S'pore, Malaysia media told to avoid un-neighborly articles
S'pore, Malaysia media told to avoid un-neighborly articles
SINGAPORE (Agencies): Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong urged Singapore and Malaysian newspapers on Thursday to avoid printing comments that could fuel disputes between the neighbors, who often bicker over a range of issues.
"I would urge the Singapore newspapers, and also the Malaysian newspapers, to be circumspect in their commentary of developments in each other's country," Goh said on the sidelines of an Asia- Pacific education conference. His comments were broadcast on Singapore's Channel NewsAsia.
A recent commentary in Singapore's daily The Straits Times referred to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as Malaysia's "top dog," or "leader," in Western slang.
The expression "dog" is considered insulting in a mainly Muslim country.
Goh said he was surprised that the Malaysian government issued a formal protest over the Straits Times column. "That is not the way to handle such an issue," he said.
Goh said his government did not agree with the column's contents, but that the best way to tackle such a problem was to write a letter of protest to the newspaper itself, which would then hopefully publish the letter. "That's the approach that we prefer," he said.
Goh said on Thursday he did not believe in "Malaysia-bashing" and saw no benefits in an ongoing media war.
"I don't believe, and nor does the Singapore government, in Malaysia bashing or in putting down Dr. Mahathir," Goh said, referring to the Malaysia's prime minister.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of education ministers of the 21-nation Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum here, Goh said Singapore and Malaysia had very close inter- related relations.
"We are an important investor in Malaysia," he said. "A stable Malaysia, a prosperous Malaysia under a strong leader is a fundamental interest of Singapore." Goh said Singapore and Malaysia had nothing to gain from a media war.
"There are so many negative articles in Singapore, in Malaysian newspapers," he said.
Mahathir later appeared play down the dispute over the article, which singled out Malaysia as the only Asian country which had not had a change of leadership in the past decade.
He said the Singapore media was "free to comment on other countries" and the Malaysian government did not "take any notice of such things."
Relations have often been prickly between the neighbors since Singapore was ejected from the Malaysian federation in 1965, and Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told the Singapore media on Monday to stop churning out untrue stories about his country.