how to read a malaysian newspaper
you know, reading newspapers in malaysia is an art form. of course anybody can read whatever is there in the newspapers, i hear you say.... and all i would say to you, my friend is - Ha! Cis! that would only be true if the scope of your newspaper reading is devoted entirely to the comic strips and whatever insanity tom cruise committed yesterday...
however, if for some crazy reason, you wanted to know what transpired in parliament yesterday or who was the mp who asked the customs dept. to shut one eye, b'cos "its the normal thing to do" - and your only clues were the national newspapers,
then you actually have to have the innate ability, to read two different newspapers side by side, and spot the differences, and then read between the lines that were not there in the first place, all the time cross-referencing with the denials of whoever may be denying whatever in page 3.
now, the denials are very important, and you must always pay attention to the denials, b'cos most of the time, until said denial, you would not have known for example, that there had ever been a series of peaceful oil price hike demonstrations in kl (for example), until the relevant minister comes on record to deny that the peaceful oil hike demo had in fact, either:
a) not taken place at all;
(b) not been peaceful at all; or
(c) that future demos will not be tolerated... (for example)
you have to admire the the national dailies' commitment and devotion to building a nation of people who, simply by reading the papers, have developed the ability to put "1, 4, the director general of customs and 3" together to add up to 15.
if you cannot even begin to comprehend what on earth i'm on about today, then all i can say to you my friend, is tsk tsk tsk. you have failed me badly. stand in the corner for 13 1/2 minutes then, go read today's newspapers and develop yourself... remember start with the denial on page 3...
however, if for some crazy reason, you wanted to know what transpired in parliament yesterday or who was the mp who asked the customs dept. to shut one eye, b'cos "its the normal thing to do" - and your only clues were the national newspapers,
then you actually have to have the innate ability, to read two different newspapers side by side, and spot the differences, and then read between the lines that were not there in the first place, all the time cross-referencing with the denials of whoever may be denying whatever in page 3.
now, the denials are very important, and you must always pay attention to the denials, b'cos most of the time, until said denial, you would not have known for example, that there had ever been a series of peaceful oil price hike demonstrations in kl (for example), until the relevant minister comes on record to deny that the peaceful oil hike demo had in fact, either:
a) not taken place at all;
(b) not been peaceful at all; or
(c) that future demos will not be tolerated... (for example)
you have to admire the the national dailies' commitment and devotion to building a nation of people who, simply by reading the papers, have developed the ability to put "1, 4, the director general of customs and 3" together to add up to 15.
if you cannot even begin to comprehend what on earth i'm on about today, then all i can say to you my friend, is tsk tsk tsk. you have failed me badly. stand in the corner for 13 1/2 minutes then, go read today's newspapers and develop yourself... remember start with the denial on page 3...
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