“Walapun komuniti Bidayuh tidak ramai di Miri, namun mereka memainkan peranan yang signifikan dalam memastikan kesinambungan pembangunan dan kestabilan politik di sini. Malah mereka menyumbang kepada komuniti tempatan tanpa mengira sempadan agama an budaya,” katanya berucap merasmikan Majlis Makan Malam Persatuan Kebangsaan Dayak Bidayuh (DBNA) cawangan Miri di sebuah hotel.

Chin yang juga Ahli Parlimen Miri menambah, walaupun Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak (SUPP) tewas dua kerusi dalam Pilihan Raya Negeri lalu, namun masyarakat Bidayuh terus berdiri teguh di belakang kerajaan.

“Kita amat menghargai usaha dan kesungguhan masyarakat Bidayuh yang sentiasa menyokong kerajaan dari dulu. Saya berharap sokongan dan hubungan baik ini dikekalkan untuk kebaikan komuniti itu sendiri,” katanya.

Dalam pada itu beliau menasihatkan kaum Bidayuh melalui persatuan agar meningkatkan usaha untuk memajukan pencapaian dalam bidang akademik di kalangan generasi muda.

Pada majlis yang sama, Chin turut melancarkan laman sosial Facebook DBNA yang membolehkan persatuan itu diketengahkan di dunia antarabangsa melalui dunia siber tanpa sempadan.

“Ini merupakan usaha yang amat baik dalam memastikan ahli-ahli DBNA di Miri mendapat info terkini mengenai aktiviti dan projek persatuan selain mempromosikan persatuan mereka ke peringkat global.”

“Saya difahamkan, dua tahun lalu DBNA Miri mempunyai laman web sendiri dan sekarang Facebook DBNA Miri. Saya berharap perkembangan ini dapat memantapkan peranan persatuan untuk membangunkan ahli-ahli Bidayuh setaraf dengan kaum lain,” katanya.

Chin turut menyeru DBNA Miri agar membawa lebih ramai Bidayuh di kalangan intelek dan profesional menyertai persatuan itu sekaligus menyumbang idea dan pendapat yang bernas dan membina.

Pada majlis yang sama, Chin mengumumkan geran berjumlah RM10,000 untuk bahagian pembangunan pendidikan kebudayaan DBNA Miri.

Hadir sama Menteri Infrastruktur dan Komunikasi, Datuk Seri Michael Manyin Jawong, Menteri Muda Komunikasi Datuk Lee Kim Shin, Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Telang Usan Dennis Ngau, Datuk Bandar Miri, Lawrence Lai dan Pengerusi DBNA Miri, Kapt. Bernard Idit.

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 6 (Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak described the demise of Apple Inc’s co-founder Steve Jobs as not only a loss to the company but also to the global community.

Jobs, 56, was truly an icon in the New Era, he said, when asked to comment on the death of Apple’s former chief executive in Palo Alto, California earlier today.

Describing himself as a user of two of Apple’s products, Najib said Jobs was a “game changer” in the computing world following his ideas and products. (Note: game changer means “visionary”)

Jobs has been described as the mastermind behind Apple’s iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes.

Apple said that it has lost a visionary and creative genius and the world has lost an amazing human being.

It added that Jobs’ brilliance, passion and energy were the “source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives”.  — BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 (Bernama) — The proliferation of Facebook pages calling for action on certain issues cannot be considered as a true reflection of the wishes of the majority, Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) chief executive officer Datuk Chamil Wariya said.

He said those clicking on the “Like” button could come from the same person or from the same group.

“However, the relevant parties should strive to follow the discussions in these pages,” he told Bernama.

Chamil acknowledged that such pages have become among the main options for people to air their views.

“This is a healthy development because it provides a platform for people to voice out; however, I’m worried that these pages could be manipulated by certain quarters to further their own interest,” he said.

Cheras Umno division chief Datuk Wira Syed Ali Alhabshee said people should take the comments on these pages with a pinch of salt because an individual can posed as someone else and leave a comment.

“Facebook is open to manipulation because a person can assume the identity of another and post a comment under the guise of someone else’s identity,” he said.

Internet user Mohd Hafeez Mohd Hanafiah, 30, said some of the comments could be used as a feedback but the number of Likes cannot be taken as a reflection of the feelings of the society.

Another user Fairuz Omar said even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was obtaining feedback through his Facebook account.

