Monday, April 28, 2008

Refrain, please Part 2

Dear visitors,

When I posted an entry on the Malay Mail, which I lifted from news portal malaysianinsider.com on the paper becoming a political sheet on April 23, it was done in good faith.

As a former employee of the Malay Mail and an avid reader of the tabloid since childhood, it is only natural that I keep tabs on the progress of the paper.

I must admit the Malay Mail made me what I am today by giving me the space, freedom and opportunity to develop myself as a writer, of which the pinnacle was of course the privilege of covering the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

However it has come to my attention that the entry has drawn a slew of spiteful comments on certain individuals from anonymous posters.

As a gentle reminder to this blog's visitors, please refrain from posting comments which are very personal in nature. I do not wish my blog to be treated as an avenue for MM-bashing.

The blog author appreciates the feedback and comments but if we were to fully utilise this blog as a platform to express our opinions, please do so in a civilised manner. Be constructive, not destructive. I believe in the freedom of expression but we have to do it in a very responsible way.

Otherwise the blog author will take the liberty of deleting the comments.

The last thing I want to do is to put my friends and ex-colleagues at the Malay Mail in trouble and the staff to be at daggers drawn.

I have the highest respect for the new owner Datuk Ibrahim Mohd Nor, who did not have any qualms in releasing me from the paper after listening to my personal plea, and my ex-colleagues at the sports desk.

My apologies for not posting this earlier.

Thank you.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

spot on and well said.

Anonymous said...

Did you get warning to stop allowing comments about Malay Mail?
I don't want to bash Malay Mail as it is my favourite read but you should be asking, how come new management stopped midmonth pay to the staff.
Many did not have enough cash to go for assignments as they are dependent on the 1/3 pay on 12 or 13 of each month. Biils overdue already.
Today 28 the staff still didnt get their pay.
On a different note, I agree with your refrain plea, otherwise this blog will not be respected.

Another avid Malay Mail reader

Anonymous said...

please pay my salary, Dato Ibrahim.

Anonymous said...

Yes. Please pay my salary aso. us uniun guys takde duit lagi. sad face :(

DonCorleone said...

Don't talk about Freedom of Expression with the disclaimer you just gave. Anyway, good luck my brother.

Anonymous said...

Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman said: "Can't we all learn to get along?"

Anonymous said...

Pay should be in by 7pm tonight.
Jom minum ...

Anonymous said...

Let's face it. The comments about MM are nothing but the truth. We have enough sh*t of telling our government to be transparent. So bro Rizal, why can't we say the truth in your blog? Don't preach openness if you can be open about it.

Anonymous said...

Rizal, if you are scared to offend your former colleagues in MM, then dont blog. Blogging is about telling the truth, blogging is not about sugar-coating people. Blogging is not about telling the whole world all is hunky dory in Malay Mail.

Anonymous said...

Ayu dah leave Malay Mail ... how are the staff going to cuci mata now?

Anonymous said...

Tony Francis is doing his best to cut cost so don't blame him staff now can't claim overtime.
I heard some lose as much as RM1k coz they used to claim 10-14 shifts per month.
As a former staff of NSTP, I know what a scam the overtime was.
Some ex staff even claimed OT for Feb30 and bosses signed.
But to deny staff who have worked hard and have genuine claims, is not good man.
I heard the sub editors suffered the most. Before they could claim eight shifts because they worked six days a week now no more.
Many of the them will be leaving soon as their fixed income for an honest day's work is gone.
If they are earning as much as Tony's buddies, then it won't be a problem.
But most are earning under 2k and many are graduates or have been there since rocky's time.
How to survivelah?