recent religious flare ups that have heightened tensions between Muslim and Christians and raised concerns about growing Islamization in a country often viewed as a model of moderate Islam.

Pigs are deemed unclean in Islam and followers of the faith are strictly forbidden from consuming pork. Physical contact with the animal, even if accidental, requires a lengthy ritual cleansing ceremony. Muslims make up about 61% of the population of 28 million people in Malaysia.

Since taking office in 2009, Prime Minister Najib Razak has loosened some publishing rules, including scrapping a requirement that publications renew their print licenses each year. His government has also pledged not to censor the Internet, allowing online news portals, where criticism of the government has grown, to flourish.

However, the government still maintains a tight grip over the local press and has regularly banned books deemed a threat to Islam.

Last December, Malaysia's Home Ministry suspended publication of a weekly newspaper that reported on hefty spending on travel by Prime Minister Najib Razak and the use of a government jet by his wife. In 2008, the Home Ministry also banned a book on challenges facing Muslim women. A court in Kuala Lumpur overturned that ban two years later.

[Faidros.]

Onhan täällä meilläkin lehtiuutisissa pikselöityja sikanaamoja!

[kekkeruusi]

Epäilläänkö niitä rikoksista?

[sense]

"the government still maintains a tight grip over the local press and has regularly banned books deemed a threat to Islam"

Ei tämä ole mitään uskontoa, tämä on pelkkää politiikkaa, vallankäyttöä ja hallintaa. Islamilta pitäisi poistaa kokonaan uskonnon status. Kyseessä on takapajuinen, kultinomainen ja säälimätön ihmisten alistamiseen ja hallitsemiseen tarkoitettu ohjeisto, joka on koottu koraaniin (ja muihinkin lähteisiin).

Se tosiasia, että tällainen asia on olemassa, ei tarkoita sitä, että sitä pitäisi sietää tai suvaita. Jos ei itse allekirjoita islamin ihmistä alistavia elementtejä, niin islamia pitää vastustaa lain puitteissa ja toimia sen vaikutusvallan leviämistä vastaan niin kuin mitä tahansa epätoivottavaa poliittista liikettä vastaan.

Ja tämän pitää voida tapahtua ilman, että pääministeri Katainen alkaa syyllistää suomalaisia islamofobiasta. Jos tämä ei onnistu niin pääministeri pitää vaihtaa.

Maltan tuskin odottaa seuraavia vaaleja! 

[foobar]

Kun joku mainitsee positiivisessa mielessä termin "cultural sensitivities", tiedän että sanoja on parhaimmillaankin ajatusmaailmaltaan takapajuinen, ja suurella todennäköisyydellä väkivaltaan taipuvainen demokratiaa ja sananvapautta halveksuva ideologiatotalitäristi.

[kummastelija]

Epäilläänkö niitä rikoksista?

Persu suomessa (samoin kuin sika malesiassa) syyllistyy rikokseen, kun vain on olemassa. Ei siis epäillä, vaan on.