"Mahathir's Book : An Overview (2)"

An English tabloid quoted Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as saying that “As Allah is my witness, I have not done those things. I never steal. I never cheat”.
He said he did not have that kind of money, referring to Dr Mahathir’s allegations that about RM20 mil was spent on the campaign, with most of the money provided by Tengku Razaleigh himself.
In his controversial best-selling autobiography, A Doctor in the House, Mahathir narrated:
“We also heard that Team B spent about RM20 million on their campaign, which most of the money provided by Tengku Razaleigh himself”. (p541).
Tengku Razaleigh has slammed the book as being full of ‘comedianship’ and ‘political lying’.
He also refuted the allegations against him in the book, which accused him of leading the Team B faction in a dirty campaign which involved money politics during the 1987 Umno election.
At the book launch, a mischievous Dr Mahathir said he was ‘trembling’ at the thought of being sued.
So in his preface, Mahathir said : I still wonder if this book is readable. I am sure that it is. But my doubts remain”. (p xi).
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim accused the former prime minister of suffering from ‘selective amnesia’.
The people around Anwar are furious about Mahathir’s book. ‘I’m not buying the book,’ said Muaz Omar, an aide of Azmin’s, PKR deputy president.
I’m sharing the opinion of Muaz that “Mahathir’s book is a story we have heard before”.
At the PKR political bureau meeting two nights after the book launch, several party leaders felt that Anwar should not led Dr Mahathir get away with what he has written.
For instance: “I also interviewed four girls who told me about how they were persuaded to see a very influential person … He had taken each girl separately to a house in Henny Hill, a rich suburd in Kuala Lumpur.
“They were asked to undress with the purpose of having sex. Two of them said they refused but the other two consented.
“They were willing to talk to the police and to me but were adamant that they should not appear in court to given evidence … “ (p685).
Kepada Anwar, pembohongan Mahathir dalam buku itu terserlah apabila mendakwa kononnya beliau tidak menafikan tuduhan liwat terhadapnya semasa isu itu dibincangkan pada mesyuarat MKT UMNO sebelum dipecat daripada kerajaan dan parti.
“Kita ada rakaman mesyuarat itu. Sebagaimana yang saya ingat, perjalanan mesyuarat MKT itu telah bocor dan tidak ada sama sekali pengakuan saya kononnya mengesahkan tuduhan,” kata bekas Timbalan PM itu kepada tabloid berbahasa Melayu.
After all, though the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction by the High Court, the Federal Court, by a majority decision, quashed the conviction and freed Anwar of the sodomy charge.

"A Doctor in the House" : An Overview

So many books have been written about our former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad by authentive and distingushed writters locally and abroad.
For instances, Paradoxes of Mahathirism: An Intellectual Biography of Mahathir Mohamad by our intellectual Khoo Boo Teik and Mahathir: A Profile in Courage by J. Victor Morais.
As such, the publishing of A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahamad Mohamad, should be welcomed although not timely viewing that he retired at 3pm on October 31, 2003, ample time for him to write such a memoir.
In his conclusion, Mahathir grateful to the people of Malaysia whose support had enabled him to led this, his beloved country, for 22 years.
He had tried his best although he cannot be a judge of his own work.
“As for me, I must admit that the greatest sastisfication that I get from seeing physical evidence of the success of the plans and policies which were formulated while I was PM,” he said.
He became the fourth PM of Malaysia after Tun Hussein Onn stepped down on July 16, 1981, on the ground of health.
For the scholar like Boo Teik: Mahathir is one of the Asia’s most successful politicians.
In a career spanning half of a century, he has been an occasional writer on Malay affairs, a doctor cum parliamentarian, a Malay nationalist who has emerged as as Third World spokeman, and a practitioner of Islamic modernism.
As a study of political ideology, Paradoxes of Mahathirism explores Mahathir’s ideas on nationalism, capitalism, Islam, populism, and authoritarianism – the core of Mahathirism.
On the other hand, Morais described Mahathir as a leader that represents a new generation of self-made and self-confident Malaysians.
Once labeled an ‘ultra’ and expelled from UMNO, Mahathir emerged from the political wilderness to become the fourth PM of Malaysia.
Almost more than three quarters of his memoirs are narrated on the setbacks and moments of glory after he resigned form the government to join politics, beside gives insight to his background and philosophy as PM of Malaysia.
As such, only the first 10 chapters of the Mahathir’s book can be considered as memoirs, by borrowing the definition given by H.L. Yelland and his friends:
“Recollection, a type of autobiography. They are distinguished from autobiography proper by amount of emphasis they place on events external to the writer’s own life.”
The Memoirs of Benvenuto Cellini, is an important and well known example of memoirs.
A Doctor in the House more suitable as an autobiography, because it gives a connected and systematic accout of the writer’s life, the formative influences in his development, his thoughts and actions, set against the background of his time.
Among other things, Mahathir devoted a chapter each to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (A House Divided : Team A and Team B), Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Anwar’s Challenge), and Lee KuanYew (Problems with Singapore), that to be reviewed next.

