#adibah

On Monday 5th of September 2016, a new long semester 41634 started and that day was the first class of JMS2253 Communication Law and Ethics. The subject is taught by Madam Norazian Binti Abdul Aziz but unfortunately I was unable to attend the class as I was just going back from Perak to Shah Alam by Electric Train Service from Batu Gajah to Kuala Lumpur Sentral, it is an inter-city rail service operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad utilizing electric multiple units. The KTM ETS is the second electric train service to be operated by the Malaysian railway company, after the KTM Komuter service. This is the public transport that I always use to travel to and fro from Shah Alam to Perak and vice versa. It took me almost three to four hours for the whole journey. Thus, I arrived to Shah Alam at late evening.

I was worried that my attendance will be absent because my classmate told me that the class was already started and they already received exercises to do. Immediately, after hearing the news, I quickly do the self-introduction and media ethics and law exercises on that particular evening and submitted it through e-learning.

Nevertheless, the total of students that are taking the Communication Law and Ethics was about more than 60 students on the first week. Hence, with Madam Norazian’s mercy and kindness, the students will be separated into two groups. This is to avoid having too much students in one class. First group will be on Monday afternoon and second group will be having class on Thursday evening. Fortunately, Madam announced that those who couldn’t or didn’t attend her class on Monday will have class with her on Thursday on the same week. I was a relieved that I can attend the class and my attendance is not absent for that week and luckily my name was also in the group two.

During the Thursday class, there are only few students that attended probably less than ten students. In the class, we were lucky to have learnt the overview of media law and ethics which the Monday class have not. The class started at 5 o’clock in the evening and the period of the class is for three hours which means that the class is supposed to end at 8 o’clock. I was afraid that we will end the class at night as I was only go to Unisel by Selangor Bus and the thought of walking and waiting for the bus alone at night is a bit worrying since I have a history that happened to my family member. However, with Madam Norazian’s empathy, we ended the class at 7pm so I rushed to the bus stop and I managed to get back at 7.30 pm.

At the end of our class, we have received an exercise to write if we support or do not support gay marriage in Malaysia. Considering that we received the task at a quite late evening, and the topic that was issued was not an easy one, I could not do the exercise overnight. I was only did some reading to gather information that night.

The next day, Friday, my parents had planned to pick up my brothers and me to go back to Perak for Eid Adha holiday which is on Monday 12th September 2016. I was panicked how I can get the task done before my parents arrive to pick me up. My parents leave home in the early morning and then they arrived at my rented house around noon right after Friday prayer because they had to fetch my youngest brother first at Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah, Putrajaya.

Right after my parents, youngest brother and I were already in one car, we had to go back to Perak and pick up my younger brother at Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Taiping before heading back home. If my parents fetch my younger brother which is at Taiping first, then they will arrive to Putrajaya and Shah Alam really late because boarding schools only allow students to go back after Friday prayer and we might end up reaching home by midnight. As we all know, when it comes to weekend and especially during public holidays, they highway will be jammed after all everyone wants to go back to their hometowns.

While we were on our way to Perak, I had some discussions with my parents to finish my assignments. We discussed for hours and hours along the way and I wrote it in my book because I did not bring my laptop to Shah Alam. Along the journey, I really hoped and prayed that the highway will not have a terrible jam or I will be the one with a jammed head. I wished that I can make the time to type it out and submit it to e-learning before 12 am.

Thankfully, we managed to reach home by 10 pm after all the hustle and bustle of the road. I ran to get my laptop and started to type out what I wrote earlier in the book. Lastly, I get to submit it probably at 11.50 pm just few minutes before midnight. The next Monday is a public holiday for celebrating Eid Adha and we celebrate it by praying Eid Adha in the morning and visit our close relatives.

Later, on 19th September 2016, I had our Monday classes which are Persuasive Communication and Communication Law and Ethics. In the middle of class Communication Law and Ethics, Madam Norazian asked to bring a textbook titled ‘Media Ethics; Issues and Cases’ which I had no idea what was it about since she did not mentioned it during previous Thursday class. Hence, she said that all the students need to bring the textbook for the next Monday class. If I knew earlier during the Thursday class, I would already borrow it when I was in Perak but sadly, I was not.

