By Scott Ng

Anyone could have told Putrajaya that there was bound to be a global outcry over the arrest and subsequent deportation of ABC journalists Linton Bressler and Louie Eroglu. The international media have reacted the same way they would if anyone, even a Malaysian, were faced with undue adversity. They make sure everyone knows.

Among the media outlets that have already covered the debacle are the Manila Times, Deutsche Welle of Germany, Thailand’s the Nation, the Voice of America, the Wall Street Journal, the Jakarta Post, Japan Times, Hong Kong Standard, Times of India, Bangladesh’s Financial Express and Singapore’s Today Online. And that’s just to name a few.

To their credit, Linton and Eroglu still intend to finish the Four Corners report they were assigned to, and Malaysians, as well as the rest of the world, will be curious to see what that report says.

So much for our vaunted international reputation as a moderate Muslim nation which balances the need for worldly progress against the spiritual needs of our people. The international spotlight has turned harsh and glaring, and many major media outlets will want the government to explain itself over the arrest.

The irony in this entire sordid saga is that the action against the journalists will only sharpen the international media’s curiosity about what exactly it is that our government is trying to hide. One can already hear the statements from our ministers. “The foreign media is rude and aggressive; there are security concerns,” and so on.

The sheltered and mollycoddled politicians in our government severely underestimate the call of journalism to the truth. If Putrajaya believes that it can escape international scrutiny by being heavy-handed, it will be quickly disabused of the notion in the coming months.

There’s so much for the international press to cover. There are the 1MDB investigations worldwide, the involvement of a former Goldman Sachs executive in that company’s allegedly shady dealings with 1MDB, and the claims of the Swiss Attorney-General in regard to funds being allegedly misappropriated. Add in a little murder mystery, some jet setting and more than a dash of political intrigue, and you have all the elements for a story no journalist can resist.

We can even imagine the news stories and commentaries developing into a bestselling book and eventually becoming a blockbuster film. Stranger things have happened.

The administration has to live with the fact that it will now be scrutinised like never before, and the questions will only get harder and more cutting. The response will determine whether we are labelled as Asia’s latest dictatorship or merely another Third World country seeking a safe harbour in a rapidly advancing world that has no time for shenanigans.