Newa Agency Journalism: A Handbook by John Cardownie

The Global Vilage is becoming more a relaity these days; hence, news has become an important commodity the set-up. International market rules have to be obliged, international standards have to be taken into consideration, all for the sake of sales achievement and acceptance or to acquire credibility and to reach the larggest number of recipients. With it goes the important task of news agency journalists who have to play according the rules, anywhere, world-wide. The only weak link in the process is the dearth of special publications that 'say it all' to guide both career personnel and enthusiasts in news agency journalism, and this is more pronouncedly felt in the Third World.
The publication of News Agency Journalism: A Handbook by John Cordownie, and published by Friedrich-Ebert-Stidtung, in Bon, in 1988, is therefore timely and welcome. It is the first comprehensive book ever written in the subject, directed to the readers using the English language as their medium and also adaptable to other languages and cultures. I dare say that it is not only a tool, that one cannot do without but an asset to those who possess it!
Britisher John Cardownie, the writter, has responded well to the challenge of writing a practice-oriented handbook and training material. This lecturer of training courses for young journalists from Third World countries at the International Institute for Journalism in Berlin has a way of conveying his massage in a easy manner as if he is addressing the reader personally. The reader will certainly find most parts of the book refreshing because of the writter's witty and conversational style of writing, that can only come from conviction and long experience. And experience is of course the best weapon of any writer.
The handbook covers various angles of news agency journalism, giving the dos and don'ts, the ways and the hows. Lengthy explanations for exercises and examples support every topic discussed, a notable characteristic or the British educational trend. Cardownie opens the book with the highlight of the job, which, summarized, means that only a special kind of person can do it. If you work half-heartedly, you had better call it quits.
I have never found a book so generous with its tips and guides, so much so that every sentence is much appreciated. The contents are all about the every day work in a news agency journalist's life but with a little twist the distinguishes them from other journalists or writers. They include 'the art' in word economy, story construction, different approaches in writing the into, how to avoid confusion and a long valuable list that will be very helpful to those who get to know about it, and be one step ahead of the others. Words can trap you, no matter how clever you are at playing with them. News agency journalists, especially those who begin their communication careers in information departments, are advised to be careful and to apply word economy to improve their work. Few people realize this.
News agency journalists have an advantage over other writers, for example, fiction writers. In story contruction, all you need to do is to put together the collection of facts and information that you already have, to produce a plot. The key here is you must know what to say and think before putting your thoughts on paper. The explanation given by Cardownie justifies Cyril Connolly's view that literature is the art of writing something that will be understood immediately. 'The overriding requirement always', according to Cardownie 'is to present accurate news clearly'.
the handbook also brings into focus the difference between news agency journalists and newspaper journalists which may have been overlooked. In common, both deal with news but newspaper journalists work for a media publication with a specified readership, while news agency journalists do not. The differences are distinct in the way they work. Writing the intro is one of them. It shoud not be straight and dull. As the 5Ws and 1H (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How) remain, news agency people can also make use of the skills which, as Cardownie puts it, were previously the sole province of newspaper journalist.
The handbook can be an eye-opener to many in the field of journalism and invaluable to those who are imvolved in news agency journalism. You can improve your skill or compare what your have been doing with what you are actually supposed to do.
If Cardowine emphasizes the importance of Internet, Tell, Hold, and Influence in news agency journalism, he has certainly made use all these elements himself. His direct explainations enable one to understand his message clearly. His wit and humour entertain you even on the most crucial subject or sensitive areas that deal with the human ego.
For the first effort, the publication of the handbook, has gone beyond one's expectations. Cardowine's handbook is not only an invaluable primer for news agency journalists, it is also a useful 'how-to-do' book for all those involved in the field of journalism.