Sabtu, Julai 06, 1996

Isnin, Julai 01, 1996

Don't ask, don't tell

by Steven Patrick and Lennard Gui
taken from undated Galaxie magazines

The answer is the Prime Minister of Malaysia. For everything you own, don't asked the question. Unfortunely, M.Nasir allegedly dld and the Ministry of Information replied by blacklisting his entire life's work for 14 day before lifting the ban on July 1.

Did Nasir's tongue slip or was the reporter making it up? Utusan Malaysia stands by its claim that Nasir really ask “Siapa Mahathir?” The ministry's deputy Sulaiman Mohamed said it wasn't necessary to talk to Nasir about his remark (before slapping the ban) as “he would probably deny it”

Nasir had apparently responded rather flippantly when the organisers of Malam Puisi Utusan Malaysia asked that he be pantual for rehearsals because the P.M. would be attending the recital. To make matters worse, Nasir failed to show up at the event on May 4, prompting the paper to accuse him of being disrespectful.

On Jun 17, the Information Ministry acted on the “authenticity and credibility of the newspapers” and imposed the ban without giving Nasir a hearing. Certain quarters jumped on the bandwagon and even questioned the Singapore-born entertainer's status as a permanent resident of Malaysia.

A little too late, Nasir finally decided to do damage control. “Dr. Mahathir was never mentioned (in my conversation)” he stated, and added that he could not make the recital because he had to be at the funeral of his father-in-law.

As to why Nasir waited so long to address the matter, BMG Music general manager Aziz Bakar said that making the immediate response would have only added fuel to the fire.

Because the blacklist covered not only Nasir's movies and own recordings, but performances of his songs by other artistes, the industry responded...by sitting on the fance -- wanting to support Nasir, a songwriting force, but not wanting to incur the wrath of the Information Ministry either. “lt's not just what we were losing on royalties,” says Aziz Bakar, “It's artistic quality we were worried about too”

When Nasir ban made the international news, Information Minister Mohamed Rahmat put a spin on the matter and ordered the investigation. The ministry's secretary general, Datuk Zawawi Mahmudin, said thqt during the inquiry, both Nasir and the reporter maintained their version of the story and made it “difficult for us to decide who was right.”

On July 1, the ban was finally lifted “in the interest of other artistes who are involved in the works of M.Nasir.” (Nasir is currently in Hong Kong working on his directorial debut, Merah, starring Ziana Zain and Awie. He also composing the soundtrack for the movie and writing songs for Awie second album.

Naturally, industry players are relieved that the mess is over but are still exercising caution. “We will leave it up to our artistes if they want to work with Nasir.” say EMI marketing director Calvin Wong.

“We are not about to discourage our artistes from working with him” concurs EMI local artiste and repertoire Mohd Arzmy. “The controversy will die down”

Selasa, Jun 25, 1996

UTUSAN DIMINTA BERI PENJELASAN

 petikan BERNAMA 25 Jun 1996

 PETALING JAYA, 25 Jun (Bernama) -- Kementerian Penerangan hari ini meminta Kumpulan Utusan memberi penjelasan berhubung isu penyanyi M. Nasir yang dilaporkan menghina Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad dengan ungkapan "Siapa Mahathir".

 Menteri Penerangan, Datuk Mohamed Rahmat berkata penjelasan daripada Kumpulan Utusan penting bagi membolehkan beliau membuat keputusan muktamad secepat mungkin mengenai kedudukan M. Nasir yang karyanya telah dilarang daripada disiarkan oleh semua media elektronik dan cetak.

 "Bagi menjamin keadilan, kita perlu memanggil Kumpulan Utusan untuk memberi penjelasan kerana isu ini berpunca daripada laporan akhbar Utusan.

Kita mahu mereka memberi keterangan dan mengemukakan bukti dalam sehari dua ini," katanya kepada pemberita di sini selepas menyaksikan majlis menandatangani perjanjian yang membuka laluan ke arah penubuhan "Channel Ten", sebuah syarikat penerbitan video dalaman.

 Semalam, M. Nasir hadir di Angkasapuri untuk memberi keterangan kepada Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Penerangan, Datuk Zawawi Mahmuddin, berhubung isu itu.

 Larangan penyiaran semua karya M. Nasir diumumkan Timbalan Menteri Penerangan, Datuk Suleiman Mohamad, pada 16 Jun lepas selepas penyanyi itu dilaporkan oleh Utusan sebagai bertanya "Siapa Mahathir" ketika diminta menghadiri latihan pembacaan puisi sempena Malam Puisi Utusan yang turut dihadiri Dr Mahathir baru-baru ini.

 Mohamed berkata, Zawawi belum memaklumkan kepadanya mengenai penjelasan M. Nasir itu.

 Katanya, tindakan terhadap M. Nasir diambil semasa beliau berada di luar negara kerana bercuti dan adalah wajar keputusan selanjutnya hanya boleh dibuat selepas semua pihak diberi peluang memberi keterangan.

 Terdahulu, Mohamed berkata penubuhan "Channel Ten" memberi satu lagi saluran pilihan bagi pengusaha hotel di negara ini selain perkhidmatan "Vision Four".

 Katanya, kerajaan tidak bercadang untuk mengeluarkan lesen lain bagi perkhidmatan seperti itu.

 Beliau mengingatkan "Channel Ten" dan "Vision Four" supaya mematuhi segala peraturan yang ditetapkan jika mahu kekal dalam perniagaan mereka.

