Malaysiakini journalist anti-Lim Guan Eng?

Don’t know whether it’s just my imagination but it seems there is a Malaysiakini journalist who appears (at least to me) to be ‘hostile’ to Lim Guan Eng and the DAP, but very favourable to PKR.

He writes under the name of Athi Veeranggan. I am not sure whether another Athi (Athi Shankar) would be the same person – a sweetie told me they are one and the same person.

For example, in Malaysiakini article Anwar backs Lim to find win-win solution on 02 July 2009, he wrote:

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today issued several 'friendly' press statements in an apparent damage control exercise to subdue mounting criticisms against the Penang Pakatan Rakyat government in its handling of the Kampung Buah Pala crisis.

Speaking at a packed media conference in his Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency, the PKR leader tried his best not to inflict more harm on the embattled Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Lim is currently facing swelling attacks from various quarters over his failure to resolve the crisis involving the residents of the 200-year-old heritage village.

Yet when one reads what Anwar Ibrahim said, which went like so:

"Lim's government is working overtime to unveil a win-win formula to resolve the crisis amicably," Anwar told journalists at his office in Yayasan Aman, Penanti. Anwar said that a solution which would not hamper development and at the same time protect the villager's interests must be found.

He offered his sympathy to the frustrated villagers, adding that their predicament was caused by the previous Barisan Nasional state government.

"It is wrong for all quarters to put the blame solely on Pakatan government," he said.

He said he felt the previous government had been unwise and committed several errors when it alienated and subsequently sold the village land for RM3.21 million to cooperative society Koperasi Pegawai-Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan Pulau Pinang.

"The current government is legally tied down by the previous administrative decision. Lim's government's task now is to explore a conclusive way to resolve the problem," he said."What's more important is the end product ... the ultimate solution to end it," he said.

Touching on the exorbitant land valuation figure, some RM150 million, given by Lim to acquire the village land, Anwar claimed that the price of land can rocket sky high due to development taking place on the site.

He pointed out the alleged land scam investigation carried out by Deputy Chief Minister Mansor Othman pertaining to the village land deals demonstrated Lim's government commitment to end the impasse.

Reading above, I wonder what Athi Veeranggan had meant by “… the PKR leader tried his best not to inflict more harm on the embattled Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.”

His statement of Anwar ‘trying his best not to inflict more harm on Guan Eng’ sounded as if Anwar had nothing nice to say about the Penang CM, but I see in Anwar's press statements nothing other than praises for Guan Eng.

It’s a pity I wasn’t able to search for the same piece of news in The Malaysian Insider which I had also read, because its link here would have shown there wasn’t the ‘slant’ that Athi had attempted to project, namely, of Anwar graciously ‘going easy on Lim Guan Eng’.

If one were to go through his (Athi's) articles on the DAP and Lim Guan Eng, in particular in relation to the Kg Buah Pala crisis, one might see what I believe to be the case, of a Malaysiakini jorunalist who has been rather anti Lim GE.

My two sens of observation anyway. I do wonder whether Lim GE had stepped on Athi's toes before?