There are so many things we, the regular citizens did not know or were never taught. For example, some photographers from certain media aren’t allowed to take photos of the Chief Minister. It is that serious! The photographer have to make sure that the main celebrity photos are taken, but that person has to avoid taking the photo of the CM, if it can be done.

Do read this piece by Josh Hong. He revealed more. I was told that the PM’s wife photos and stories must appear in mainstream media like everyday if possible. And they always have to be in the first 10 pages. Nothing deeper than that.

Also, during the CJ conference, Hannah Yeoh the Adun lamented that any activities carried out by the Pakatan Rakyat will not appear in the MSM. Many Aduns too have lamented about the same thing. It is not they are hungry for publicity or limelight. What they want is the rakyats to know about activities, events or campaigns that can help the community.

When the MSM blacked out all these news that can benefit the citizens, they have robbed us of the right of information. We are kept in the dark, ignorant and hopefully believe the best saviours are the Barisan Nasional government.

Therefore, I see it as my duty to balance out that lack of news on the Pakatan Rakyat side with whatever little skills I have. Some may see it as my attempt to butter up the Aduns and CM. I see it as my service to my fellow Penangites and Malaysians to provide that extra angle.

We, the citizen journalists from Malaysia received some very kind and encouraging words from Malaysiakini bosses.

I wasn’t keen to record the video but did it anyway because it is not often we meet or hear from Steven and Prem. So, with just a handheld videocam, I shot their speeches and edit them.

This will be a reminder that we have a reputation to live up to. That is to report responsibly.

I was really, really in a rush because my hubby and kids were waiting. So, what he said did not manage to get into my skull because I was dead tired after filming in the hot sun, rushed back in noon day sun to edit the video and wait for it to upload using KL free wireless line.

It is just only I realised what sort of twisted mind this fella has. He was thinking only of the money? Is that all? Is that what he thinks I am doing? Desperate for money, so much so that I actually forego the programs?

Well, I don’t mind that insinuation that I am doing it for the money. Because many are obviously too naive to understand the bigger picture.

I was privileged to work along with another guy. We make a great team. I was holding the camera without the tripod (because it will draw less attention from the super paranoid KLCC guards and Special Branch) while he was holding the mike. Both of us were attached to each other like a mother and a newborn baby with the umbilical cord. I run, he runs. He chases, I chase.

We were lucky that our producer told us about the event at KLCC. We check our program and know it is ok to skip it because writing is not our strong forte. Video journalism is. We asked our trainer’s permission and he let us go.

After filming, I thought I can bring back the clips and edit them in Penang. But our producer asked if I have downloaded the clips when I was in the middle of a dead boring talk by someone who actually underestimated our CJ skills. So, what a great escape!

I ran off to edit the video. Asked Mr. Producer how long he wants the video to be? And I got down to work. Editing is not so tough for me. But the encoding and uploading time are because I have nothing to do but to wait to see that the thing goes smoothly.

All the time, there was something going on in the room. But hey, my policy is – If the producer or editor asks, we give our very best, fastest work. Nothing else matters.

I also had this good opportunity to work under pressure when an editor asked for the Kugan’s video clip last time. He was really breathing down my neck and said, ‘chop, chop, chop, keep it under 3, I want that part, you sure Surendran said it is ok to publish? give it to me by 5pm’.

So, yeah, it is an opportunity to be put under pressure to produce my work. I love it.

And for the idiot who actually think I am doing it for the money, can I remind you that no one promises us any payment in the early stage? Inspite of that, I produced over 50 videos. You can calculate how much I was rewarded. I never ask for it, I get it without expectations.

You know what? We Christians had been reminded by Jesus Christ – If you want to give a gift to a person, do not give it to the one who can repay you. Instead, give it to someone who is not capable of doing so, for great is your reward in Heaven.

Of course, I didn’t do it for that ticket to Heaven. I did the videos, all my videos for the greater good. One needs a bigger brain to see the big picture, you know?

