Malaysia's blame of foreign media 'futile'

By M. Jegathesan

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysians have come to the defense of the foreign media following the latest attack by a cabinet minister that their reports represent the "biggest obstacle" to economic recovery.

A ministerial advisor, who asked not to be named, told AFP that much of the so-called "negative" reporting about the country was "due to self-inflicted wounds" over the past five months.

"The imposition of capital controls, the trial of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and the black-eye incident have tarnished our image," he said, referring to Anwar's beating in police custody in September.

"We are not engaging enough with the foreign media," a ministerial advisor told AFP. "Malaysia has isolated itself."

Malaysia's second finance minister, Mustapa Mohamad, last week singled out the foreign media as the biggest obstacle to recovery.

"Our priority now is to restore the country's image and the level of confidence in the economy to the level before we were hit by the financial turmoil," he said. "After one whole year of being condemned left and right, we must now work extra hard to highlight our achievements."

Led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian political leaders have frequently blamed the foreign media for the country's economic problems since mid-1997 when Asia's financial crisis erupted.

In September last year, Malaysia imposed capital controls, abandoned floating exchange rates and ended the external convertibility of the currency while effectively imposing a one- year freeze on foreign sales of Malaysian shares.

The drastic measures coincided with Mahathir's sacking of Anwar, who was also finance minister, as well as the twin resignations of the central bank governor and his deputy. Anwar is now on trial on four corruption charges.

The ministerial advisor said it was pointless to blame foreign media for thwarting recovery as reports only reflected what was happening in the country.

"Unlike Anwar, the present leaders have failed to engage the international media," he said.

"The basic rule that we must remember is not to pick fights with the international media. But we have taken on the foreign media."

Syed Husin Ali, chairman of the opposition Malaysian People's Party, said Mustapa should focus on putting the economy back on track rather than blaming the foreign media.

"He is barking up the wrong tree," he said, adding that such issues as selective bailouts and Anwar's dismissal, along with the timing of general elections and Mahathir's retirement, had raised political uncertainty.

Malaysia's National Consciousness Movement, known as Aliran, has meanwhile expressed over Mustapa comments making the foreign media the scapegoat for the country's economic problems.

"The Malaysian government in fact is suffering from a denial syndrome while preventing itself from effectively tackling the country's economic woes.

"Such a stance may only further jeopardize foreign investors' confidence in our economy," the group said in a statement.