Malaysians are increasingly using the social media to call for action on certain issues, the recent being the proposed imposition of six per cent mobile pre-paid service tax.

Najib has called on the telecommunications companies to defer the tax.

Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim announced today that the companies had agreed to defer it. — BERNAMA

Institut of Mind Development (INMIND) chief executive Norizan Sharif said the conventional way of tackling issues using the mainstream media was ineffective.

“The government must respond to the new media, otherwise the people treat its allegations as true.

“Currently, we don’t see the government responding in Face book, we also don’t see any (government) initiative in answering in blogs and Twitter. We can see many opposition Members of Parliament in Twitter, but on the government side, the number is dismal,” he told Bernama.

Norizan was commenting on a statement by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein yesterday who said the opposition used the new media to instigate the people to take part in illegal activities for political gain although the news they highlighted were untrue.

Hishammuddin said the government found it difficult to explain the situation on the illegal gathering on July 9 despite the various existing media channels being used, following the widespread use of the new media by the opposition.

Norizan, who also wrote in the blog http://www.nobisha.com said the absence of government engagement in the new media handicapped it so much so that it encountered difficulties in answering issues relating to the illegal gathering.

He also suggested that the government activate efforts to download every announcement or good news to YouTube because studies found that the young spent part of their time surfing the internet.

Meanwhile, Universiti Kebangsaan’s History, Politics and Strategy Study Centre senior lecturer Abd Ghapa Harun said the mainstream media must also dispel the fallacy that they still monopolised news distribution.

“It is important that the government is transparent when issuing related information when facing an issue because this will build confidence in the media being used by the government.

Abd Ghapa also said that emphasising a high level of integrity among the mainstream media by the government, would in itself weaken the public trust in the alternative media.

He said the integrity of a large portion of the content of the alternative media was questionable compared to that of the mainstream media. — BERNAMA

Information, Communication and Culture Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Kamaruddin Siaraf said the first reason was the goverment policy to promote the Multimedia Super Corridor.

“In this policy, the government pledged not to censor the internet and to its credit, the goverment has kept its word,” he said in his speech at the launch of the South-South Information Gateway (SSIG) luncheon talk here today.

The speech was read by National Library of Malaysia director-general Datuk Raslin Abu Bakar.

The luncheon talk, entitled ‘Nations on Fire: The Power of New Media’, was presented by Associate Prof Dr Abu Hassan Hasbullah from University Malaya.

Kamaruddin said the second reason was the rise in political consciousness among Malaysians, with a growing number of Malaysians showing a keen interest in democracy, human rights and good governance.

“And finally, the loss of credibility among the traditional media due to press self-censorship. Therefore, the readers turn to the internet for alternative sources of news and information,” he said. — BERNAMA

Janet E. Steele,  Associate Professor of the School of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University, said news and information from social media were not hard facts checked and filtered by editors compared to the standard pratice by the traditional media.

“True journalism implies a system of verification and must comply to a high professional stardard. Therefore, news reports of journalists must be checked carefully by editors before being published, unlike the new media which does not need any supervision,” she told reporters at University Malaya here today.

Earlier, she had presented a lecture entitled “Justice and Journalism: Islam and Journalistic Values in Malaysia and Indonesia” at the university’s Media Studies Department in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Also present was Dr Mohd Yahya Mohamed Ariffin, UM’s Head of Media Studies of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

About 50 post-graduate students from UM and International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) attended the lecture.    Steele, who is fluent in Indonesian, writes a weekly column “E-Mail from America” for Surya Daily in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia.

Steele, a familiar figure among Malaysian and Indonesian media, said the traditional media – print and electronic media – were facing various challenges in competing with the new media, which are widely used worldwide.

She also said that all media practioners should adopt the nine universal elements of good journalism.

“The nine good journalism principles consists of obligation to tell the truth, loyalty to its citizens, discipline of verification, maintain an independence of spirit and mind, serve as an independent monitor of power and provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.

“Must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant, must keep the news comprehensive and proportional and must be allowed to exercise their personal consciense are also in the journalism principles,” she said.

Steele said Muslim journalists in Malaysia and Indonesia may not be moved by the goal of freedom, but they understood the importance of speaking the truth to those in power and of stopping what is wrong with the words they use.

She added that the modern history of both Malaysia and Indonesia suggested that without independent media, justice was not more possible than either freedom or democracy. — BERNAMA

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