MGG Pillai
Encyclopedia
MGG Pillai was a Malaysian journalist
and political activist. He was one of the country's pioneers in Internet
-based journalism and activism. His parents were immigrants from Kerala
, India
. His great maternal uncle, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
was a celebrated Malayalam novelist. True to the matrilineal tradition of the Nair
caste, he had a reverential relationship with Thakazhi. Thakazhi in turn was proud of his nephew's journalistic pursuits. MGG Pillai was married to P.C. Jayasree. They have two sons, Sreekant Pillai and Sreejit Pillai.
-born Malaysian Indian of Malayalee descent, he studied in English College (now known as Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar
, Johor Bahru), and later studied law
at the University of Singapore. He started his career in journalism in the 1960s as a Reuters
correspondent
, and covered the Vietnam War
in 1965. In 1967, Pillai had a brief stint in Bernama
before joining the Malay Mail and covered the May 13th riots
for the newspaper in 1969. He joined the then newly-established Singapore Herald
in 1970 but left after the government of Singapore
refused to renew his work permit
.
Upon returning to Malaysia, Pillai began freelancing for the Far Eastern Economic Review
(FEER). By then, Pillai was also a stringer
for the India
n newspaper
Hindustan Times
. Besides writing for FEER, Pillai also contributed to Newsweek
as a stringer and co-founded the defunct news magazine Asiaweek
. In 1977, Pillai became the first Malaysian to receive a fellowship
from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism
, which offered him a chance for further study in journalism at Harvard University
.
since 1990 after one his reports roused the anger of top government officials. While politicians may have reviled him in public for his hard-hitting, anti-establishment views, privately many maintained good personal relations with Pillai, to the extent he became a confidant to politicians in both the government and the opposition.
(PAS), Harakah
, independent online news and commentary portals Malaysia Today
and Malaysiakini
. He was one of the first Malaysian journalists to see the potential of the internet; he founded a mailing list
-based current affairs discussion forum, Sang Kancil ("The Mouse Deer") and mggpillai.com, his self-titled but now-defunct news and commentary website. He rose to national prominence during the heyday of the Reformasi
("Reform") movement, which blossomed following the sacking of the then Deputy Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
in 1998. His internet-based commentaries and reporting were at the forefront in chronicling the political turmoil amid a time when the internet was in its infancy in Malaysia.
Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur
, due to heart
-related complications.
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and political activist. He was one of the country's pioneers in Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-based journalism and activism. His parents were immigrants from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. His great maternal uncle, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai was a novelist and short story writer of Malayalam language, spoken in Kerala state, South India. He is popularly known as Thakazhi, after his place of birth. He focused on the oppressed classes as the subject of his works, which are known for their attention to...
was a celebrated Malayalam novelist. True to the matrilineal tradition of the Nair
Nair
Nair , also known as Nayar , refers to "not a unitary group but a named category of castes", which historically embody several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom bore the Nair title. These people historically live in the present-day Indian state of Kerala...
caste, he had a reverential relationship with Thakazhi. Thakazhi in turn was proud of his nephew's journalistic pursuits. MGG Pillai was married to P.C. Jayasree. They have two sons, Sreekant Pillai and Sreejit Pillai.
Background and career
A Johor BahruJohor Bahru
Johor Bahru is the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia. Johor Bahru is the southernmost city of the Eurasian mainland...
-born Malaysian Indian of Malayalee descent, he studied in English College (now known as Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar
Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar
English College is a premier secondary non-boarding secondary school located in the city Johor Bahru of the southernmost state of Malaysia .- History :...
, Johor Bahru), and later studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the University of Singapore. He started his career in journalism in the 1960s as a Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
, and covered the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
in 1965. In 1967, Pillai had a brief stint in Bernama
BERNAMA
BERNAMA is a news agency of the government of Malaysia. It is an autonomous body placed under the Information, Culture and Communications Ministry. It was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1967 and started work on 26 May 1968....
before joining the Malay Mail and covered the May 13th riots
May 13 Incident
The 13 May Incident is a term for the Sino-Malay sectarian violences in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia, which began on 13 May 1969...
for the newspaper in 1969. He joined the then newly-established Singapore Herald
Singapore Herald
The Singapore Herald was a tabloid newspaper in Singapore whose publishing license was suspended by the Singapore government on May 28, 1971...
in 1970 but left after the government of Singapore
Government of Singapore
The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to mean the Executive branch of government, which is made up of the President and the Cabinet of Singapore. Although the President acts in his personal discretion in the exercise of certain functions as a check...
refused to renew his work permit
Work permit
Work permit is a generic term for a legal authorization which allows a person to take employment.It is most often used in reference to instances where a person is given permission to work in a country where one does not hold citizenship, but is also used in reference to minors, who in some...
