Not surprisingly, Malaysia has dropped from 124th last year to 132nd place in 2008 in the RSF press freedom ranking.
Among ten South-East Asian nations, Malaysian remains in 5th place while Timor-Leste, which has the freest press in the region, showed the biggest improvement in the global rankings, shooting up 29 places to 65th. Thailand climbed 11 places to finish above Malaysia at 124th place. Singapore, Laos, Vietnam and Burma prop up the regional table with the least press freedom – unchanged from last year.
For all the talk of reforms under Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia’s press freedom ranking has actually dropped from 104th place in 2003, the year Abdullah took over, to 132nd place now. That’s a plunge of 28 places.
It wasn’t always sliding under Abdullah. His brightest year was in 2006, when Malaysia’s press freedom ranking actually climbed to a high of 92nd, making it the second freest in South-East Asia after Timor-Leste. But since then, we have sunk 40 places within the space of two years to reach 132nd! What happened, Abdullah? Did your administration have to crack down on mounting disenchantment when your promised reforms failed to take off fast enough?
Here is the RSF global ranking for 2008:
The ranking
| Rank | Country | Note | |
| 1 | Iceland | 1,50 |  |
| – | Luxembourg | 1,50 |  |
| – | Norway | 1,50 | |
| 4 | Estonia | 2,00 |  |
| – | Finland | 2,00 |  |
| – | Ireland | 2,00 | |
| 7 | Belgium | 3,00 | |
| – | Latvia | 3,00 | |
| – | New Zealand | 3,00 | |
| – | Slovakia | 3,00 | |
| – | Sweden | 3,00 | |
| – | Switzerland | 3,00 | |
| 13 | Canada | 3,33 | |
| 14 | Austria | 3,50 | |
| – | Denmark | 3,50 | |
| 16 | Czech Republic | 4,00 | |
| – | Lithuania | 4,00 | |
| – | Netherlands | 4,00 | |
| – | Portugal | 4,00 | |
| 20 | Germany | 4,50 | |
| 21 | Jamaica | 4,88 | |
| 22 | Costa Rica | 5,10 | |
| 23 | Hungary | 5,50 | |
| – | Namibia | 5,50 | |
| – | United Kingdom | 5,50 | |
| 26 | Surinam | 6,00 | |
| 27 | Trinidad and Tobago | 6,13 | |
| 28 | Australia | 6,25 | |
| 29 | Japan | 6,50 | |
| 30 | Slovenia | 7,33 | |
| 31 | Cyprus | 7,50 |  |
| – | Ghana | 7,50 | |
| – | Greece | 7,50 | |
| – | Mali | 7,50 | |
| 35 | France | 7,67 | |
| 36 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8,00 | |
| – | Cape Verde | 8,00 | |
| – | South Africa | 8,00 | |
| – | Spain | 8,00 | |
| – | Taiwan | 8,00 | |
| – | United States of America | 8,00 | |
| 42 | Macedonia | 8,25 | |
| 43 | Uruguay | 8,33 | |
| 44 | Italy | 8,42 | |
| 45 | Croatia | 8,50 | |
| 46 | Israel (Israeli territory) | 8,83 | |
| 47 | Mauritius | 9,00 |  |
| – | Poland | 9,00 | |
| – | Romania | 9,00 | |
| – | South Korea | 9,00 | |
| 51 | Hong-Kong | 9,75 | |
| – | Liberia | 9,75 | |
| 53 | Cyprus (North) | 10,00 | |
| – | Montenegro | 10,00 | |
| – | Togo | 10,00 | |
| 56 | Chile | 11,50 | |
| 57 | Panama | 11,83 | |
| 58 | Kosovo | 12,00 | |
| 59 | Bulgaria | 12,50 | |
| – | Nicaragua | 12,50 | |
| 61 | Kuwait | 12,63 | |
| 62 | El Salvador | 12,80 | |
| 63 | Burkina Faso | 13,00 | |
| 64 | Serbia | 13,50 | |
| 65 | Timor-Leste | 13,75 | |
| 66 | Botswana | 14,00 | |
| – | Lebanon | 14,00 | |
| 68 | Argentina | 14,08 | |
| 69 | United Arab Emirates | 14,50 | |
| 70 | Benin | 15,00 | |
| – | Malawi | 15,00 | |
| – | Tanzania | 15,00 | |
| 73 | Haiti | 15,13 | |
