Does The Media Undermine Democracy In Malaysia Media Essay

Does The Media Undermine Democracy In Malaysia Media Essay Throughout the last decades, Malaysians have enjoyed regular elections and political stability. However, the stability slowly took a turn when the detention of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the subsequent sentence of 15 years for charges of corruption, abuse of power, and sexual misconduct made the public lose its faith in the integrity of the governments aims (Heufers, 2002) This the somehow added the growing number of detentions under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and other repressive laws severely threaten political competition, participation, and civil and political liberties. The media in Malaysia comprising of the mainstream that is mainly owned and controlled by the government and the alternative media, a form of independent journalism. Many government leaders in the developing world would justify their control over the media in terms of jealously guarding and guiding its members towards the path of national development and to ensure that the media does not fall into the wrong hands (Mustafa, 2005) In other words, the government wants to take control of media so they can set the agenda in the minds of society. This already restricts a sense of openness in the mainstream media. Mustafa (2005) stated in an analysis on the coverage of Malaysias 2004 general elections by four mainstream newspapers (The Star, the New Straits Times (NST), Berita Harian and Utusan Melayu), the total number of news items that were positive towards BN among all four major newspapers were roughly 40% and above. The other part of the percentage went straight to new items that were negative towards the opposition. Only a slight number of news (4% and below) were negative new items towards BN. Mustafa (2005) also highlighted sample of headlines used by these newspapers that gave an idea of slant news reporting; Malaysians prefer Pak Lahs vision of Islam (NST, March 15 2004), Perlis merana jika pilih pembangang (Perlis suffers if opposition is voted) (Utusan Melayu, March 16 2004 ) This shows a high level of bias coverage within the highly influential mainstream newspapers during the 2004 general elections. Another research presented by Ramanathan (2008) consists of a two month content analysis on how the mainstream media presents their reports on the 2008 general elections. Choosing newspapers in four languages (English, Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Mandrin) and the new media; internet, online newspapers and SMS as well as monitoring commentaries by selected television channels such as RTM, CNN and Channel News Asia on a selective basis. According to research, the type of coverage done by five of the mainstream newspapers was sided towards pro-BN stories. 277 stories analysed from Utusan Malaysia has 155 pro-BN stories, 56 pro- opposition and 66 neutral. The Star had a total of 153 stories analysed, 100 were pro-BN and only 22 were pro-opposition. Nanyang Siang Pau had 118 stories, 74 of them pro-BN and 26 pro-opposition. For Tamil newspapers, a qualitative analysis was undertaken that led to conclusions of since Tamil Nesan was being majority owned by Datin Indrani Samy Velu, the newspaper printed many stories featuring Dato Samy Velu and prominent MIC politicians and there were hardly any coverage given to Indian candidates form opposition political parties. The mainstream media weakens the openness of presenting political news to society. If democracy is all about the peoples right to oppose, to provide critiques with the role of media to influence the people, they are not giving much of a decision or choice to begin with. Of course there are minimal parts where the government values and would take into consideration the opinions of the people. For example, the topic of teaching Maths and Science in English (PPSMI), society is free to give out comments and opinions on what they think about the topic. People are writing in to newspapers, taking part in massive forums to state their opinion and to fight for what they stand for and the government values the opinion of the people in this case. Why cannot this be the same with political issues? After all, it is the political opinion and stands made by the public that would contribute to the democracy of the country. Some may say that the alternative works as a perfect place for independent journalism; however it is still closely monitored by the authorities. Blogs and online publications are beginning to worry the Malaysian authorities enough to re-consider the existing policy of non-regulation of the Internet and to call for some controls over the content (Ramanathan, 2008) A clear example was when Raja Petra Kamarudin, editor of alternative news Portal Malaysia Today was charged with publishing a seditious article on 25 May 2008 with the title, Lets send Altantuya murderers to hell. Raja was the first blogger to be charged under a sedition act where he claim trail but refused to post bail. Six months after detention under the ISA, Raja was released with no charges being filed against him. Accountability The tight gate-keeping and censorship practised by the government over the mainstream media influences the accountability of democracy. The government does not like reports that are too critical; therefore the responsibility to forming a democracy country is limited due to the restrain in reporting. During the general election in 2008, Ramanathan (2008) analyzed two-months prior to and after the elections, the mainstream media did coverages on upbeat stories about Barisan Nationals chances and dismissed the oppositions chances. Among them were: a two-page focus on Issues close to the heart featuring an in-depth interview with Abdullah, an article titled Guan Eng not a threat in Penang dismissed the chances of opposition leader Lim Guan Eng in capturing the state government in Penang and instead Lim won handsomely. With slanted reporting like this, the accountability of the government would be doubted by the public hence would give the public the opportunity to opt for something else which they did in the 2008 general election whereby BN suffered one of their worst lost because the public opted for an alternative media. This incident brought the alternative media to a different level when weblogs, text messages and copies of Internet-streamed videos became the most influential information sources for voters ahead that resulted in a surprise blow to the BN) party, which has ruled the country for more than 50 years. The media holds the representative responsible for taking care of the the people so what happens when these politicians lose in an election? How would they answer to accountability? The innocent death of Teo Beng Hock signifies a crisis of confidence in Malaysian democracy and accountability. Many critics, including those in the current government, argues that restrictions were put in place at a time when they were needed and that preventing public discussion of certain issues is not only counter-productive but it is also futile (Ramanathan, 2008) With the support towards the alternative media and the growing public sphere, the results from the 2008 election are bound to bring about greater freedom of expression. Though the responsibility of the democracy is in hand, there are some heartening post-election developments; The Home Affairs Ministry approved in April 2008 an application for a permit from the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) to publish its party newspaper. With such actions, this would indeed encourage and strengthen the accountability of the peoples perception towards the countrys democracy. Conclusion The mainstream media needs to loosen its strings and start to bring greater media liberalisation to unclog the clouds of uncertainty and doubt in the minds of society. The alternative media is not enough. Society needs to hear the truth from the government. Only then can the country achieve great democracy.

