Chameleon is one of the many things that you just find it hard to describe to others. What’s a chameleon, someone ask you. And you just can’t put on a description on its color like you normally would when describing an object. Because you don’t know what its true colors are, as it desperately tries to fight for its survival and protect itself from enemies. Surrounded by the greens of the leaves, it turns green. And no prizes for guessing correctly its color when it clings to the tree trunk.

To me, it personifies a hypocrite. A man with different masks, a double headed snake. Whatever. You get the idea.

But this article is not about chameleon. After all, animals are some of the many things that disgust me, although I used to want to be a horse or unicorn when I was younger. (That makes me a hypocrite, eh?)

Just today, I saw an article in The Star, written by Wong Chun Wai, the editor of the newspaper. I have long regarded Mr Wong as the MCA guy, by virtue of the blatant partisanship displayed by the newspaper that he helped edit every single day.

The Star has been very pro-government (read: an inveterete lies-spreading machine). It had in the past pour scorn on people deemed as anti-government, had pounced on opposition leaders, had minimized the coverage of subterfuges and misconducts by government officials, and had reported that the total turnout for the BERSIH rally was 4,000 (instead of the actual 40,000++).

Strange enough, I have learn how to co-exist with this lies-spreading machine. That red masthead makes its way to my living room every single day, without failed, read only by the parents who obviously see no alternative, now that I have completely dominated the computer and the only communication channel to the outside world.

Mr Wong wrote an article to basically acknowledged that the mainstream media had to review its pro-government stance, especially during the election campaigning period, or risk losing readers to the internet. Manifestly their association with the BN means that when BN falls, so does mainstream media. I see this as something that screams, “OK, we are so wrong in the past. We will change. Please forgive us”, so desperately trying to win back readers who had alienated them.

Of course I took the chance to write back and reprimand them with the use of (by my standard) degrading language. I criticized them for being “The BN’s Paper” instead of “The People’s Paper” that they pride themselves to be. I also reminded him about the chameleon behavior that they had practiced, turning 180 degrees after the election.

Although I am no media expert, I suggested them to go back to the basic principles of journalism and practice non-partisanship. It feels darn good to be able to add insult to an injury in a time where those at the mainstream media are still reeling in shock from the hurtful fact that their effort to ensure BN wins big in the election was indeed an utter futility.

And that is a story about the color-changing chameleon and my deep-seated contention with the mainstream media. Of course, now that the chameleon had changed its color, I am rather please to see opposition figures featured on the front page, which is something unprecendented, something only an unabased chameleon struggling for survival, could do.