| 74 | Bhutan | 15,50 | |
| – | Ecuador | 15,50 | |
| – | Qatar | 15,50 | |
| – | Seychelles | 15,50 | |
| – | Zambia | 15,50 | |
| 79 | Albania | 16,00 | |
| – | Fiji | 16,00 | |
| 81 | Guinea-Bissau | 16,33 | |
| 82 | Brazil | 18,00 | |
| – | Dominican Republic | 18,00 | |
| – | Tonga | 18,00 | |
| 85 | Central African Republic | 18,50 | |
| 86 | Senegal | 19,00 | |
| 87 | Ukraine | 19,25 | |
| 88 | Guyana | 19,75 | |
| 89 | Comoros | 20,00 | |
| 90 | Mozambique | 20,50 | |
| – | Paraguay | 20,50 | |
| 92 | Congo | 20,75 | |
| 93 | Mongolia | 20,83 | |
| 94 | Burundi | 21,00 | |
| – | Madagascar | 21,00 | |
| 96 | Bahrein | 21,17 | |
| 97 | Kenya | 21,25 | |
| 98 | Moldova | 21,38 | |
| 99 | Guinea | 21,50 | |
| – | Honduras | 21,50 | |
| 101 | Guatemala | 22,64 | |
| 102 | Armenia | 22,75 | |
| – | Turkey | 22,75 | |
| 104 | Maldives | 23,25 | |
| 105 | Mauritania | 23,88 | |
| 106 | Tajikistan | 25,50 | |
| 107 | Uganda | 26,00 | |
| 108 | Peru | 26,25 | |
| 109 | Côte d’Ivoire | 26,50 | |
| 110 | Gabon | 26,75 | |
| 111 | Indonesia | 27,00 | |
| – | Kyrgyzstan | 27,00 | |
| 113 | Venezuela | 27,33 | |
| 114 | Sierra Leone | 27,75 | |
| 115 | Bolivia | 28,20 | |
| 116 | Angola | 29,50 | |
| – | Lesotho | 29,50 | |
| 118 | India | 30,00 | |
| 119 | United States of America (extra-territorial) | 31,00 | |
| 120 | Georgia | 31,25 | |
| 121 | Algeria | 31,33 | |
| 122 | Morocco | 32,25 | |
| 123 | Oman | 32,67 | |
| 124 | Thailand | 34,50 | |
| 125 | Kazakhstan | 35,33 | |
| 126 | Cambodia | 35,50 | |
| – | Colombia | 35,50 | |
| 128 | Jordan | 36,00 | |
| 129 | Cameroon | 36,90 | |
| 130 | Niger | 37,00 | |
| 131 | Nigeria | 37,75 | |
| 132 | Malaysia | 39,50 | |
| 133 | Chad | 41,25 | |
| 134 | Djibouti | 41,50 | |
| 135 | Sudan | 42,00 | |
| 136 | Bangladesh | 42,70 | |
| 137 | Gambia | 42,75 | |
| 138 | Nepal | 43,25 | |
| 139 | Philippines | 45,00 | |
| 140 | Mexico | 46,13 | |
| 141 | Russia | 47,50 | |
| 142 | Ethiopia | 47,75 | |
| 143 | Tunisia | 48,10 | |
| 144 | Singapore | 49,00 | |
| 145 | Rwanda | 50,00 | |
| 146 | Egypt | 50,25 | |
| 147 | Swaziland | 50,50 | |
| 148 | Democratic Republic of Congo | 51,25 | |
| 149 | Israel (extra-territorial) | 51,50 | |
| 150 | Azerbaijan | 53,63 | |
| 151 | Zimbabwe | 54,00 | |
| 152 | Pakistan | 54,88 | |
| 153 | Somalia | 58,00 | |
| 154 | Belarus | 58,33 | |
| 155 | Yemen | 59,00 | |
| 156 | Afghanistan | 59,25 | |
| – | Equatorial Guinea | 59,25 | |
| 158 | Iraq | 59,38 | |
| 159 | Syria | 59,63 | |
| 160 | Libya | 61,50 | |
| 161 | Saudi Arabia | 61,75 | |
| 162 | Uzbekistan | 62,70 | |
| 163 | Palestinian Territories | 66,88 | |
| 164 | Laos | 70,00 | |
| 165 | Sri Lanka | 78,00 | |
| 166 | Iran | 80,33 | |
| 167 | China | 85,50 | |
| 168 | Vietnam | 86,17 | |
| 169 | Cuba | 88,33 | |
| 170 | Burma | 94,38 | |
| 171 | Turkmenistan | 95,50 | |
| 172 | North Korea | 96,50 | |
| 173 | Eritrea | 97,50 | |
| Please help to support this blog if you can. Read the commenting guidlelines for this blog. |
Today (24 Oct 08) The Star lied! Read here http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/10/24/nation/2361372&sec=nation
Apa nak jadi?..Sampai sekaang tak letak jawatan lagi.Mmg betul kata Pak Lah tu,sesiapa saja yg memimpin tidak akan dapat menyelesaikan masalah (UMNO),ada2 ada je masalah akan datang. I’m proud to be a teacher,not a politicians.Hamdalah.
