Warrior of the fourth estate
Zakiah KoyaPublished: Jan 9, 2001 6:06 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
In the 1961 'Utusan strike', Said Zahari, chief editor of Utusan Melayu , resisted all attempts by Umno to make the leading Malay newspaper its party organ.
In the 1961 'Utusan strike', Said Zahari, chief editor of Utusan Melayu, resisted all attempts by Umno to make the leading Malay newspaper its party organ.
It was only in that one incident did national history record an uprising by journalists. It was the first and only time the nation witnessed journalists and workers of a press institution standing together to uphold freedom of the press.
As many of us are unaware of what actually took place, Said has written his political memoirs entitled "Dark Clouds" to tell the people the genesis of the historic 'Utusan strike'.
The book is a project for his 1996 fellowship at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and is due to be published soon by the Utusan Group. The book is dedicated to his wife and children.
The book also partly recalls his 17 years in political detention in Singapore but the genesis to the infamous strike takes centre stage.
"I have written this memoir as a journalist, not a historian, and as a participant and observer," said 72-year-old Said, who had to pay a heavy price to fight for what he believed in - an independent press subservient to no one.
"The world of journalism I was in is very different from the one now. By right, journalists of today should push for press freedom but knowing who controls the paper, it is difficult.
"The editors of today are the ones that change (what is written by journalists). Unlike today, in those days, investigative journalism was encouraged."
Vested interests
Said claimed that at present, editors had many vested interests and were pampered too much.
"Being a journalist is a conviction and not a mere profession where you work for money. No matter where, journalists are still governed by the same principles and a good journalist is one who works to unravel the truth," he said.
He added that although journalists now may be pushing against a wall, the sentiment of journalists for the truth was still there.
"In fact, just before the Anwar incident in 1998, before Utusan Melayu chief editor Johan Jaafar was removed from his post, he did refer to the 'Utusan strike', as commemorating how journalists stood up for press freedom.
In my time, we journalists were partly politicians. Not in the sense that we supported a political party but more in the fact that we participated in the independence struggle. We incited anti-colonialism sentiments with our writings.
"We practised independent journalism, without being tied to any party and we did not fear to criticise.
And it was in that spirit, Utusan Melayu was started in 1939 and it was in that same spirit it was published - until that fateful day," he said.
That fateful day being when Tunku Abdul Rahman sent in his 'general' Ibrahim Fikri to hand over a four-pronged new policy, ordering the newspaper to be taken over by Umno. "I knew that day Utusan Melayu had died," Said writes in his memoirs.
The new policies handed to Said by Ibrahim stated that the paper was to give full support to the ruling party, the limiting of news on other parties, more news with bigger headlines on ministers of the coalition and the supporting of the coalition in whatever they did.
Nevertheless, it was not without a fight that Said and all of the Utusan Melayu journalists of that day gave up the newspaper. "They did not realise that in the whole of the Utusan Melayu establishment, every one of them - be they from editorial, management or the printing department - were against the takeover. I was not alone," said Said.
Knowing very well that Said opposed fully the policies and that he would be the main stumbling block in the takeover, Ibrahim then sent an order for Said - a Singaporean - to be transferred to Singapore.
Said said this was seen as a slap on the face for those who opposed the takeover.
The printing workers and the journalists then gave an ultimatum to the new management - appoint people with no political interests to head the company and revoke the order to transfer Said to Singapore - or they will go on a strike.
"I cannot say the others saw the takeover the way I saw it as an encroachment of press freedom but they supported our stand," said Said.
Vigil for 93 days
On July 21, 1961, with Said at the helm, the printing workers and journalists of Utusan Melayu launched a strike that lasted for 93 days.
Throughout the protest, the strikers camped outside the Utusan Melayu building in Jalan Chan Sow Lin. They slept, ate and kept guard day and night. Reports on the strike say the participants faced much harassment from the management and the police. But they were also given financial and food aid from those who supported an independent press.
In the midst of the strike, Tunku Abdul Rahman labelled the strikers as having been influenced by communists. The first prime minister, who was also the foreign minister, then issued an order banning Said from "entering Malaya forever".
(Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad later revoked this order in 1989.)
"Why did we reject the takeover?" To this, Said said the answer lies in the genesis that led to the strike.
