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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Support grows for radio station BFM as RM10 pledges roll in

Reza Aslan was interviewed on business radio station BFM last year over the 'Allah' issue.– Wikimedia Commons pic, December 16, 2014.Reza Aslan was interviewed on business radio station BFM last year over the 'Allah' issue.– Wikimedia Commons pic, December 16, 2014.BFM listeners are pledging RM10 each to help settle the RM10,000 fine the business radio station was slapped with for airing a controversial interview a year ago.
The pledges are made through a Facebook page called "I pledge RM10 for BFM" that was started by Masjaliza Hamzah, the former head of Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) earlier today.
So far, the page has garnered more than 300 likes and many notable personalities have made the pledge as a sign of solidarity with the station as well as a sign of protest against the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for its action.
In making a stand for media freedom, Masjaliza had first posted the community fundraiser on her wall and later set up a page for those who wanted to pledge their money.
"So, BFM has been fined RM10K by MCMC for airing the interview with Reza Aslan in which he strongly criticised the judgement against the Herald. He called it a 'laughing stock'. BFM is appealing," the posting read.
"I am sure BFM can afford the fine. But as a measure of solidarity with BFM and protest against the MCMC decision, I pledge RM10 for BFM for the fine. We need 999 others."
Meanwhile, social networking users also criticised MCMC over its decision to fine BFM, lamenting that the country's media freedom is at its lowest.
"Open criticism is indeed a luxury, what a shame," said Ijlal Hannan through his Twitter handle @ijlalhannan.
"This is what happens when rationale is challenged in this country," added Sha Jackson (@Shjcksn).
Amin Azam (@_AminAzam) said :"I bet if Dr. Reza Aslan had the 'hive mind' opinion, @BFMradio wouldn't have been fined".
"@BFMradio what's your bank account and info? I'll bank in a token contribution to help with the Reza Aslan fine, and spread the word," said Suanie (@suanie).
BFM was fined under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for violating the special licence conditions of Individual Content Applications Service Provider (CASP-I) which stipulates the regulator's approval must be obtained before any live or delayed telecast.
It was over the airing of an interview of Malaysia's "Allah" controversy with Iranian-American Muslim scholar Reza Aslan on October 21 last year.
In the BFM interview last year, Reza criticised Malaysia's ban on the use of "Allah" by non-Muslims and had called the Court of Appeal's decision on October 14, 2013, a "political decision".
The appellate court had banned the Catholic Church from using the Arabic word for God in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its weekly newspaper, Herald.
Reza had told BFM that Christians in the Middle East and other parts of the world have used "Allah" as it meant God, and it was not a threat to Islam.
A vocal critic of the ban, he tweeted last year, "How stupid has Malaysia become? This stupid", linking his tweet to a news report about the Court of Appeal decision.
He also described the decision as a "tragedy" in an email interview with The Malaysian Insider last year.
- TMI

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