I decided to be a bit more adventurous and grabbed the chance to sneak out of the conference to do some citizen journalism coverage with CJ Jimmy. Of course, it is with the suggestions from the Executive Producer and our trainer.

Then, I returned and edited the below video. After that, it is one long drive back to Penang. Just got home at 11 pm. It is midnight now. zzzzzz….So, do watch the below video and read the interview with Malaysiakini if you have not done so.

Malaysiakini speaks to four citizen journalists about their role and the challenges they face.

Lillian Chan, 45, blogger and mother of five, Penang

How did you find out about the citizen journalism course?

I’ve been a regular reader of Malaysiakini even before March 8, 2008 (general election). It has somewhat ‘converted’ me to become bolder in making my voice heard as a citizen. I wrote on issues that were exposed by Malaysiakini in my blog. I believe my writings have influenced blog readers to vote for change.

So when there was an announcement (regarding the citizen journalism course) on Malaysiakini, I gladly grabbed the opportunity because I want to write and express myself well.

What got you into blogging in the first place?

Initially, the Malaysian blogosphere started out as mostly tech bloggers, food bloggers or personal bloggers. Previously, I had contributed articles to the Star’s parenting column, women and parenting magazines on an ad-hoc basis. I started blogging in 2003, writing about personal stuff because I was intrigued by the concept of ‘live publishing’. So Blogger.com became my outlet to write.

Later on, (DAP politician) Jeff Ooi’s political postings and his exposés got me interested in writing about politics.

You are very outspoken in your blogs. Do you find it difficult to juggle between being a blogger and a citizen journalist?

Actually, I believe that having a strong opinion helps in citizen journalism. It is only when we can form our own opinion that we are able to present an issue with clarity. Otherwise, our viewers or readers cannot get the message we want to convey.

However, I am always mindful that when I am donning my CJ press tag and when I am out covering assignments, I do not force my opinions on others nor lead my interview subjects on with things to suit my views.

How has learning video making and editing helped you with your blog?

I already have a large pool of regular blog readers. That includes my siblings, nephews and nieces, my church members including some of my priests, friends and regular followers. Instead of just writings and posting photos, now they have videos to keep them updated with issues that are close to my heart. My videos are about things that interest me. So it is really an added bonus.

As a mother, do you have any worries about being harassed by the government?

I am always mindful of what is written and posted on my blog. As I am a Catholic, I have added pressures when the Allah’s issue cropped up because one of my ‘faith’ blog appeared high on search engines as I have a Bahasa Malaysia Bible.

I received comments which I considered to be ‘baits’ (to get me into deep trouble, e.g. comments like ‘I am a Muslim and I want to know about Jesus’) which I think can put me into trouble. So, I scrutinise not only what I express but also what the commentators say.

Though I do get very loud on certain political matters, these are matters that either affect me directly such as my children’s education or things that I feel is my responsibility as a citizen to protest. If I am really in trouble over them, I will have to face the consequences and hope people will hold candlelight vigils for me. (Laughs)

I have never directly been rude to any politicians or any institutions. There are always ways to express things without openly asking for trouble.

The ground breaking ceremony is according to Hindu rites and hence, there are drums, flute and that thing they use to make the echo sound. There are coconuts, lots of smoke, tumeric, sweets, mangoes…

After filming the ground breaking ceremony, I went to the primary school to get some clips. I asked permission from the headmistress and headed over to the school. I am so shocked and sad that they actually have a tiny school in the basement of a clubhouse.

The children do not have proper classrooms. All they had is an open space, blocked up by wooden walls. You can imagine a classroom with windows high up with no views. Since the classes are in close proximity, when one teacher speaks, the other class can hear too.

I wonder how our government could close an eye to the discomforts of these children for so many decades. Tamil schools are slowly being wiped out if this goes on. Luckily, they now have a land to build a proper building.

This is one of those videos that I truly enjoyed filming.

Exactly a year ago, a few of us citizen journalist from the Penang Batch 2 had gone down with Maran, our trainer and Vincent, a welfare officer from the Penang Office for Human Development to do the same thing.

