SHAH ALAM, 1 Nov: Nepal is seen as more transparent and open as they have 127 newspapers compared to Malaysia, which is seen as giving less press freedom.
The Nepal government believes that by giving media freedom, it may lead to progress in the mentality of the South Asian country's leaders and people.
Although Nepal is still categorised as a third world country in terms of physical development, but the mentality of the country's leaders are considered to be more advanced than Barisan Nasional (BN).
The former President of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Hatta Wahari said, the matter has been proved when as of today, Nepal has 127 newspapers, excluding those published at the state level.
"Although we are developing and possess infrastructure like those of developed countries, the mentality of the government is still at the level of third world countries because they want to control the media. In fact, the government wants to control it all without giving freedom to the media and the community," he said when contacted by TVSelangor today.
Hatta also condemned the action of the Minister of Home Affairs (MOHA) Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who issued the threatening statement to shut down media that published his statement in a programme in Malacca recently.
"This is the most brazen statement coming from a leader and he has a third world mentality by assuming that he has power and can control freedom of the press. It is leaders like this that we have to reject," he said.
Commenting on the victory of the Malaysiakini news portal in the MOHA appeal to reject its publication permit, Hatta hopes that the victory will be an example to other media to be brave in publishing balanced and transparent media.
"Malaysiakini's victory should be an example to other media and I hope that the media industry would be free and advanced," he said.