.
Upon returning to Malaysia, Pillai began freelancing for the Far Eastern Economic Review
Far Eastern Economic Review
The Far Eastern Economic Review was an English language Asian news magazine started in 1946. It printed its final issue in December 2009. The Hong Kong-based business magazine was originally published weekly...
(FEER). By then, Pillai was also a stringer
Stringer
Stringer may refer to:* Stringer , a type of freelance journalism* Stringer * Stringer , or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened...
for the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
. Besides writing for FEER, Pillai also contributed to Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
as a stringer and co-founded the defunct news magazine Asiaweek
Asiaweek
Asiaweek, the English edition, was a news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its December 7, 2001 issue due to a "downturn in the advertising market," according to...
. In 1977, Pillai became the first Malaysian to receive a fellowship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism
Nieman Foundation for Journalism
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University is the primary journalism institution at Harvard. It was founded in 1938 as the result of a $1 million bequest by Agnes Wahl Nieman, the widow of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of The Milwaukee Journal...
, which offered him a chance for further study in journalism at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Journalistic style
Pillai was well-known for his straight-talking, no-holds-barred style of reporting and commentary, which resulted in brushes with authority. He had been forbidden from entering SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
since 1990 after one his reports roused the anger of top government officials. While politicians may have reviled him in public for his hard-hitting, anti-establishment views, privately many maintained good personal relations with Pillai, to the extent he became a confidant to politicians in both the government and the opposition.
Contribution to Malaysian journalism
Pillai was a regular contributor to pro-opposition publications, such as the official mouthpiece of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic PartyPAS (political party)
The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party commonly known as PAS or Pas, is an Islamist political party in Malaysia and is currently headed by Dato' Seri Abdul Hadi Awang...
(PAS), Harakah
Harakah
Harakah is a newspaper founded in 1987 and published by Parti Islam SeMalaysia . In addition to using the Malay language, the paper includes a 8-page English language pullout consisting of pages and columns written in English called the English Section. A page in Jawi writing was introduced in 2007...
, independent online news and commentary portals Malaysia Today
Malaysia Today
Malaysia Today is a popular Malaysian news blog. It is known for being critical of both the governing Barisan Nasional coalition and opposition parties such as the Democratic Action Party and Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Its founder and chief editor is Raja Petra Kamarudin, a former political detainee...
and Malaysiakini
Malaysiakini
Malaysiakini is a political news website published in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. Since its launch on November 20, 1999, it has been widely considered to be one of the leading non-government owned paid-news agencies in Malaysia. Compete.com estimates that Malaysiakini now attracts over...
. He was one of the first Malaysian journalists to see the potential of the internet; he founded a mailing list
Mailing list
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or simply "the...
-based current affairs discussion forum, Sang Kancil ("The Mouse Deer") and mggpillai.com, his self-titled but now-defunct news and commentary website. He rose to national prominence during the heyday of the Reformasi
Reformasi (Malaysia)
The Reformasi movement in Malaysia was initiated by Anwar Ibrahim and his supporters shortly after he was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister in 1998. It consisted of several mass demonstrations and rallies against the long-standing Barisan Nasional coalition government, and continued until Anwar was...
("Reform") movement, which blossomed following the sacking of the then Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia is the second highest political office in Malaysia. There has been ten deputy prime ministers since the office was created in 1957. Although there has always been a Deputy Prime Minister since independence, there is nothing preventing a Prime Minister from not...
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim is a Malaysian politician who served as Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998. Early in his career, Anwar was a close ally of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad but subsequently emerged as the most prominent critic of Mahathir's government.In 1999, he was sentenced...
in 1998. His internet-based commentaries and reporting were at the forefront in chronicling the political turmoil amid a time when the internet was in its infancy in Malaysia.
Death
Pillai died on 28 April 2006 at the University of MalayaUniversity of Malaya
The University of Malaya is located on a campus near the centre of Kuala Lumpur, and is the oldest university in Malaysia. It was founded in 1905 as a public-funded tertiary institution...
Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, due to heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
-related complications.
External links
- MGG Pillai Dalam Kenangan (Malay) (An obituary for MGG Pillai by an anonymous Malaysian political activist)
- MGG Pillai's Nieman Foundation 1977 fellowship class photo