YOURSAY | ‘Don’t try to inflame the situation further.’
COMMENT | When an apology rings hollow
Ipoh pp: This article is to score points. Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming has apologised. Being sincere or otherwise is open to interpretation.
Do you want him to kneel or fall flat on his face to apologise? Enough has been written.
Let’s move on, unless the article is written for “upward” movement in the post. Trying to benefit from someone else’s pain.
Knucklehead: Let me guess – Chang also happens to be a staunch MCA loyalist?
The minister admitted fault, accepted criticism, and issued an apology. So what exactly is the point of this article?
Was MCA any different during its glory days? At the end of the day, it’s the voters who decide everyone’s fate.
Enough with the political posturing disguised as commentary.
Robbie98: The righteous indignation knows no end. The minister concerned admitted he was abrupt and wrong. He apologised in public and to the cabinet. Accepting an apology and moving on is the preferred choice in a civil society. The minister’s pound of flesh has been had; please move on. For goodness’ sake!!
Coward: What’s the point of your interviewees threatening to go to your editor-in-chief?
Is your editor-in-chief going to be fair and back you up when you are in the right, say, like Malaysiakini‘s top brass?
If Nga said it to a Malaysiakini reporter, he would just be laughed at.
It will be viewed as a childish and hollow threat. It ended up reflecting badly on him.
How many times have those working in customer service had people walking up to them and demanding to see a manager?
Take me for example, am I worried that my colleagues or customers want to refer me to my manager or CEO?
No. That’s because they and I know they will be fair, despite the pressure on them.
I respect Nga’s decision to apologise. However, I don’t feel Nga had to apologise.
In fact, I believe in this case, it is proper to just go to the editor-in-chief.
The question was clearly a loaded one; after removing the reporter from the anonymity of the crowd, suspicions increased rather than decreased.
He has reasonable ground, if not good reason, to go to the editor.
There’s nothing wrong with saying it out loud when there is a valid reason.
As such, this is not a threat. The same words are only a threat if it is not justified or reasonable.
In this case, it is justified and reasonable. For all we know, he successfully stopped Utusan Malaysia from playing it up the way he and we expected it to do.
All this hoopla about what he said is just that journalists do not like to hear those words being spoken.
To stop those from ever being said, they throw all sense and reasoning out of the window.
For me, it is the media that practised censorship and bullying.
Worse, they picked on him because he is one of the more open politicians who accept criticism.
For those who really, really threaten the media with the same words, the media kept silent.
They should have spoken up then, and they would have had my support, but they chose to do otherwise.
Make the change in the 16th general election. As associate professor Chang Teck Peng mentioned in this piece, “Nga is neither the first nor will he be the last to behave in such a way, and it is not only senior politicians who do so.”
At least Nga is among the few who have the decency to offer an apology, unlike other politicians.
So, what do you suggest – invite them to attend a briefing with your team on how to face the media ethically?
Perhaps your faculty could train ethical journalists who know how to ask proper, hard-hitting questions as graduates from your university.
And by the way, we certainly do not expect Utusan Malaysia to employ graduates from your institution.
LimeHorse5802: Since coming to power, this is not the first time DAP leaders have conducted themselves poorly in press conferences and briefings.
What Chang is really pointing out is that until DAP leaders learn to respect the media and master the art of engaging with them, the Nga episode will not be the last.
That is why the apology rings hollow; not because the words were insincere, but because the attitude behind them remains unchanged.
Kunta kinte: Freedom of expression also means expressing yourself fairly and accurately. I doubt some dailies live up to that standard. Especially those politically controlled dailies.
Sun: Why is this guy reading the motives behind the minister’s apology when the aggrieved parties have accepted it with an open heart? Why try to spark a new controversy when things are settling down?
Hmmm: The matter has been resolved. Don’t try to inflame the situation further. Enough is enough.
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