Letter to the Editor
By Sam Simeon
Of late, it seems that certain individuals are starting a smear campaign against Sarawak leaders, Premier of Sarawak included, questioning his level of education, capability and credibility to manage the state affairs and the rights on our natural gas. Those letters or articles can be considered poison pen letters. So what is a poison pen letter (or poisoned pen letter).
According to online articles, a poison pen letter is a letter or note containing unpleasant, abusive, or malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or a third party. Poison pen letters are usually composed and sent to upset the recipient.
So this brings to mind what are the intentions of the writers.
- Is it a smear campaign?
- Is the person deliberately trying to downgrade Sarawak’s leaders?
- Is the person trying to shape the perception of Sarawakians that Sarawak is actually not doing well in terms of its economic achievements?
- Is the person implying that the Sarawak Government is not following the country’s constitution on the rights to its own natural gas?
- Has the person actually done all his homework before he started blindly attacking Sarawak?
- Or maybe he is just one of those armchair journalists trying to cause uneasiness among Sarawakians?
Meanwhile, armchair journalism is a form of journalism whereby the writer does not go out to the field to get his information and without interviewing the right sources. Armchair journalism often creates distortions and misinformation that has far-reaching implications for news subjects, news sources and the wider public that consume the news. Such stories tend to be sensational, so they usually pique up the interests of readers.
Real journalists are trained journalists who have ethics and emphasise on balanced reporting unlike armchair journalists or poison pen writers who write unsubstantiated reports ignoring the consequences.
For the record, the Premier of Sarawak has lots of remarkable achievements thus far to steer Sarawak into a high income state by 2030 and it seems that he is right on track to deliver that aspiration to fruition. Just recently, he announced that Sarawak’s economy has already reached RM4 billion in the first quarter meaning that it could well reach RM16 billion by the end of 2024, which is RM3 billion more than 2023. Need we say more? The evidence is obviously there for everyone to know, including the naysayers.
Hopefully, as united Sarawakians, we will not succumb to such dirty tactics by some individuals who harbour malicious intentions toward Sarawak leaders. Besides that, it is important that one must also know how to differentiate between a malicious piece of news and a factual one. Let us remain Segulai Sejalai in whatever we do to ensure that the missions and visions of our government leaders can be realised and materialised for the benefits of all Sarawakians. SELAMAT HARI GAWAI DAYAK.
By Sam Simeon
A concerned Sarawakian
This is the personal opinion of the author(s) and does not necessarily represent the views of DayakDaily. Letters to the Editor may be lightly edited for clarity.