Psychology Essays -- Wundt, Descartes, Watson

Psychology is the investigation of the mind and how it processes and directs our thoughts, actions and conceptions. However, in 1879 Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Nevertheless, the origins of psychology go all the way back thousands of years starting with the early Greeks. This foundation is closely connected to biology and philosophy; and especially the subfields of physiology which is the study of the roles of living things and epistemology, which is the study of comprehension and how we understand what we have learned. The connection to physiology and epistemology is often viewed as psychology, which is the hybrid offspring of those two fields of investigation. It was not until the later part of the 19th century that psychology would emerge as a science. Rene Descartes, a famous French philosopher, contributed a major work to the development of psychology. Descartes presented his theory of dualism as a response to the body and mind conflict between scholars (Schultz & Schultz, 2008). According to Descartes, humans are made up of two dimensions: body and mind. Before the body mind concept, it was believed that humans thought with their souls (Wozniak, 1995). Descartes also believed that humans had tendencies of a mechanism but are different from animals because of the ability to think and reason. His perception of humans led to the theory of dualism. The dualism theory contended that the humans mind is a separate function form the body. However, the mind and soul work in unison in the brain, through the pineal gland to create human behavior. The mind was considered to develop and use innate ideas and derived ideas. Essentially, Descartes ca me to the conclusion tha... ...nd getting the information when necessary. A significant thought is information processing, which takes place in a sequence of steps. The information processing theorist’s method of learning is primarily by way of the study of memory. Presently, because of the hybrid heritage, psychology is not thought over as one of the social sciences such as sociology, economic science, government science, and cultural anthropology. Psychology is viewed as an ally to the natural sciences such as biology, chemistry, laws of nature, and mathematics (Thornton, 2009). Psychology is also seen as humanities, which are philosophy, human speeches, music and art. Most psychologists join forces on research and other conceptions with intellectuals and scientists in distinctive fields. This adds to the diversity of interests, which can be seen in the modern psychology department. Psychology Essays -- Wundt, Descartes, Watson Psychology is the investigation of the mind and how it processes and directs our thoughts, actions and conceptions. However, in 1879 Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany. Nevertheless, the origins of psychology go all the way back thousands of years starting with the early Greeks. This foundation is closely connected to biology and philosophy; and especially the subfields of physiology which is the study of the roles of living things and epistemology, which is the study of comprehension and how we understand what we have learned. The connection to physiology and epistemology is often viewed as psychology, which is the hybrid offspring of those two fields of investigation. It was not until the later part of the 19th century that psychology would emerge as a science. Rene Descartes, a famous French philosopher, contributed a major work to the development of psychology. Descartes presented his theory of dualism as a response to the body and mind conflict between scholars (Schultz & Schultz, 2008). According to Descartes, humans are made up of two dimensions: body and mind. Before the body mind concept, it was believed that humans thought with their souls (Wozniak, 1995). Descartes also believed that humans had tendencies of a mechanism but are different from animals because of the ability to think and reason. His perception of humans led to the theory of dualism. The dualism theory contended that the humans mind is a separate function form the body. However, the mind and soul work in unison in the brain, through the pineal gland to create human behavior. The mind was considered to develop and use innate ideas and derived ideas. Essentially, Descartes ca me to the conclusion tha... ...nd getting the information when necessary. A significant thought is information processing, which takes place in a sequence of steps. The information processing theorist’s method of learning is primarily by way of the study of memory. Presently, because of the hybrid heritage, psychology is not thought over as one of the social sciences such as sociology, economic science, government science, and cultural anthropology. Psychology is viewed as an ally to the natural sciences such as biology, chemistry, laws of nature, and mathematics (Thornton, 2009). Psychology is also seen as humanities, which are philosophy, human speeches, music and art. Most psychologists join forces on research and other conceptions with intellectuals and scientists in distinctive fields. This adds to the diversity of interests, which can be seen in the modern psychology department.

