Sidek Kamiso's over-overzealous arrest

Updated: 
Ex-journo walks as cops fail to seek remand over Haron Din's tweet - The MalayMail Online, 21/9/16  ... 

Original article

KL, Tues 20/9/16: The media described Sidek Kamiso as "former journalist" but the great Pak Samad told me that once a journalist, always a journalist. Even more true these days when we don't think twice about calling accountants, rapists, and human rights activists "citizen journalists". You wouldn't call someone a "former citizen journalist", would you? Not that I think Sidek should be given special treatment because he's an ex-journalist of The Star. If he had committed a serious crime, go after him like you'd go after Batang Kali. But Sidek's only "sin" were his tweets about the passing of Tok Guru Haron Din that some found disrespectful of the revered man. Hardly something that called for his arrest at his home at 4.30 in the morning, or bundling him away for questioning 300km away in Johor Baru! [Ex-journo arrested, accused of insulting Islam  -FMT 19/9/1] 

They took Pak Samad away from his home during the wee hours, too, and then incarcerated him for 5 years under the Internal Security Act. But that was 40 long years ago. Don't take us back to those dark ages, IGP.

Read also:
Arrest warrant for Sidek Kamiso unnecessary, FMT 19/9/16
Laywer rebut IGP on "no warrant needed" to arrest Sidek, Mkini 20/9/16

The Mole's story, so far

mole.my

TTDI, 19/9/16: The Mole turned five years old last Friday. We had deliberately launched our little news portal on Malaysia Day in 2011 because it was an auspicious date. We did not know that Prime Minister Najib Razak was planning to abolish the Internal Security Act on that same day; that was, editorially, a big bonus for us. So last week we celebrated the Mole's 5th birthday, the Malaysia Day and the death of the country's most draconian law. There is life after the ISA, after all! 

There is more coming from the Mole, too. We remain modest in terms of traffic, readership, staffing etc., especially if you compare us with Malaysiakini or Free Malaysia Today, but that is partly out of choice. I've always believed that if you don't have the size, get a niche. We try hard not to end up like the Malaysian Insider, The Rakyat Post, The Nut Graph and other gems that fizzled out after just a while (in one case, at least, leaving scores of journalists jobless overnight!). 

In the last five years, people have come and gone. This month, our chief executive officer Endie Shazalie Akbar, who has just turned 40, will be leaving the Mole in order to pursue other keen interests (he was with me at the Mole since the start and before that was the COO of the Malay Mail in 2009-2011). 

Endie will be replaced by Zakhir Mohamad, a former CEO of a public-listed company and a blogger whose heart is close to the world of journalism and communication.

Datuk Nuraina Samad (ex-NST managing editor), Aziz Hassan (ex-Malay Mail boss) and Shahrom Sayuthi (ex-NST political editor) do make our editorial line-up appear quite formidable, if I may say so myself. We don't have 20-30 reporters but the ones we have have certainly made their own marks in the online journalism scene. 

For the next 5 years, we hope to remain faithful to what we set out to do 5 years ago, i.e. (to borrow a phrase from a critical fellow journalist) "to give an appearance of journalistic credence to the sometimes wild and inflated claims that float in the blogosphere..." (The Mail gets Malaysiakini - and Rocky, too by Uppercaise, 8/12/11).  

No promises, of course, but one thing for sure, they are as wild and inflated as ever! 

So here's to the next 5 years.

The mountain comes to Anwar ...

TTDI, 6 Sept

I thought I'd never seen the two of them photographed together, like this, ever again. I also thought I'd never seen Dr Mahathir Mohamad looking this small ....

"No other way to describe," said a fellow journalist, "except that it's the pits of Dr Mahathir's turnaround ... first, he was hoping to lobby the Rulers to meet him; second, blaming Megat Junid for the ISA arrests during this premiership; and latest,  to apologise to the Rulers for the amendment on royal assent. God knows what's next!"

Read Dr Mahathir meets Anwar for first time in over 18 years