Chiew Chiu Sing
BINTULU: The public should focus on the matter rather than on the individual when it comes to making comments or voicing out opinions, especially on social media.
Tanjong Batu assemblyman Chiew Chiu Sing believed that remarks about a particular person could bring about unnecessary consequences, including slander charges.
“We often hear people saying ‘talk about the incident, not about the person’ – of course, this is not an easy task, as we have seen many slanderous incidents.
“This reflects the Chinese proverb: ‘Sickness enters by the mouth; disaster comes out by the mouth’.
“People should reflect on this, and remind themselves and their friends about it as well, so that they would not become an accomplice in uttering unethical words,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Chiew, who is also Democratic Action Party (DAP) Bintulu branch chairman, said this in response to a recent statement
by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who highlighted the need for Malaysia to define words and actions that could be construed as insults to the institution of the monarchy.
Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying that a proper definition would be necessary for enforcement in the future.
The premier’s remarks referred to the arrest of three individuals, under the Seditions Act, who are alleged to have used insulting words against Sultan Muhammad V, who stepped down as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong recently.
On this, Chiew commented: “Our country practices freedom of speech – we should give the people more space and opportunities to talk about matters, big or small.
“People should not be intimidated by the ‘hat of defamation’ put over us, scaring us off when it comes to expressing our views and opinions. This would only cause dread among the people as sooner or later, it would limit and suppress our freedom of speech.
“As a result, the people may eventually become unwilling to say anything, any more.”
Chiew regarded suppressing the freedom of speech as akin to ‘sweeping dirt under the carpet’.
“This is bad for democracy, for it has been proven over and again that freedom of speech is an important element in the progress and development of a country.”
Chiew reiterated that when speaking publicly, one should be ‘talking about the incident, rather than about a person’.
“Talk about the institutions, complain about the systems or their behaviour – why must we have to talk about the person? As soon as we start talking about the person, we tend to deviate and could end up talking about bad things.
“It’s easy to say bad things about another person, but how that person really is cannot be summed up by just a
sentence or a phrase – there are so many reasons and aspects that we have to know about to understand why a person behaves the way he or she does,” he pointed out.
According to Chiew, freedom of speech promotes mutual understanding and respect – even if the ideas expressed are not the same.
“This (differences in ideas) is certainly unavoidable and will continue to be so, but as long as one speaks with words of love and respect for one another, instead of hatred and ill-will, it would be more beneficial in view of our multi-ethnic country.”