Najib hails Utusan Malaysia

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

BANGI, Sept 18 — The Prime Minister hailed the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia today for its role in representing the interest of the Malays, but he also urged the newspaper to also voice out the rights of all Malaysians.

The Umno president singled out Utusan for being the voice of the people, especially the Malay community.

Utusan is known for its trademark and its trademark is to voice the desire of the people, especially the Malay community,” he said in his speech during a breaking of fast function at Sri Utusan Printing Complex here.

However Datuk Seri Najib Razak warned that the media must not only report ethically but also responsibly.

“I hope that we will not only voice the rights of only the Malay community but for the other races as well. When we want to defend rights (of a community), we must also discuss about responsibility,” he said.

He also urged the media to play an important role to shape the nation into 1 Malaysia.

“Media has the responsibility to help in the journey travelled by Malaysia.

The journey which seeks common understanding, openness in thinking. The journey which will also test our struggle.

“If in this journey, we bring chaos and sentiments without looking at the bigger perspective then the journey will go through many difficulties,” he said.

The government aims to engage more with the media  because “the era of government knows everything is over.”

“We will interact with the press so that the press will understand the thinking of the government and the direction the government is taking.

“The press will play its part in building a Malaysia which is more prosperous,” he said.

Utusan Malaysia has been criticised  for being used to attack the opposition and ratcheting up racial tensions.

The Umno-owned newspaper was also responsible for running daily stories criticising calls to allow former communist leader Chin Peng to return to Malaysia, linking it to what the newspaper says are moves to question Malay rights.

The paper also suggested that DAP is anti-Islam and said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was willing to betray the Malays to be prime minister — both incendiary subjects in mainly Malay Muslim Malaysia.

Note: A previous edition of this story erroneously reported the Prime Minister as praising Utusan Malaysia for its ethical and unbiased reporting. We regret the error.

Comments (83)Add Comment

Write comment

busy
 

Latest Comments

MCA members must rise to reclaim the par...
Roger..you are entitled to your own opinion. Regretably you are not a judge and...
KL patriotism camps ‘racist and politi...
There you are, Now we know its not the "schooling system" that brainwashed us ...
Singaporean woman charged with having se...
sex b/t boy and girl
Segambut MP cries foul over alleged ‘d...
There might still be corruption in the vast nation of China.But corrupted offici...
MACC: Biting the political neutrality bu...
Teck Ghee, your friend in the MACC advisory committee comes across as part of th...
Bertambah lambat siasatan SPRM bila wakt...
Lambat.....Kes PKFZ samapai sakarang pun tak selasai......despite 24 emapt jam d...
Sahkan terima dokumen polis, SPRM siasat...
Wah bukan main ghairah lagi nak siasat benda yang dah basi tapi di perangatkan s...

Sponsored Links