Beloved Essay

Sethe has a very complicated relationship with herself. Sethe is the character that is not able to forget the trauma of the times when she was a slave and fearing that her children might not fall into the same fate, prefers to even kill them. The central theme is that Sethe is in search of her own identity and Morrison also tries to show the cruelty and disturbing consequences of slavery that existed even after they were not slaves. The ex-slaves also feel inferior to the white people and when Denver walks out of her home to find a job and finally she finds her identity. Sethe is lacking this throughout and keeps herself isolated and only plays the role of a mother. ‘Those white things have taken all I had dreamed’, she said, ‘and broke my heartstrings too. There is no bad luck in the world but white folks. ’ (Beloved, Chapter 9, Page 89) Sethe kills her baby girl so that she is not physically, spiritually or emotionally oppressed by the masters or whites of that time. Sethe suffers the guilt of her this particular act and when the first time ghost of Beloved comes in her house she gets extremely terrified and wants it to go away at any cost. But the second time, Sethe allows Beloved’s ghost to destroy her house and digests her anger at even the cost of her relationships just because she thinks that this way she can calm down her daughter’s ghost. Beloved seems to be interested in Sethe and she listens to her and this satisfies Sethe too. Sethe has faced the dark and gloomy days of slavery and the whole life she tries to protect her children from getting into that life. Sethe’s unique interactions with Beloved, her incarnated daughter reveals a completely different picture. She struggles with herself and her emotions and most of the time she is lonely. She trusts very few people and has cut herself socially, especially from the black people. She identifies herself as a different person in different stages of her life. Sethe’s relationship with Beloved takes a different shape and helps her recover from the physical and mental trauma of slavery. The use of symbolism and allusions refer only to the confused and suffered state of mind of Sethe. Beloved has many grievances and thinks that her mother abandoned her whereas Sethe is unable to explain her daughter why it was better to die that to live in such traumatic situations. At these stages Sethe seems to be helpless and becomes more and more self-centered. She feels sometimes that she had no right to kill her daughter but the love and respect she had for her children forced her to do so. Her dreams for her children and their future were definitely not to live like slaves and she did what the moment forced her mind to do. Her motherly emotions are different from a general mother and she is seen very much possessive about her children too. She says, â€Å"[A]nybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill or maim you, but dirty you. Dirty you so bad you couldn’t like yourself anymore. And though she and others lived through and got over it, she could never let it happen to her own. The best things she was, was her children. Whites might dirty her al, right, but not her best thing, her beautiful, magical best thing – the part of her that was clean. † (Beloved, Chapter 26, Page 251) The novel in fact is Sethe’s memories in a shattered way and one has to collect them and understand and this makes the identification of relationships of Sethe with her two daughter all the more difficult.

