'They call me a cyber terrorist'

Malaysianinsider | ...To ordinary Malaysians, Raja Petra Kamarudin is something like a rockstar. As publisher and editor of Malaysia Today, the self-confessed hippie has delighted his fans by turning up the heat on the nation's troubled politicians, who vainly attempt to rebuke him or feign indifference whenever his name is mentioned.

"They call me a cyber terrorist," he says with a smile and a slight sense of bewilderment.

Politicians try to dismiss him as a mere blogger, which in Malaysian parlance is a term with its own nuances as the country's leaders eagerly attempt to relegate their critics to the status of second-class citizens because they communicate through the Internet as opposed to the mainstream media.

Former information minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin referred to Raja Petra and other bloggers as off-key karaoke singers who like the sound of their own voices, but lack real public influence. Azril Amin, vice-president of the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia once wrote that Raja Petra had failed to
meet his responsibilities by defaming Islamic organisations. He also said Raja Petra had a confused misunderstanding of Islam and was appalled by his "vulgar-languaged polemic".... selanjutnya.