I was surprised when the reporters covering parliament proceedings decided spontaneously to boycott all press conferences a few days ago and the story-tellers became the stories themselves. Although our news hounds are the front-line foot soldiers in our media industry and eye witnesses to many dramatic and sometimes violent events in our public sphere, they are by and large a respectful, compliant and even shy bunch of individuals.

This time they were goaded into open rebellion by a parliament ruling to ban them from the lobby area, following a recent directive that each media organisation would not be allowed to send more than five reporters to cover parliament business. Fortunately for them, they seemed to have received full support from their editors in their headquarters.

The parliament directive has no rhyme or reason of course. The Dewan Rakyat is the highest political forum in the land, and the people have every right to know what goes on inside the House and outside in the lobby. The reporters serve as the bridge between the Parliament and the people. To limit press freedom in Parliament is a blatant act of contempt against the most basic democratic right of the people.