Image and Reality essays

Image and Reality essays Image and Reality In the years since the thousand days many questions have been raised and are still being studied about John F. Kennedy. A Life of John F. Kennedy: A Question of Character is a book written by Thomas C. Reeves, in which Reeves discusses these issues. JFK was a great man, and yet there are still some things that one must take into consideration. His morality was always somewhat of an uncertainty; be that as it may, these questions are still not openly discussed. People were always taken aback by his personality, good looks, and youth. After his death, it was quite difficult for most people to accept some of the newly discovered negative information about him. The man meant so much to some people that it was impossible to say something less than perfect. But all the same, facts can not be denied. While one may think that each is responsible for his or her actions, that is not always the case. Much of Jacks character develops and originates from his family. He applied these beliefs to his life as well as his presidency. His great grandfather Joseph Kennedys indifference toward people, and the will to do anything to get what he wants, helped to shape much of the character in the entire Kennedy line. Inferior treatment of women also originated from this source. The lacking of a sufficient background as well as a good role model helped shape much of Kennedys negative characteristics. This was reflected in most of his decisions, as a result. So therefore, diversity between Kennedys presidential appearance, and his private life of scandals, was unmistakable. His indifference to the values of proper judgement, unselfishness, and sincerity to his wife and work was also reflected in his ability to make thought out decisions. Though interesting enough, his greatest talent was the ability to manipulate himself well enough that it appeared as though he contained the quali...

Significant Events of the Delaware Colony

Significant Events of the Delaware Colony The Delaware colony was founded in 1638 by European colonists from the Netherlands and Sweden. Its history includes occupations by the Dutch, Swedish, British- and the colony of Pennsylvania, which included Delaware until 1703. Fast Facts: Delaware Colony Also Known As: New Netherland, New SwedenNamed After: Then-governor of Virginia, Lord de la WarrFounding Country: Netherlands, SwedenFounding Year: 1638First Known European Landing: Samuel ArgallResidential Native Communities: Lenni Lenape and NanticokeFounders: Peter Minuit and the New Sweden CompanyImportant People: James, Duke of York, William Penn Early Arrivals The first European arrivals in the area occurred in the early 17th century when the Dutch were involved in establishing many trading posts and colonies around the world including in North America. Henry Hudson had been hired by the Dutch to explore the New World in 1609 and he discovered and named the Hudson River. By 1611, the Dutch had established fur trading enterprises with the Native Americans called the Lenni Lenape. In 1614, Fort Nassau, on what is the Hudson River near Gloucester, New Jersey, was the earliest Dutch settlement in the New World. Peter Minuit and the New Sweden Company In 1637, Swedish explorers and stockholders created the New Sweden Company to explore and trade in the New World, under a charter with Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. Adolphus died in 1632, and his daughter and successor Queen Christina took over the charters administration. Christinas chancellor formed the New Sweden Company in 1637 and hired Peter Minuit. Minuit was a German-born Dutch resident likely of French Huguenot ancestry, who had previously been the governor of New Netherland from 1626 to 1631 and is most well known for the purchase of Manhattan Island. In March of 1638, Minuit and his two ships, Key of Kalmar and the Griffin, landed at the mouth of a river they named Christina, in what is now Wilmington and founded the first permanent colony in Delaware. Annexed to New Netherland While the Dutch and Swedes coexisted for some time, the incursion of the Dutch into New Sweden territory saw its leader, Johan Rising, move against some Dutch settlements. In 1655, Peter Stuyvesant, New Netherlands governor, sent armed ships to New Sweden. The colony surrendered without a fight.  Thus, the area that was once New Sweden then became part of New Netherland.   British Ownership The British and Dutch were direct competitors during the 17th century. England felt they had a claim to the prosperous New Netherland territory due to the explorations by John Cabot made in 1498. In 1660, with the restoration of Charles II to the throne of England, the Dutch feared the British would attack their territory and forged an alliance with the French against the British. In response, Charles II  gave his brother, James, the Duke of York, New Netherland in March 1664. This annexation of New Netherland required a show of force. James sent a fleet of ships to New Netherland to demand its surrender. Peter Stuyvesant agreed. While the northern part of the New Netherland was named New York, the lower part was leased to William Penn as the lower counties on the Delaware. Penn wanted access to the sea from Pennsylvania. Thus, the territory was part of Pennsylvania until 1703. In addition, Delaware continued to share a governor with Pennsylvania until the Revolutionary War, even though it had its own representative assembly.   Beginning the War of Independence In October 1765, Delaware sent two delegates to a congress of the colonies in New York to deliberate on a joint colonial response to recent British measures, in particular, the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765. The two men were landholder Caesar Rodney and attorney Thomas McKean: the two men and assemblyman George Read would continue to play a role in the movement for independence.   Delaware declared its independence from Great Britain on June 15, 1776, and signed the declaration of independence with its fellow colonies on July 4. Sources Delaware Facts. Delaware Historical SocietyMunroe, John A. History of Delaware, 5th ed. Cranbury NJ: University of Delaware Press, 2006.Wiener, Roberta and James R. Arnold. Delaware: The History of Delaware Colony, 1638–1776. Chicago, Raintree, 2005.

