What can we do?

自從离開Penang來到美國，我对馬來西亞的新聞也隔断了一段時間。前天收到一位新聞從業員朋友的email關於母涉嫌殺女案！雖然我不知道该事件的發生，但乍然看到这些字眼，促令我感到震惊，我上纲到某華文報章追踪了一點有関報導，才知道前些日子，Penang發生一宗﹕母涉嫌殺女案！

啊…何僅是這件命案？報章上的命案，似乎越來越多，不時会有駭人惊聞的新聞… 當我看到這類新聞出現… 我的内心都會起伏不安一陣，惱海出現很多的？？…

很有質素的新聞從業員很多！在我人生中，我很高興認識这位新聞從業員朋友，让我與你分享她email寫的两段﹕

如果有人覺得鄭慧雯做錯什麼，她確實是要承擔自己的後果。但人世間的任何好或壞事，誰做了什麼誰都要各自承擔後果，這個天地法則恆古不變，何以輪到我們操心或浪費能量呵責或揣測鄭慧雯，何不把能量轉到“我們可以做些什麼”，在現有的條件底下去幫助鄭慧雯或整個社會。

在一系列追蹤報導裡，我們都致力於希望給當事人最公平的報導；文字和新聞都是質量的，無法度量，也許我們有所疏忽，在某些文字標題上出現對她不夠公平的地方。但做為新聞從業員，尤其報紙的影響力愈大，我們在下筆時更如千斤重，因為那將深深影響了整個社會的道德文化和思想，我們都沒有忘記身為新聞從業員的這份社會責任。

Since I left Penang for the US, I have lost touch with Malaysia’s news sometimes. Last two days, I received from a friend who is a press reporter an email about: A case in which a mother is suspected of killing her daughter! Though I didn’t know that the case happened, I felt shocked when I read about it. I went to a Chinese press’s link to trace and read some related news, and then I discovered that it happened in Penang a few weeks ago!

Ahhh… Besides this case, how many more murder cases are there? It seems there are more and more murder cases reported in the press. Sometimes, we get very shocked by the news… When I read those cases …my heart feels uneasy for a little while, my mind has many ? ?...

There are a lot of good quality journalists! I am happy to have a friend in my life who is a journalist, and I would like to share two paragraphs (in Chinese) from her email (I translated them into English and I hope the meaning came through):

*“If Jess Teh (the suspect in the case) did something wrong, she will bear the consequence. As with all good or bad in the world, the one who did it is the one who have to bear the consequence. This is an ancient unchangeable universal law. It’s not our business to waste energy judging or guessing the behavior of Jess Teh. Why not transform that energy to ‘what can we do’ to help Jess Teh or the community.”

“The writing is something qualitative, so it is measureless. In the series of reports, we (journalists) all hoped and tried to be fair to the person in the case. Perhaps we have neglected something and had some unfair words in titles (in press) regarding her. The effect of the newspaper is powerful. So, being journalists, we feel the pen is very heavy to us when we are writing. Because the article will affect deeply the morals, ethics, culture and thought of society. As journalists we cannot forget our responsibility to community.”

*I edited the translation on Aug 6.

31.7.07 5.34pm 晴热