 "Channel Ten", syarikat usahasama Cape Elegance Sdn Bhd (CAPE) dari Malaysia dan IPC Interactive Pte Ltd (IPCi) dari Singapura, akan menyediakan saluran berbentuk maklumat dan hiburan atau "Infotainment" kepada hotel, lapangan terbang, stesen Transit Aliran Ringan (LRT), hentian bas dan apartmen sewaan.

 Ketua Eksekutif CAPE, Azlina Aziz berkata, syarikat itu sedang berbincang dengan Lembaga Penggalakan Pelancongan dan kerajaan-kerajaan negeri dalam usaha menyediakan program dokumentari kepada penonton "Channel Ten" di samping program lain. -- BERNAMA

Isnin, Jun 24, 1996

ANWAR WANTS M.NASIR CONTROVERSY RESOLVED

taken from BERNAMA 24 Jun 1996

 KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants the controversy involving singer-composer M.Nasir resolved as soon as possible.

 He said he had asked Information Minister Datuk Mohamed Rahmat to take steps to resolve the matter before Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad's return from his vacation overseas on Thursday.

 Prolonging the M. Nasir controversy would not benefit anyone and the best way to resolve it was to hear from the artiste himself so that a fair decision could be made, he said in his office, here, today.

 He hoped that the incident would serve as a lesson to the artistes in the country to avoid behaviour that could tarnish their image because they had their own influence and following.

 Earlier, M.Nasir met Information Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Zawawi Mahmuddin to discuss an alleged remark by the artiste belittling the Prime Minister which led to a ban on his songs and films by RTM.

 Zawawi said he was instructed to look into the case but it is left to the minister to decide whether or not to review the ban on M. Nasir's works.

 Asked whether he believed the decision to be made by the ministry would please all the parties concerned, he said: "It is difficult for me to speculate. My duty was to meet M. Nasir and then report to the minister."

 Regarding the way the investigation was carried out into the allegation against the artiste, he said the ministry has its own ways of checking to find out whether M. Nasir spoke the truth or otherwise.

 The ministry banned the airing of M. Nasir's works on official radio and television two weeks ago after a newspaper alleged he belittled the Prime Minister at a rehearsal for a poetry recitation in April.

 Meanwhile, M. Nasir declined to comment on his meeting with Zawawi. --BERNAMA

Selasa, Jun 18, 1996

M. NASIR NAFI PERSOALAN "SIAPA MAHATHIR"

petikan BERNAMA 18 JUN 1996

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 Jun (Bernama) -- Artis M.Nasir yang digam daripada muncul di radio dan televisyen berkuatkuasa Ahad lepas kerana dianggap melampau dengan pertanyaannya "Siapa Dr Mahathir", hari ini menafikan mengeluarkan kata-kata itu.

Beliau berkata persoalan itu tidak pernah timbul langsung dalam perbualannya dengan seorang wartawan akhbar tempatan kerana yang mereka bincangkan hanyalah mengenai filem dan produksinya.

Dia meminta kerajaan memberi peluang kepadanya untuk membela diri dan berharap kerajaan tidak mendengar daripada sebelah pihak (media) saja, katanya pada persidangan akhbar di pejabat syarikat rakaman BMG di sini.

Timbalan Menteri Penerangan Datuk Suleiman Mohamed ketika mengumumkan tindakan itu Sabtu lepas berkata segala bentuk karya M. Nasir dilarang daripada disiarkan melalui televisyen dan radio kerana artis itu dianggap sudah melampau dan kurang ajar terhadap Perdana Menteri.

Suleiman berkata penyanyi itu sendiri tidak pernah menafikan membuat kenyataan itu dan kementerian juga berkeyakinan penuh terhadap kebenaran laporan yang dibuat oleh para pemberita itu.

 Akhbar-akhbar melaporkan bahawa pada 3 Mei lepas apabila diminta membuat latihan mendeklamasi puisi kerana tetamu kehormat pada Malam Puisi Utusan itu ialah Dr Mahathir, M.Nasir bertanya "...siapa Dr Mahathir?".

Pengurus Besar BMG, Aziz Bakar berkata M. Nasir dan syarikat itu tidak membuat penafian terbuka selama ini kerana mahu menyelesaikan kontroversi itu secara "senyap-senyap".

Beliau berkata syarikat menghantar surat penafian kepada Utusan Malaysia pada 21 Mei, tiga hari selepas berita mengenai perkara itu disiarkan oleh akhbar itu.

Mereka juga menulis surat kepada Kementerian Penerangan dan Kementerian Dalam Negeri bagi menjelaskan kedudukan sebenar berhubung dengan kontroversi itu.

M. Nasir berkata dia telah meminta peguamnya, M. Puravalen untuk mengkaji kontroversi itu termasuk kemungkinan mengambil tindakan undang-undang terhadap Utusan Malaysia kerana menyiarkan berita yang dianggapnya mempunyai "niat jahat".  "Kontroversi ini telah menjejaskan reputasi, integriti dan sumber pendapatan saya," katanya.

 Aziz berkata kerugian yang besar bukanlah daripada segi kewangan tetapi peluang masyarakat menikmati karya kreatif M. Nasir ekoran pengharaman itu.

 M. Nasir yang berasal dari Singapura, terkenal bukan sahaja sebagai penyanyi tetapi juga sebagai pencipta lagu, pemuzik, pemuisi, penerbit album, pelakon dan pengarah filem.

Ekoran pengharaman itu, Kedah dan Selangor telah mengharamkan konsert membabitkan penyanyi itu.

BMG Music (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd ialah syarikat rakaman yang menerbit dan mengedarkan album M. Nasir serta filem arahannya "Merah". -- BERNAMA