Faekah Husin, political secretary to Selangor mentri besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, said a newspaper called Selangor Terkini was distributed last Saturday to Kuang residents along with a calendar from Umno’s Kuang assemblyman Abdul Shukor Haji Idrus.
“Selangor Terkini was published illegally and used the state government logo without permission,” Faekah told reporters today.
“It can’t be from the Selangor government when there (is a story in it) saying the Selangor government is lying to the people and abusing public funds,” she added.
Faekah said the state secretariat checked with the Home Ministry and found that Selangor Terkini, whose first edition she said was issued last month, did not have a publishing permit from the ministry either.
“To us, using the state government logo is a true act of treason against the state and the Sultan,” said Faekah, pointing out that the newspaper also published a picture of the Selangor Sultan.
The Selangor Terkini newspaper is a close replica of the state’s bi-monthly paper Selangor Kini with similar font types and a picture of the state government logo on the front.
Selangor Terkini’s name is printed in black and red while the state organ’s name is printed in black and blue.
The front-page story on Selangor Terkini’s January 2011 edition is headlined “Selangor government uses the people, uses public funds, lies to the people” and is published together with a picture of Selangor Umno deputy chairman Datuk Seri Noh Omar.
The 2011 calendar, which Faekah said was distributed to Kuang residents along with copies of Selangor Terkini, features a picture of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the 1 Malaysia logo on its cover.
Abdul Shukor’s picture is published on the bottom right corner of the calendar with the words “Sincerely from YB Tuan Abdul Shukor bin Haji Idrus, Selayang Umno chief, Kuang assemblyman”.
“The main purpose is to confuse the people of Selangor,” said Faekah.
She said three editions of Selangor Terkini have been distributed throughout the state so far, but did not know if the paper was a weekly or bi-monthly publication.
“We were informed in the middle of January...that Selangor Terkini has been distributed throughout Selangor using the Selangor government logo and the Sultan’s picture,” said Faekah.
The political secretary said the state government had lodged a police report on January 17 against the paper for using the state government logo without permission, but has not been informed of the progress of investigations to date.
“We urge the Home Ministry and the police to investigate this (complaint) thoroughly that Umno Selangor is involved in this,” said Faekah.
“It (Selangor Terkini) is a toilet paper spread widely throughout Selangor,” she added.
All newspapers are required to obtain printing permits from the Home Ministry and renew them annually under the Printing Presses and Publications Act.
