Kadir is no martyr
Steven GanDiterbitkan: Feb 18, 2001 1:49 AM | Dikemas kini: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
Apparently news of New Straits Times group chief Abdul Kadir Jasin getting the axe had failed to draw even a cursory mention in the mainstream media. Elsewhere, it would have raised red flags in the media industry. But that is because they, unlike us, do not have a warped media. That aside, the news blackout did not stop Malaysians from speculating on the reasons for Kadir's untimely demise.
Theories abound on why he fell out of favour with the powers-that-be. A popular one is the "not enough" theory - that Kadir had failed to sufficiently protect leader Mahathir Mohamad. To back this theory, political pundits have singled out recent criticisms in NST of Umno Supreme Council's no-contest ruling.
One particularly explosive piece was written by Askiah Adam, sister of former minister of information Adib Adam and a former leader writer for the newspaper.
The article "Second opinion: Why deputy presidency must be contested", which was published on Jan 8, accused the council for putting its own interests before that of the nation. Describing the act as "nothing less than a dereliction of duty", Askiah charged that the resolution had undermined Umno's democracy in the pretext of unity.
Not surprisingly, Kadir must pay for his "dereliction of duty". Never mind that he has been extremely loyal to Mahathir. Indeed, former NST chief Munir Majid, who served as group editor during the 1980s, would empathise well with Kadir's plight. After all, he left NST in similar circumstances. "I am 100 per cent loyal to Umno," Munir was reported to have told his staff upon leaving. ''But they wanted me to be 120 per cent.''
Next is the "too much" theory - that Kadir went overboard in defending his Umno paymasters. In so doing, he offended the increasingly discerning and sophisticated NST readership, leading to a massive plunge in circulation: a case of you can fool some people some of the time but you can't fool all of them all the time.
Yet another conjecture is that powerful Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin is stitching an alliance with newly endorsed prime-minister-in-waiting Abdullah Badawi to prepare himself and his cronies for the post-Mahathir era, and they figured that Kadir is not quite the man to do their bidding.
But we will never know the real reason for Kadir's unceremonious departure. And the man himself is not expected to spill the beans. After all, he should know that in Umno's raptorian world, those who keep their lips sealed would be given a golden parachute, while those who go out screaming and kicking would be exposed for sodomy and the like.
Probably Kadir had deliberately allowed Askiah's denunciations of Umno in NST because he already knew his days were numbered. It would then appeared as if he went down in the name of free press. But make no mistake. Kadir is no martyr of press freedom. After all, he was the man in charge when NST virulently called for errant journalists to be arrested under the Internal Security Act.
Those who lived by the sword would died by the sword, so said former opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, who had traded barbs words with the former NST boss over the past 14 years. Only that, Kadir will be expected to retire in comfort. Indeed, few tears will be shed for Kadir.
Theories abound on why he fell out of favour with the powers-that-be. A popular one is the "not enough" theory - that Kadir had failed to sufficiently protect leader Mahathir Mohamad. To back this theory, political pundits have singled out recent criticisms in NST of Umno Supreme Council's no-contest ruling.
One particularly explosive piece was written by Askiah Adam, sister of former minister of information Adib Adam and a former leader writer for the newspaper.
The article "Second opinion: Why deputy presidency must be contested", which was published on Jan 8, accused the council for putting its own interests before that of the nation. Describing the act as "nothing less than a dereliction of duty", Askiah charged that the resolution had undermined Umno's democracy in the pretext of unity.
Not surprisingly, Kadir must pay for his "dereliction of duty". Never mind that he has been extremely loyal to Mahathir. Indeed, former NST chief Munir Majid, who served as group editor during the 1980s, would empathise well with Kadir's plight. After all, he left NST in similar circumstances. "I am 100 per cent loyal to Umno," Munir was reported to have told his staff upon leaving. ''But they wanted me to be 120 per cent.''
Next is the "too much" theory - that Kadir went overboard in defending his Umno paymasters. In so doing, he offended the increasingly discerning and sophisticated NST readership, leading to a massive plunge in circulation: a case of you can fool some people some of the time but you can't fool all of them all the time.
Yet another conjecture is that powerful Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin is stitching an alliance with newly endorsed prime-minister-in-waiting Abdullah Badawi to prepare himself and his cronies for the post-Mahathir era, and they figured that Kadir is not quite the man to do their bidding.
But we will never know the real reason for Kadir's unceremonious departure. And the man himself is not expected to spill the beans. After all, he should know that in Umno's raptorian world, those who keep their lips sealed would be given a golden parachute, while those who go out screaming and kicking would be exposed for sodomy and the like.
Probably Kadir had deliberately allowed Askiah's denunciations of Umno in NST because he already knew his days were numbered. It would then appeared as if he went down in the name of free press. But make no mistake. Kadir is no martyr of press freedom. After all, he was the man in charge when NST virulently called for errant journalists to be arrested under the Internal Security Act.
Those who lived by the sword would died by the sword, so said former opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, who had traded barbs words with the former NST boss over the past 14 years. Only that, Kadir will be expected to retire in comfort. Indeed, few tears will be shed for Kadir.