USABILITY EVALUATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

USABILITY EVALUATION - Essay Example Navision then began to offer Navision Financials 1.0, an accounting and enterprise-resource planning solution application in 1990s. This application was then offered for Microsoft’s Windows 2000 Professional operating system, and Navision later in 2000 emerged with rival Damgaard. In 2002, Microsoft acquired Navision or $1.45 billion after acquisition of Great Plains of Software in 2000. While still using the same name, Microsoft continued to be innovative and eventually came up with a new department called Microsoft Business Solutions. The name Microsoft Dynamics then came to be in 2006 after Microsoft decided to rebrand Navision when it realized that it needed to have stronger brand for its several product brands that were equally under Microsoft Business Solutions. The Microsoft Dynamics ERP as an enterprise resource planning product is an initiative meant for the middle size organizations, subsidiaries and divisions of major organizations. Microsoft Dynamic ERP is composed of; The Dynamic CRM 2011 is remarked for being the Microsoft’s recent Customer Relationship Management application software which is geared towards the small to medium sized business markets (Dennison, 2011). With the increasing technological innovations and inventions, the hardware platforms upon which Microsoft Dynamics can be run have evolved from the initial stand along computers to laptops, palmtops and current into simple electronic devices such and the iphones. For the purpose of this usability evaluation on the effectiveness of Microsoft Dynamics, four participants were used. Two out of the four people used as the sample population were business operators while the other two were clients. All these individuals shared characteristics of using the Microsoft Dynamics in their operations of selling, buying, and window shopping for items that are available in the markets. The arrows indicate the direction of flow of tasks and

Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Movie Review Example For that reason, people need to come up with solutions for this crisis. In this essay, I shall try to review the solutions given in the documentary. First, we shall tackle water wastage. It is a miracle that people can take up to one hour in the shower. This is a clear wastage of water. People need to take shorter showers or better yet resort to baths, which would require the use of less water. The film also talks about the pollution of fresh water sources that prevent the use of water. An example of such pollution involves the use of the herbicide Atrazine. This herbicide is still used in the United States of America, despite being banned in countries such as Switzerland. The herbicide is so toxic that it decreases fertility in human males by reducing their sperm count and also causes prostrate and breast cancer. Therefore to solve this problem, the state needs to ban the use of all toxic chemicals that pollute our fresh water reservoirs. The next documentary that I shall review is called â€Å"The Intersection Between Justice and Sustainability: Voices and Views from South Phoenix†. This documentary mainly involves interviews carried out on the residents of South Phoenix. In this essay, I shall reflect on the actions taken by community leaders profiled in the film to address the 10 sustainability principles. In every city, social inequality, marginalization, and containment are some of common injustices experienced. One of these community leaders is Steve Brittle the founder of Don’t Waste Arizona. This is a non-profit environmental organization that was formed to protect, conserve, and preserve human and natural environment. One of the main problems that Phoenix faces comes from Innovative Waste Utilization. This company is located in a neighborhood mainly comprising of African American and Latino families and poses great hazard to these families. Furthermore, this waste facility planned to