Veteran journalist and former New Straits Times deputy group editor Abdul Samad Ismail sees one clear difference in an on-going situation of "no press freedom" in Malaysia - in the past, there was the courage to criticise.

"We do not have press freedom. Last time (we had) no (press freedom). Now also no," he said in typical truncated manner when speaking to reporters at his home in Petaling Jaya, following a courtesy call by Information Minister Zainduddin Maidin.

Also present were three former senior editors - Mazlan Nordin ( Bernama ), Philip Mathews ( Malay Mail ) and Ho Sai Kong ( The Star ).

"I bantai saja (I just hit out). Whatever I could publish, I published, but at the time I was close to many top people... so they closed one eye whenever I ran a critical story," he said.

Among the leaders with whom he had enjoyed a close relationship was second premier, the late Abdul Razak Hussein and his deputy Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman.

Pak Samad, as he is popularly known, won the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts in 1994.

Now 82, ailing and wheelchair-bound, he lamented the serious state of self-censorship among journalists today.

"Sometimes, people fear their own shadow. How can this be?" he said, adding that such fears are unfounded.

Asked if journalists today work in a very restrictive environment, he countered that journalists have restricted themselves.

"Write what you want to write. Don't wait for the government to signal you as to what to write," he said.

On whether there is a need for Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984 - deemed as controlling the media industry - he firmly said: "No (need). Everyone should be allowed to write what they want to write. No one in their sane mind would condemn the government."

'I want to know'

Describing the media now as "dull", Abdul Samad said a lot of exciting things have not been reported.

"They (the media) are not concentrating on the right thing," he said, citing the change of government in Terengganu in the 2004 general election, from PAS to Barisan Nasional.

"We can write about the changes there, compare how the state was under PAS and now... whether it is successful or not. I want to know, the public also wants to know," he said.

Meanwhile, Zainuddin declined to comment on the publication of a comic strip in the New Straits Times yesterday, which is based on the cartoon controversy surrounding the depiction of Prophet Muhammad.

"I haven't read it, so I don't want to comment. Also it is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Security," he said.

The NST syndicated comic strip depicted a sidewalk cartoonist offering to draw caricatures of the prophet. The accompanying caption described the man as having achieved his goal of being the 'most feared man in the world'.

Two newspapers in Malaysia had their publishing licence suspended for carrying photographs of the caricatures which originated in Denmark and which have unleashed often violent protests across the Muslim world.