We went down the same paths, doing the same thing. Only difference is now, I am much more experience and accepted by fellow videographers from the TV stations as one of them. It is an honour to me.

Jimmy Leow and I have come a long way. We are fast learners, good in human relations and we are bold and daring. From the basic lessons on video filming and editing taught in our citizen journalism class, both of us are now in tune with our respective cameras. We know what angle we want.

We have played by the rules of the videographers circle, always making sure we did not intrude into their space. I think in all my one year adventure as a video journalist, I have never annoyed any one of them. One of the thing citizen journalists should keep in mind is to respect the professional journalists and especially photographers when they are on the job. Put their demands first before ours if you wish to be respected and accepted.

Finally, for me, as a woman and much, much older than the normal circle, it takes a lot of guts to do what the young, energetic, experienced and professional videographers are doing. I know their focus and mine are different. They are producing for TV stations and I, creating a story out of whatever I can get within the limitation of my tiny camera. The motivating force is some of them do tell me they watched the video on Malaysiakini.tv and I know my production is not so bad after all. In fact, the videos by Jimmy and I are probably refreshing because we do not follow the norm but our intuition.

I am glad to join the vagrants rescue operation and get to know the Welfare Department director. It is call vagrants rescue because some of them really do need to be taken off the streets for their own good. The other thing is the Welfare Department does not have authority to ‘catch and summon’ them. They merely help to find a better solution for these vagrants.

It has been one fruitful year. In all, I have produced 180 videos in 365 days.

It is distasteful when they overlooked the greater good in trying to garner attention and political mileage for themselves.

As a citizen journalist, I usually hear both sides of the stories. I gathered all the grouses from the opposing party. I bring them along in my quest for fair citizen journalism.

The other day, I parked myself at the senior citizen appreciation program registration. I asked permission first, of course. I parked myself there for close to three hours.

I observed, listened, watched closely and this is the video that I believe reflects the real people who are receiving the monies.

To me, I would never do anything that could mar the project. Therefore, it is sickening for the opposing political parties to keep using the issue like a piece of old shoe. Have mercy on those who are receiving it and show some grace.

But as we know, it was ‘stolen’ right from PR’s nose with the three frogs jumping out of PKR and DAP. And this time of the year, so many things have happened in Penang as well.

Maybe no one knows but I had gone out of my way just before Chinese New Year to do more citizen journalism videos than what I had wanted. I felt it is my duty as a Penangite to put in the extra hours and trips to cover the Pakatan Rakyat’s event, press conference and interviews because rumours were flying around that Penang will go the same way as Perak.

Generally, the lay people in Penang do not really care much if the state government is Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional. They just want a peaceful day to day life, making a living in the vibrant island like Penang.

Sadly, it is just the few from the higher ups who tried to throw a spanner in the works. They want to see chaos reign so that they have a chance to get their foothold again. They went around instigating the less informed Penangites. Some media are not helping at all. They published lies.

As a citizen journalist, I have seen how facts get twisted in the next day papers. So, I took it upon myself to do my tiny bit to make sure that the words from the state leaders’ mouths are not twisted.

Like other regular folks in Penang, I am sick of the previous government. So, I will allow and help the new one to try their best to make changes and hopefully, a brighter future for us.

The above video was shot three months ago but basically, the people have expressed what some of us feel.

The more I think about it, the investigative citizen journalists of the 21st century are the activists of the 20th. They care enough about a particular topic to dig into it with enough effort and fervor to uncover new truths.

The words “investigative citizen journalists of the 21st century are the activists of the 20th”

I see my role as something big. I see the skills I have as something very powerful. Yet, why didn’t I use them to propel further?

Here are the reasons why:

1) This is Malaysia

In Malaysia, we can get into trouble just because we stepped on the wrong toes. We have seen instances of juvenile pranks ended up in court, sometimes for huge cases like insulting so&so. It is stupid. But that is Malaysia. So, I wouldn’t stick my head out and invite trouble. After reading so many conspiracies (or rather real news that hit the mainstream media), I don’t want to be the tiny pawns. No one is going to build a statue for me like Joan of Arc.