Explaining that Umno was not actually founded to achieve independence, Said said Umno was founded to oppose the formation of Malayan Union in 1945.
"The British, in forcing the sultans to sign the Malayan Union agreement, wanted to impose the colonial system onto Malaya.
The Malayan Congress comprising all the Malay parties took place and Dato' Onn then appealed to Utusan Melayu to unite the Malays to oppose the Malayan Union.
Utusan Melayu regarded this as sinister for the Malays to agree to the British colonial power's political agenda.
It was also at this point of time that the British looked at Utusan Melayu as inciting anti- British sentiments with a critical policy towards the British," Said recalled.
True to the perception by the British, Utusan Melayu had vowed to fight against any attempt to perpetuate the colonisation of Malaya. "This is where we stood on common ground with Umno then, although we knew certain Umno leaders were skeptical towards Utusan Melayu," said Said.
Said said that the British then worked with Umno leaders and at that time, there were many other Malay political parties who were fighting for independence.
"These other parties were Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya, Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, Angkatan Wanita Sedar (Awas) and many other Malay leaders such as Ishak Haji Mohammad and Ahmad Boestamam. Utusan Melayu supported the nationalist Malay parties while Umno slowly fell out in favour with the British, delineating what they were formed for."
Takeover signs
Said said that he and many other journalists saw the looming takeover by Umno. It did not simply happen overnight. "The signs of the takeover were there from 1957 itself. When Umno was elected as government, they began implementing their own political agenda and they felt that they needed Utusan Melayu.
"In 1958, I took over the editor's post from Yusof Ishak, who was later elected as the President of the Republic of Singapore. When I took over the seat, it was still sizzling hot,"said Said.
A few incidents during Said's tenure as editor-in-chief revealed the true colours of Umno. "There was that editorial that I wrote on the Cuban incident where I called for the expulsion of the Belgian ambassador to Malaysia.
"I was called by Tunku Abdul Rahman and he told me that I should not have written such an editorial and that the Belgian ambassador had come crying to him. I told Tunku that as a sovereign nation with dignity and honour, we should take a firm stand in this case," recalled Said.
Said said Umno was also not happy with Utusan Melayu for supporting the struggle of the peasants' fight for 'Land for the Landless' headed by Hamid Tuah. "Umno regarded the fight of the peasants as being involved in gangsterism," said Said.
He also recalled the time when minister Aziz Ishak called him in again to see the Prime Minister because Utusan Melayu had published a speech.
In the speech, Aziz said that there were government officers who still had the colonised mentality, being subservient to the British. Then I wrote an editorial asking the government to take action against such officers, as Utusan Melayu believed all steps should be taken to uproot any remnants of colonialism.
"I was called in - again. The information minister then, Syed Jaafar Albar said that the agriculture minister Datuk Abdul Razak was not happy. They told me that there was no such mentality among government servants. I asked them to issue a statement to clarify but they told me that the 'damage has been done' and no clarification statement was issued.
"As a journalist, I felt we had the duty to comment on such issues, as we just cannot afford to have officers with colonised mentality," stated Said.
Said remarked that it was such interference in the running of the newspaper that he regarded as the signs that ultimately Umno would want to take over Utusan Melayu to make it fully theirs.
On hearing the news of Said being banished from Malaya, the strikers then were in disarray, deep with uncertainty with rumours mounting and without proper leadership. On the 93rd day of the strike, Utusan Melayu finally succumbed to Umno.
Said writes in his book that Samani Mohd Amin, a reporter of Utusan Melayu at the time of the strike, had written later: "A day after Said Zahari went to Singapore on the strike business, Rosedin disappeared. One day, I bumped into Rosedin who whispered to me, 'Some friends including Samad Ismail asked me to leave the strike'."
Said said that throughout all this, there were a few top journalists who had gone back on the principles they adhered to while in Utusan Melayu.
Among these "few top journalists", he mentions Samad Ismail many times in his book. Said pointed out that he has three chapters in his book on Samad.
The fact that Samad rejoined the New Straits Times, according to Said, is not a surprise.
"What surprised me was when he was not firm enough to resist what was done to him in the political maneouvering that was done in those days.