Thus, we were given about a week time to get the book. After the class, I immediately asked my mother to get the book from Universiti Teknologi Petronas because I already checked online that they have the book. Unfortunately, I did not go back home on that particular week and I have not go back home for about three weeks now. I had to do other assignments and I was sick of flu and fever and I had to bear with my migraine also during the week due to stress and extreme weather condition but I still manage to get my task which is about harmful media content done and submitted it before the due time.

On the consequent week, Monday 26th September 2016, we had our usual Communication Law and Ethics class at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Thereafter, Madam Norazian asked the class who bring and who did not bring the textbook to class. Well some people are just out of luck, I was one of those who did not bring the holy grail textbook to class and these ‘some’ of us are asked to stand up and give reasons why we did not bring it.

Those who did not do bring the book will have a penalty to write reasons of not bringing it and why we should not be labelled as unethical students. When I heard the first few students who did not bring the textbook, their reasons are not reasonable for them to only get 3 pages of essay compared to mine which I had to do four pages. They were in the same condition as mine which they did not bring the textbook so what are the differences between us?  The first few students’ reasons were plainly just forgot to bring and forgot to buy while I always thinking about getting the book. Did they really forget or just made things up? If this person said that his book is at his house, mine is also the same, it is in my hometown.

Whereas during the time I had to give my reasons, I told that I always borrow books from UTP’s library but I only able to get the book by this weekend. I will be going back this Friday to assist my youngest brother for his appointment with doctor regarding his serious allergic issues. It’s not like I can go back home every other day. Ever since I was small I read and borrow books from there since my parents work there. I know I am currently studying in UNISEL not UTP but what is the harm to borrow books from there? I am used to borrow books from there for years, pretty much my whole life. Am I against the law? Is it against the law to buy petrol from Petronas when you are working in Esso? Is it against the law to get spare parts from Chinese when you are Malay?  Thus, is it against the law that I only want to borrow the book from UTP when I’m in UNISEL? Then how can I be labelled as an unethical student?

Why would I spend my money to buy the book for RM 120.00 and only get a pen for free or spend money just to photocopy the whole book when I can get it for free to borrow the original textbook for the whole semester? It is just a matter of time. I only did not get to bring it this week but I can get to borrow for free when I go back to Perak. They photocopied the book because that is their last resort but I have other option to get an original book from the library.

Imagine a man killed another person and he said he accidentally killed him and the penalty he gets is only prison sentences. While another man had to kill another person to protect his own life but he gets death penalty. Here what I want to explain is like the situation of the students who forgot and my situation. I was raised to be very critical in managing personal finances. I just want to save my money, protect my bank account and borrow the book but I got penalty of four pages while they only got three pages with the reason of ‘forgetting’. It’s not like I spend on frivolous things like makeup, accessories, clothes, shoes or whatsoever and the way I dress is very simple. My parents pay for my education and it is my major responsibility to be very thrifty in spending. Is it really that bad to protect my savings?

All my life, I rarely use photocopied books. My family have a firm stand on not photocopying books. We would either borrow or buy the books and photocopying it is the last resort. I remember one thing that happened in class today that someone asked Madam what if a reporter makes a news about racism just for the sake of his work and whether it is ethical or not. Madam said that it is all based on the person’s stance on being ethical or not whether they would only protect their position or rather quit than publish such news. The only thing that will happen is that she will look at the person negatively. She wants to create students who are future communication practitioners to have a strong stand in being ethical.

Therefore, I am being very ethical to not photocopy books and write pages of all these defences to protect my strong stand of being an ethical student and user of the book. It is clearly that everyone knows that it is illegal and ethically wrong to photocopy books. Users show no respect for the publisher, shows no respect for the efforts of the authors, and no respect for the hard work these people did to produce the book. It is not my policy to photocopy books. How can future communication practitioners have a resilient hold on being very ethical when all their lives just photocopy every single thing what communication researches produce?

There is even an act that against reproduction of works in any form including photocopying, recording and distribution of copies to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership which is Copyright Act 1987. We as students, are not being owner of the copyright, and without license from the owner, does or authorizes it are clearly not allowed to photocopy it. Any of us could be sued by the publisher or author and I would never dare to do so.