2) There is no backhill

In Chinese, backhill means the hidden, influential, sinister power that will save our arses if we get into trouble. One can flaunt one’s power around even if one is a mere nobody if that person knows that someone up there will settle everything for her/him. I don’t like the idea of currying favours with the power up there. Nah ah, I like playing by my rules and saving my own arse.

3) Reality, bro!

Activists, greenies, tree huggers, NGOs and those hippie looking guys and gals are idealistic folks. One of them was telling us citizen journalists how we can investigate certain things, dig into certain companies, kick up a huge fuss and create big news. Why should we, huh? I don’t want to end up with lawsuits from corporate companies or cause civil servants to lose their jobs. If the tree hugger is so sure of the issue, why don’t he go and pursue it? Why suggest such risky stuffs for newbies like us?

4) My name is not Erin Brockovich

So far, no one come to piss me enough to be one. So, tralalala, why bother?

5) Citizen journalism is not hot, hot, hot in Malaysia yet

Frankly, there is only a handful of us. Each of us have our own agenda. Some are pro certain political parties, some are pro certain NGOs, some like me are basically individuals having too much time and brain juice. We have not create enough impact to make people piss in their pants yet. But we are creating tiny ripples now.

So, if you ask me – Will I put my head out to pursue an issue? I can safely tell you that I have to consider point 1 to 5 before I answer.

I will only do it, IF:
1) I am sure the issue is not sensitive;
2) I have directive;
3) It won’t cause hardship to anyone or anything;
4) It personally affects me enough;
5) I will be treated seriously.

But like all things, it takes initiative on our side to spread our reach. We cannot rely on people to feed us the things to do. We have to go out and search for causes or newsworthy news to shoot.

I mean, if you have taken a 8 days, 8 hours course on video filming, journalism ethics and etc, surely you want to use those skills to produce something, don’t you? Otherwise, why don’t you spend those time sleeping at home, no?

Malaysiakini has printed name cards for us. They also give us CJs a tag. Some of us who are accepted as fellows have a different tag. But a tag is still a tag. Long before they gave us the tag, I made my own. I managed to enter many places using my homemade tag. Of course, you can get kick out if you do that. But usually, I have already made the appointment with the person so it is just a card to satisfy the guards.

So, how do we find the news?

1) Namecard

I left my namecard with people. Usually, they are the communication manager, PR manager, politicians, their assistants, activists and etc. I urge them to keep me inform if they have something they need to publicise. I explained to them that I am focus on religious tolerance, environment and human rights so that they don’t bother me with business matters or such.

2) Newspapers

From the newspapers, we can find many upcoming events, especially from charitable organisations. If those are issues that I am passionate with, I will call up the organiser to get an invitation or arrange an interview.

3) Ball carrying

Hahaha, this may sound so wrong. But politicians have the most news. Be nice to them. Help them to promote their programmes and give them some publicity for works they have done. They will usually be very happy to feed you with more news.

4) Look around

Citizen journalists who are really keen in helping the community can easily look out for news. They are things that happen around us. Injustices, dirty places or neglected individuals all need our help.

5) Time will bring in the fishes

As we go along, more people will get to know us. We have now created quite a name for ourselves. The other day, one CJ from KL, Vijay told me over a phone conversation that when he mentioned my name to some politicians in KL, they immediately recognise it. We CJs have quite a network now. We can always feed each other with issues that CJs in other states can help to cover.

Having said that, there are so many opportunities that most CJs did not just jump in and grab. It is not about who makes the most videos but how passionate we are in helping the people around us. It could just be one single person. But then, it means the whole world to them already so it is worth doing, no matter what.

I spent four hours following a group of about 300 workers, mostly women, single mothers and elderly employees from the court to the state gov. building. One can see it as a time-wasting effort. I see it as my contribution to the society.