Al-Jazeera Talk: Two Biggest Fundamental Problems Faced by Local Media

"We are not afraid because we report nothing but the truth!" said Mr. Jayaganesh Sabapathy, who is the Head of Operations in Asia Pacific for Al-Jazeera English.

He continued, "Besides, it's Pak Lah who invited us here - promising us that they will not interfere us - and we will take no side."

His sharing was astounding and it captured my attention, especially when he shared on the two 'biggest fundamental problems' our local media face.

First is on the chase after technology. It is impossible for our media company to keep updating their digital system as it costs a lot financially. Furthermore, the public is not ready to use such High Definition technology.

Secondly, the local journalists are lack of journalistic instinct. They have not enough exposure and they cannot do journalism without free hand.

For example, during Lee Kuan Yew's talk, the local journalists dare not to ask "difficult" question. It's the foreign journalists who dare to ask, "Are you building Lee Kuan Yew's empire?" It seems that the local journalists have become a mouthpiece of the government instead of reporting the fact due to the psychological boundary set by themselves.