I received an SMS this morning (Wednesday), which said Anwar's new government had been formed.

I am a susbcriber to Sinchew-i's news alerts. But this time, I felt very weird, because the format of the message was slightly different, and it was sent from my friend, not the usual short code from which I have been getting Sinchew-i's news alerts.

That was something very unusual. I called up Sin Chew Daily, and was told by the staff at the News Desk that the message was not sent by Sin Chew.

I rang up my friend, and he told me he did not know anything, and the message was forwarded to him from another friend.

I began to make some guesses who could have been so senseless to spread such a rumour.

I was thinking, the greatest possibilities could have been either:

1. Someone was trying to exploit Sin Chew Daily's integrity to confound the public. Obviously, Anwar's "916 promise" has failed to materialise. Today is 17 September, and Pakatan Rakyat has earlier softened its stance, saying that "916" could mean "16 September of any year."

Sin Chew Daily just received a show-cause letter from the home ministry, while the journalist reporting the "penumpang" remarks was briefly detained under ISA. Is it possible that some irreponsible individuals have attempted to exploit the current situation to blow up this issue?

Or

2. Sin Chew Daily's rivals. As I said earlier, Sin Chew Daily is currently "in hot water," and it is possible that its competitors have attempted to make use of this chaotic situation to fan the flames, with the hope that Sin Chew Daily will be dealt with by the authorities. If this is the case, then it would be utterly lamentable that some media companies have resorted to such dirty tricks to bring down their rivals. (By Yang Ming Yuan (Reader)/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)

MySinchew 2008.09.18