While I’m always skeptical when presented with findings such as RSF’s Press Freedom Index (because many things are subjective and those people doing the surveys sometimes rely too much on a limited number of sources), they generally give you an idea of how things actually are. With the PF Index, I was actually taken aback by the fact that Malaysia was 92nd in 2006, especially given that a lot of things happened, including the closure of a couple of newspapers.

I don’t expect things to be looking up soon fro Malaysia. In good time, however, some leaders will grow up and feel less threatened by the new media, especially bloggers. I see blogging as a possible short-cut for Malaysia to achieve greater freedom of the press, so once blogging is accepted by the government (which should happen with a change in leadership), Indonesia shall find itself in its traditional position, which is behind Malaysia.