"When he returned from Indonesia where he was sent to in exile, he lost his position in Utusan Melayu and he joined the New Straits Times and later led Berita Harian. In those days, it would have been unthinkable for me to join those papers as they were then regarded as neo-colonial papers. It is rather sad, as he was a role model for many journalists before that.
"People like Samad might not like partly what I have written but what I have written is good for him," said Said with a smile.
Branded as communist
After the banishment order was issued, Said returned to Singapore. In Singapore, Said was actively promoting the setting up of Partai Rakyat Singapura. That dream of setting up the party never came true as all those involved were picked up and detained.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, at that time, labelled Said as a communist. In his book, Said wrote of how many a time he was asked by those who truly believed that he was a communist just because Lee said he was.
"It was in 1963 that I was accused of being a leading member of the Communist United Front which was a very vague kind of organisation. Actually, anybody who opposed the People's Action Party (Lee's party) was arrested and put under the Internal Security Act - which at that time in Singapore was known as Preservation of Public Security Order (PPSO) Act.
"I was accused of being an agent of a foreign power. Basically, it was an act to keep me in jail so as not to allow me to enter politics," he said.
Said was in prison for 16 years in four different prisons all over Singapore - and in exile in Pulau Ubin (an island off Singapore) for another year. It was in detention that he picked up Mandarin, which he still speaks fluently and used to write well.
"My prison mates were Nanyang (Singapore Nanyang University) graduates and they taught me Mandarin," said Said.
Much richer
In his book, Said also writes of his encounters with prison officials. One was about a prison official who was not so sure whether Said was indeed a communist. Another interesting incident was when Said offered to trade places with a ranking prison officer.
After his release, he worked for a subsidiary of Times Group called Asia Research in an economic quarterly. In 1983, he started Xenia Editorial Services. In 1993, he had a stroke and came to Malaysia for treatment.
"I am not so bad after the stroke, only some cramps in my legs at times," said Said, who has obviously recovered quite well.
On what he feels about Singapore and Malaysia as his homes, Said said, " My personal feeling is that Singapore is still a part of Malaysia and Malaysia is still my country."
"I am still paying for what I believe in and many find it puzzling. To me, justice is justice and truth is truth. Time does not change that. There is no question of me giving up my principles and beliefs so that I could live comfortably.
"The cost of fighting for freedom and justice is indeed very high. I have paid my sacrifices but I believe the sacrifices and suffering by my wife and children is a thousand times greater than mine. No matter, I am much richer now, for I have 16 grandchildren and in that way, I am so much richer."
It was only in that one incident did national history record an uprising by journalists. It was the first and only time the nation witnessed journalists and workers of a press institution standing together to uphold freedom of the press.
As many of us are unaware of what actually took place, Said has written his political memoirs entitled "Dark Clouds" to tell the people the genesis of the historic 'Utusan strike'.
The book is a project for his 1996 fellowship at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and is due to be published soon by the Utusan Group. The book is dedicated to his wife and children.
The book also partly recalls his 17 years in political detention in Singapore but the genesis to the infamous strike takes centre stage.
"I have written this memoir as a journalist, not a historian, and as a participant and observer," said 72-year-old Said, who had to pay a heavy price to fight for what he believed in - an independent press subservient to no one.
"The world of journalism I was in is very different from the one now. By right, journalists of today should push for press freedom but knowing who controls the paper, it is difficult.
"The editors of today are the ones that change (what is written by journalists). Unlike today, in those days, investigative journalism was encouraged."
Vested interests
Said claimed that at present, editors had many vested interests and were pampered too much.
"Being a journalist is a conviction and not a mere profession where you work for money. No matter where, journalists are still governed by the same principles and a good journalist is one who works to unravel the truth," he said.
He added that although journalists now may be pushing against a wall, the sentiment of journalists for the truth was still there.
"In fact, just before the Anwar incident in 1998, before Utusan Melayu chief editor Johan Jaafar was removed from his post, he did refer to the 'Utusan strike', as commemorating how journalists stood up for press freedom.
In my time, we journalists were partly politicians. Not in the sense that we supported a political party but more in the fact that we participated in the independence struggle. We incited anti-colonialism sentiments with our writings.
"We practised independent journalism, without being tied to any party and we did not fear to criticise.
