Anyway, I'm not going to write much but paste here the first commentary that started this war of words between the NST and the CM:
THE MARCH 8, 2008 WATERSHED: Guan Eng trait that's difficult to swallowOkay, so that piece of commentary got LGE hopping mad. In fact, so mad that he dropped the NST from the mailing list of all the press statements from his office as claimed by this second commentary by NST:
WHILE public relations people and press secretaries are often considered to be stumbling blocks by pressmen in gaining access to industrialists and politicians, the need to be media savvy appears to be what the doctor may prescribe for Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Lim's CAT (Competency, Accountability and Transparency) mantra in running the state government has been put to the test by and on the media this week.
After refusing requests for exclusive interviews from certain publications to commemorate his first year in office, Lim had decreed that he would hold a joint media briefing for all reporters, ahead of the March 8 anniversary.
The Penang press corps was not amused when they discovered that Lim had gone against his word and given an interview to one newspaper, several days before the mass press conference.
This is not the first time that preference has been given to selected media organisations, although his almost-daily media briefings are covered by everyone.
It would have been a different story if a publication had got a "scoop" on Lim. But in this case, it was apparent a game of divide and rule was played with the media.
Any media practitioner worth his salt would tell any public figure that playing favourites with the press does not pay.
And the media is not the only one which has been crying foul over Lim's treatment.
Some businessmen have also been lamenting how certain personalities and projects are being given preference by Lim.
Others, or the less favoured ones, are made to withstand public embarrassment and are exposed during media briefings.
Lim may be right when he told off a journalist that he was the chief minister of Penang and thus deserved more than just a balanced story.
Declaring that he was the "dictator of policies in the state" may be the truth in so far as his position is concerned. However, no journalist -- junior or senior -- relishes being threatened with calls to his editor if they do not write "more than balanced" articles on him.
Just how does Lim expect to build goodwill in Penang if he and his aides go around proclaiming that it is a level playing field for everyone, while in reality the reverse is true?
If the Penang government wishes to continue expounding on its CAT tag, perhaps the time has come for the chief minister to practise what he has been preaching.
- NST
SHARANJIT SINGH: What's your beef, Guan Eng?
IT was supposed to be a joyous day to mark his first anniversary as Penang chief minister and also a chance for him to bask in the glory of having dethroned Gerakan from their crown jewel state.
However, far from being in a celebratory mood, Lim Guan Eng -- who is also DAP secretary-general -- was enraged after reading an opinion piece in last week's New Sunday Times.
What's his beef? The astute politician admitted he screamed with rage after reading the article which chastised his administration's style.
Lim was apparently upset and felt maligned over the assertions that he was dishing out preferential treatment to the media and also businesses in the piece entitled "Guan Eng trait that's difficult to swallow".
It is normal for politicians to vent their anger against journalists (and their editors) whenever a story not to their liking sees print.
However, he has since gone a step further and barred all press releases from the chief minister's office from being sent to selected media groups and certain journalists are now persona non grata at his press conferences.
It is Lim's prerogative to give such a directive but he should be mindful that in his one year in office, he has already had clashes with various journalists.
Shortly after assuming office, national news agency Bernama and Utusan Malaysia were the first to come under his line of fire, when they were accused of playing up sensitive issues.
As chief minister, Lim should realise that unleashing his fury this way is at his own peril and his attitude towards the press has become the talk of the town.
All this from the same person who claims to be a champion of press freedom.
Lim had condemned the shortlived ban on reporters covering press conferences at Parliament lobby last year.
Was it also not the same Lim who expressed "dismay, disappointment and shock" six months ago when a Penang-based journalist was arrested for 24 hours under the Internal Security Act?
He was quoted at the time as saying that journalists should be free to report the news and not be intimidated by any party.
While he has been equally vocal in condemning the suspensions of newspapers previously, Lim is now suffering from amnesia about the party's stand on press freedom when a commentary not to his liking is printed.
It is ironic that after just a year in power, Lim has lost the goodwill of the media, including bloggers and non-governmental organisations.
His administration style is now under close scrutiny; a fact acknowledged by his own chief of staff Jeff Ooi in a recent posting on his Screenshots blogspot.
Never has there been such knee-jerk reaction to media reports from the chief minister's office, even during the much criticised 18-year leadership of Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.
"Never before, no matter how unhappy we were with press reports did we ever ban any paper from the chief minister's office.
"It is outrageous that the media is being barred from a public office which dictates policies for all of Penang," a Gerakan member said.
Other state Pakatan Rakyat leaders have now gone behind Lim's back and expressed the view to prominent investors here that Lim should realise DAP is not the only party running the state administration.