Wow …with all due respect even Nigeria, Burundi and Kuwait is above us! Aiyo …
Luckily PGCC did not get off the ground. If it had, Penang will get so heavy that it will sink further resulting in more floods. Maybe that’s why you get more floods nowadays – Penang has sunk down due to the weight of development on the island!! (sarcasm intended)
We have in power today a very elitist one party strangle-hold of everything that is Malaysian. We need to gradually steadily but surely piece by piece pull this elitist group of Malaysians who are running our country with our natural resources. And where are they running Malaysia to? They are running it to the ground.Until this elitist party is not shredded, this country will be running alright, but running on empty and running into the ground. My fellow Malaysians we must let it be known to this elitist right wing racist party that they had their time in the sun… Read more »
Press freedom Singing the melody The songs hardly hit the right note It falls flat in the country Now the world ranking survey The country drops to 132 The perception is bad for us Noting press freedom can’t break into the top chart And we told him so He doesn’t know what hit him His warlords make him look so clumsy We know he is sleeping beauty The world to him is under the coconut shell He is the one who thinks he is smart Only the world ranking on press freedom It tells us the song crashed out in… Read more »
An apt description of the msm: cold and dry.
In a true democracy, the leaders would hang their heads in deep shame. In Bolehland, they still continue with their wayward way like nothing happened. It shows how thick-skinned our leaders are.
Dude, you know they’re going to have billboards all over the country now saying that we’re better than Singapore and Laos, two of our South East Asian counterparts, and that we’re quite far away from North Korea and Eritrea.
LONDON – OIL prices fell below US$69 (S$103) a barrel on Wednesday as investors shrugged off a looming OPEC production cut after company forecasts suggested the US may be headed for a severe economic slowdown that would crimp demand for crude.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery dropped US$3.37 to US$68.81 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by mid-afternoon in Europe.
The November contract expired Tuesday and fell US$3.36 to settle at US$70.89. Last Thursday, that contract had declined as low as US$68.57 a barrel, the lowest since June 2007.
another new malaysia record for pak lah…..
info-kesihatan-anda.blogspot.com
our-health-info.blogspot.com
When any press is being pressed down
How can there be any real press freedom?
When control is in the hands of political clowns
We still have the classical example of modern fiefdom
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng – 221008
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Wed. 22nd Oct. 2008.
The latest result Freedom of Press completes Abdullah’s record breaking feat before he steps down as PM. He must have felt quite proud of himself!
ya i’m not surprised at all. just look at the 2008 memorandum for media freedom. very poor response. even seasoned or well known journalists did not support it. sad. 🙁
I can’t help but listening a Tun chuckles while reading the new ranking…