And it was in that spirit, Utusan Melayu was started in 1939 and it was in that same spirit it was published - until that fateful day," he said.
That fateful day being when Tunku Abdul Rahman sent in his 'general' Ibrahim Fikri to hand over a four-pronged new policy, ordering the newspaper to be taken over by Umno. "I knew that day Utusan Melayu had died," Said writes in his memoirs.
The new policies handed to Said by Ibrahim stated that the paper was to give full support to the ruling party, the limiting of news on other parties, more news with bigger headlines on ministers of the coalition and the supporting of the coalition in whatever they did.
Nevertheless, it was not without a fight that Said and all of the Utusan Melayu journalists of that day gave up the newspaper. "They did not realise that in the whole of the Utusan Melayu establishment, every one of them - be they from editorial, management or the printing department - were against the takeover. I was not alone," said Said.
Knowing very well that Said opposed fully the policies and that he would be the main stumbling block in the takeover, Ibrahim then sent an order for Said - a Singaporean - to be transferred to Singapore.
Said said this was seen as a slap on the face for those who opposed the takeover.
The printing workers and the journalists then gave an ultimatum to the new management - appoint people with no political interests to head the company and revoke the order to transfer Said to Singapore - or they will go on a strike.
"I cannot say the others saw the takeover the way I saw it as an encroachment of press freedom but they supported our stand," said Said.
Vigil for 93 days
On July 21, 1961, with Said at the helm, the printing workers and journalists of Utusan Melayu launched a strike that lasted for 93 days.
In the midst of the strike, Tunku Abdul Rahman labelled the strikers as having been influenced by communists. The first prime minister, who was also the foreign minister, then issued an order banning Said from "entering Malaya forever".
(Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad later revoked this order in 1989.)
"Why did we reject the takeover?" To this, Said said the answer lies in the genesis that led to the strike.
Explaining that Umno was not actually founded to achieve independence, Said said Umno was founded to oppose the formation of Malayan Union in 1945.
"The British, in forcing the sultans to sign the Malayan Union agreement, wanted to impose the colonial system onto Malaya.
The Malayan Congress comprising all the Malay parties took place and Dato' Onn then appealed to Utusan Melayu to unite the Malays to oppose the Malayan Union.
Utusan Melayu regarded this as sinister for the Malays to agree to the British colonial power's political agenda.
It was also at this point of time that the British looked at Utusan Melayu as inciting anti- British sentiments with a critical policy towards the British," Said recalled.
True to the perception by the British, Utusan Melayu had vowed to fight against any attempt to perpetuate the colonisation of Malaya. "This is where we stood on common ground with Umno then, although we knew certain Umno leaders were skeptical towards Utusan Melayu," said Said.
Said said that the British then worked with Umno leaders and at that time, there were many other Malay political parties who were fighting for independence.
"These other parties were Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya, Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, Angkatan Wanita Sedar (Awas) and many other Malay leaders such as Ishak Haji Mohammad and Ahmad Boestamam. Utusan Melayu supported the nationalist Malay parties while Umno slowly fell out in favour with the British, delineating what they were formed for."
Takeover signs
Said said that he and many other journalists saw the looming takeover by Umno. It did not simply happen overnight. "The signs of the takeover were there from 1957 itself. When Umno was elected as government, they began implementing their own political agenda and they felt that they needed Utusan Melayu.
"In 1958, I took over the editor's post from Yusof Ishak, who was later elected as the President of the Republic of Singapore. When I took over the seat, it was still sizzling hot,"said Said.
A few incidents during Said's tenure as editor-in-chief revealed the true colours of Umno. "There was that editorial that I wrote on the Cuban incident where I called for the expulsion of the Belgian ambassador to Malaysia.
"I was called by Tunku Abdul Rahman and he told me that I should not have written such an editorial and that the Belgian ambassador had come crying to him. I told Tunku that as a sovereign nation with dignity and honour, we should take a firm stand in this case," recalled Said.
Said said Umno was also not happy with Utusan Melayu for supporting the struggle of the peasants' fight for 'Land for the Landless' headed by Hamid Tuah. "Umno regarded the fight of the peasants as being involved in gangsterism," said Said.
He also recalled the time when minister Aziz Ishak called him in again to see the Prime Minister because Utusan Melayu had published a speech.