Now DAP chairman Karpal Singh has waded into the controversy, stating he would raise the matter at the party' central executive committee meeting later this month.
"I will bring this matter up internally. It is serious and requires discussion.
"It affects the integrity of the state administration and I will not let it go just like that."
Perhaps Lim should consider taking a leaf from the book of former US president Theodore Roosevelt, who based many of his policies on the West African proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
- NST
And I have to say that I totally agree. Lim Guan Eng has always been championing for press freedom and yet he's the one getting all hopping mad over a single commentary / opinion piece. Why champion for press freedom when he does not even believe in it? Seems like he only wants news that paint the good side of him. Anything critical, he gets hopping mad and acts like a childish sulking kid, turning his face and giving a resounding 'huh, I don't want to friend you anymore'.
For a state leader, that is hardly what we should expect from him. Much as I don't like Koh Tsu Koon, at least he never go around championing one cause and then when that very cause does not suit him, turn around and twist it all about.
It is only one year, and here are Lim Guan Eng's true colours. What makes this whole sordid issue even worse is that he is indulging in his childish sulk with a childish, almost stupid, reply to the column above with this (which I procured from a friend in the media):
Where Is The List Of Businesses Where Lim Guan Eng Was Alleged To Have Embarrassed Or Given Preferential Treatment To That Was Promised But Not Handed Over By NST's Sharanjit Singh?
Disparaging opinion pieces and columns by the NST editorial staff on the Penang Pakatan Rakyat government in general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in particular is nothing new. However the Penang Chief Minister considers it offensive that the Penang NST bureau Chief Sharanjit Singh has chosen to adopt a gross partisan stance to the extent of attacking Lim's personal integrity. Starting in the NST on 9 March 2009 titiled, " THE MARCH 8, 2008 WATERSHED: Guan Eng trait that's difficult to swallow", Lim was accused by the NST of giving preferential treatment to certain businesses.
"Some businessmen have also been lamenting how certain personalities and projects are being given preference by Lim. Others, or the less favoured ones, are made to withstand public embarrassment and are exposed during media briefings."
When Lim remonstrated with Sharanjit, he was promised to be given a list of businesses that Lim had allegedly given preferential treatment to. Sharanjit also told Lim that he had never requested for a special interview from Lim as his bosses in KL will never publish the interview. Lim was also told that this attack against him was done partly by KL editors who had an agenda to conduct a hatchet job on the PR government as their BN masters could not find any traction in attacking his administration.
Lim could only wait for the promised list to determine which businesses he had favoured and who he had embarrassed. If there is any business group that is unhappy, it is probably the RM 25 billion Penang Global City Centre project by Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd which Lim had declared is "as good as dead". Was Sharanjit referring to the PGCC "as good as dead" RM 25 billion project?
However instead of providing the promised list, Sharanjit went on the attack by repeating his allegations of preferential treatment to certain businesses in his column piece on 13 March 2009 entitled "SHARANJIT SINGH: What's your beef, Guan Eng?"
Lim was apparently upset and felt maligned over the assertions that he was dishing out preferential treatment to the media and also businesses in the piece entitled "Guan Eng trait that's difficult to swallow".
Again Sharanjit did not provide the list of businesses as promised. If these attacks originated from NST political masters and owners in UMNO and BN, Sharanjit had done no wrong as he was only doing his job as a journalist. However he had crossed the partisan line between a professional journalist and a professional politician when he took it upon himself to launch those attacks on Lim's integrity. To equate his actions with the detention under ISA of Sin Chew reporter Miss Tan Hoon Cheng misses the point completely as Tan was detained merely for reporting the racist and seditious utterances of extremist UMNO politicians. One can only say that, "Sharanjit, You are no Tan Hoon Cheng!".
Lim believes passionately in freedom of the press but not in the freedom to lie. The Penang Chief Minister wishes to make it clear that he has no issues with NST reporters who have conducted themselves professionally under the difficult constraints of working for an UMNO paper. The issue lies with NST editoral staff like Sharanjit who is behaving more UMNO than UMNO against Lim and his PR state government.
The question to Sharanjit and NST is this, "Where is the list?"
CHEONG YIN FAN
Press Secretary to Chief Minister of Penang
The worse of this statement is not how childish Lim Guan Eng seems, nitpicking and literally picking a fight but he didn't even have the nerve to put his name behind it and hide behind his press secretary by using her name.
Seriously, pick your own fights and be a man, Lim Guan Eng!
And yes, I have disabled comments here because seriously, I don't care what you DAP minions or PR worshippers or Lim Guan Eng fans think.
