The MCA takeover of Nanyang Siang Pao and China Press would be a double catastrophe - a national catastrophe against a free, independent and responsible press and a Chinese community catastrophe in shutting out the voices of the Malaysian Chinese in the country.
Nothing can be further from the truth.
It is an open secret that Hong Leong, the parent of Hume which owns 72 per cent of the Nanyang Press Holdings, is forced to sell its stake in the two Chinese newspapers more for political rather than business reasons. This was powerfully illustrated by the massive special dividend payout by Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd of 103.27 per cent on Thursday in a move to return capital to its parent instead of using the money for the future operations of its two Chinese newspapers. Hume Industries, which owns 72 per cent of Nanyang Press, will pocket some RM43 million. The payout ratio was 10 times larger than its previous payments to shareholders. And the dividend payout was substantially higher than Nanyang Press's interim profit of less than RM3 million.