In the speech, Aziz said that there were government officers who still had the colonised mentality, being subservient to the British. Then I wrote an editorial asking the government to take action against such officers, as Utusan Melayu believed all steps should be taken to uproot any remnants of colonialism.
"I was called in - again. The information minister then, Syed Jaafar Albar said that the agriculture minister Datuk Abdul Razak was not happy. They told me that there was no such mentality among government servants. I asked them to issue a statement to clarify but they told me that the 'damage has been done' and no clarification statement was issued.
"As a journalist, I felt we had the duty to comment on such issues, as we just cannot afford to have officers with colonised mentality," stated Said.
Said remarked that it was such interference in the running of the newspaper that he regarded as the signs that ultimately Umno would want to take over Utusan Melayu to make it fully theirs.
On hearing the news of Said being banished from Malaya, the strikers then were in disarray, deep with uncertainty with rumours mounting and without proper leadership. On the 93rd day of the strike, Utusan Melayu finally succumbed to Umno.
Said writes in his book that Samani Mohd Amin, a reporter of Utusan Melayu at the time of the strike, had written later: "A day after Said Zahari went to Singapore on the strike business, Rosedin disappeared. One day, I bumped into Rosedin who whispered to me, 'Some friends including Samad Ismail asked me to leave the strike'."
Said said that throughout all this, there were a few top journalists who had gone back on the principles they adhered to while in Utusan Melayu.
Among these "few top journalists", he mentions Samad Ismail many times in his book. Said pointed out that he has three chapters in his book on Samad.
The fact that Samad rejoined the New Straits Times, according to Said, is not a surprise.
"What surprised me was when he was not firm enough to resist what was done to him in the political maneouvering that was done in those days.
"When he returned from Indonesia where he was sent to in exile, he lost his position in Utusan Melayu and he joined the New Straits Times and later led Berita Harian. In those days, it would have been unthinkable for me to join those papers as they were then regarded as neo-colonial papers. It is rather sad, as he was a role model for many journalists before that.
"People like Samad might not like partly what I have written but what I have written is good for him," said Said with a smile.
Branded as communist
After the banishment order was issued, Said returned to Singapore. In Singapore, Said was actively promoting the setting up of Partai Rakyat Singapura. That dream of setting up the party never came true as all those involved were picked up and detained.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, at that time, labelled Said as a communist. In his book, Said wrote of how many a time he was asked by those who truly believed that he was a communist just because Lee said he was.
"It was in 1963 that I was accused of being a leading member of the Communist United Front which was a very vague kind of organisation. Actually, anybody who opposed the People's Action Party (Lee's party) was arrested and put under the Internal Security Act - which at that time in Singapore was known as Preservation of Public Security Order (PPSO) Act.
"I was accused of being an agent of a foreign power. Basically, it was an act to keep me in jail so as not to allow me to enter politics," he said.
Said was in prison for 16 years in four different prisons all over Singapore - and in exile in Pulau Ubin (an island off Singapore) for another year. It was in detention that he picked up Mandarin, which he still speaks fluently and used to write well.
"My prison mates were Nanyang (Singapore Nanyang University) graduates and they taught me Mandarin," said Said.
Much richer
In his book, Said also writes of his encounters with prison officials. One was about a prison official who was not so sure whether Said was indeed a communist. Another interesting incident was when Said offered to trade places with a ranking prison officer.
After his release, he worked for a subsidiary of Times Group called Asia Research in an economic quarterly. In 1983, he started Xenia Editorial Services. In 1993, he had a stroke and came to Malaysia for treatment.
"I am not so bad after the stroke, only some cramps in my legs at times," said Said, who has obviously recovered quite well.
On what he feels about Singapore and Malaysia as his homes, Said said, " My personal feeling is that Singapore is still a part of Malaysia and Malaysia is still my country."
"I am still paying for what I believe in and many find it puzzling. To me, justice is justice and truth is truth. Time does not change that. There is no question of me giving up my principles and beliefs so that I could live comfortably.
"The cost of fighting for freedom and justice is indeed very high. I have paid my sacrifices but I believe the sacrifices and suffering by my wife and children is a thousand times greater than mine. No matter, I am much richer now, for I have 16 grandchildren and in that way, I am so much richer."
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