The Home Minister's explanation that the publishing permit of Makkal Osai was merely ‘not renewed’ and not revoked or cancelled merely shows that the ministry is still using its outdated criteria to stifle the press to coerce them to toe the official line.

He says that there have been many complaints against Makkal Osai but he conveniently doesn't cite the complaints nor their sources. It gives rise to the suspicion that these complaints had come from those aligned to the ruling party. But then, Makkal Osai is not a political party newspaper - it is meant to give coverage to news and views from a wider spectrum of our society.

It had even translated interviews and views from the English and Bahasa newspapers for the benefit of its readers, which was seldom done in the Tamil press until recently.

If the paper had indeed infringed upon 'guidelines' imposed, then, it would have been proper for the ministry to first send letters of caution citing the actual breach(es), so that the paper’s editorial board could take the remedial steps and 'comply' with the said guidelines.

Again, the minister glaringly did not mention the specific guidelines that had indeed been breached.

The time has come for the ministry to be more transparent as there are many sources of information for the people and it will be wise for the leadership to allow the licensed media to cover the news and views that matter.

When the people realise that the licensed media is being manipulated, they turn their attention to the alternative media some of which sometimes don't subscribe to the ethics of responsible journalism.

Those addicted to such an uncensored media may develop attitudes that are not good for Malaysian nationhood. Surely, the minister knows that the advances in information technology today is beyond the control or policing of the state and that more and more people are becoming IT-savvy.

Therefore, the minister must show his maturity in dealing with the renewal of the permit of Makkal Osai . And have re-look at the 'guidelines' governing the licensed media in the country.