
Journalists are custodians of integrity, says PM Anwar
KUALA LUMPUR (May 29): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim described journalists as custodians of integrity in ensuring that the public receives authentic, balanced, and credible information.
In conjunction with the National Journalists' Day 2025 (Hawana) celebration today, the Prime Minister expressed his appreciation to all journalists for their dedication, courage, and commitment in carrying out their trust to society and the nation.
'In an era of information explosion and the challenge of fake news proliferation, the role of journalists becomes increasingly vital, not merely to convey news, but to filter, scrutinize, and uphold the truth,' he said via a Facebook post today.
Hawana is celebrated annually on May 29, and for 2025, the Hawana Summit will be held on June 14 at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL).
The Prime Minister is scheduled to officiate the celebration with an estimated attendance of about 1,000 media practitioners from within and outside the country.
Hawana, organised by the Ministry of Communications with the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) as the implementing agency, will feature various events, including a Pantun Festival on May 31, a pre-launch event with strategic partners at Wisma Bernama on June 3, and a media forum jointly organised by the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) on June 14.
Hawana, now in its fifth edition this year after its first organisation in 2018, is an annual event that brings together media practitioners to appreciate their role and contributions to nation's development. – Bernama anwar ibrahim Hawana journalist prime minister
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Borneo Post
42 minutes ago
- Borneo Post
A political move that backfired
The Parliament of Malaysia – the only place where an incumbent Prime Minister may legally be voted out of office. — Bernama photo MANY Malaysian politicians are being innovative for the wrong reason. In Peninsular Malaysia, for instance, within the past 10 years, they have made political moves in order to acquire power and authority fast by devising stratagems such as 'tebuk atap' (by punching a hole in the roof) or 'masuk pintu belakang' (back-door entry). To make their schemes look like being constitutional, they used the Statutory Declaration to influence the legislators. Legislators were made to swear on a piece of paper to support the appointment of the candidate for premiership, cocksure that the King would agree to their proposal without question. Another device On July 26 this year, a new device for toppling an elected government was tried out. Opposition politicians used a gathering of thousands of party supporters at one spot in Kuala Lumpur and regarded the size of the crowd, real or bloated manifolds, as the sole criterion with which to convince the public at large and, in particular the supporters of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, should step down as Prime Minister without delay. However, one glaring flaw of this version of a coup d'état was that the organisers were not able to name a member of Parliament as the PM-designate during the rally, or soon after. It did not look like they had agreed beforehand that one MP from their group would be their nominee for the post. It has been a week now since the 'Turun Anwar' rally was held. At the time of writing this article, there has been no inkling that the incumbent PM has planned to call a press conference during which he would announce his resignation. Then one is tempted to wonder if the rally of 500,000 participants (some estimates say only 18,000 at most), had really achieved what its organisers had planned. To me, it begins to look like that this stratagem of mob rule has been counter-productive or ineffective in terms of forcing the incumbent Prime Minister to throw in the towels. Anwar's opponents have made him a martyr! Political crisis? Seeing in the social media and hearing from friends in Kuala Lumpur about the political fights for hegemony among the Malay politicians, many people in Sarawak I talked to are concerned about the eruption of a political crisis, and consequentially, of the possible side-effects of the political rifts in the peninsula. Those Sarawakians supporting the Unity Government and acknowledging the leadership of PM Anwar as the Chief Executive of the Unity Government, have a stake in that government. Resignation of the Prime Minister may be followed by the resignations of the other members of his Cabinet. The prospects of a full-blown political crisis are real; such crisis at this juncture will do more harm than good to the Federation. The Sarawakians in the Cabinet, in the Senate and in Parliament (as ordinary back–benchers) are from a coalition of parties, which had enabled the formation of the Unity Government a couple of years ago. I don't think they would undo what they had helped build. Instead, I think they would like to continue serving under it until the end of its term. There is law governing the elections of legislators and the appointment of the Prime Minister. Why ignore all these? Should the Federal Government collapse consequent upon the loss of the majority of seats in Parliament, the parliamentarians from the coalition parties, including Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) would be in a real dilemma. Either they join the government formed by the Opposition MPs, or they turn themselves into Opposition. That would be awkward for Sarawakians. Either way, a political vacuum will be created, and that is a perfect recipe for a full-scale political problem, which we can do without. At the risk of repeating myself, I say that any political group aiming to rule this country via the public rallies to unseat the incumbent head of the government and using any scheme other than the process of elections carried out according to the relevant law, would deserve to be censored by all peace-loving people in this country. These Opposition politicians would have deserved some respectability had they done the decent thing: proposing the motion of 'No Confidence' in Anwar's leadership as the Prime Minister at the right venue: the Parliament. There, they can 'tear' him to pieces and pile heaps of the wrongdoings that the PM has allegedly done – or imagined to have done. Instead, they resorted to mass psychology now backfiring. The result: they have made Anwar a martyr! Watching all this from Borneo, it seems to me that the organisers of that rally in Kuala Lumpur did not respect the feelings of the other Malaysians, many in Peninsular Malaysia, and many more in the Borneo states. How or what they think, or how they feel about the possibility of a serious political crisis, does not seem to matter to the rally organisers. To me, such attitude is un-Malaysian! One thing that the July 26 rally organisers should have anticipated was that the supporters of the Prime Minister could also organise rallies of their own, saying: 'What they can do, we can do better!' They have the means with which to reach their supporters and the public for support by exerting influence on the main official mass media and their cyber-troopers are ready to do battle. In terms of psychological warfare, during the Communist insurgency in Malaya, the governing authorities were always in a better position than that of the guerrillas. Our rally organisers ought to learn from history. Smart, the Anwar supporters have not resorted to holding rallies of their own. No need for these. The opponents of your Boss have made him a martyr! Do they not realise that the other Malaysians in the Boneo states are watching the intense politicking there with a growing concern? I note that this political rivalry in the early days of Malaysia and now, after so many years in Malaysia, the rivalry is still as intense as it was 60 years ago. What's happening, and why? The intense competition for political hegemony in Peninsular Malaysia does not bode well for the Malaysians in the Borneo states. Please stop me from elaborating. Before I finish this, I saw something disgusting on social media: the scene of an image that resembled Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, being flogged in public! I think that any group of politicians aspiring to rule the Federation in the future and using this method of punishment, can forget about looking at Sarawak for help to form a federal government. To describe the act as being 'inhuman' is almost generous! * The opinions expressed in this article are the columnist's own and do not reflect the view of the newspaper. malaysia politics Sarawak tebuk atap


The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Asean News Headlines at 10pm on Saturday (Aug 2, 2025)
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The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Thailand agrees to Malaysia, US and China observers for GBC meeting in Kuala Lumpur
Japan's Ambassador to Thailand Otaka Masato reacts next to a woman, injured from an artillery shell that struck a 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station on July 24, which also resulted in multiple fatalities, as foreign military attaches from major powers and Asean member countries and diplomats from 23 countries inspect the site, following a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, in Sisaket province, Thailand, August 1, 2025. -- REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa BANGKOK (Bernama): Thailand has agreed to the inclusion of representatives from Malaysia, this year's Asean Chair, alongside the United States and China as observers at the upcoming General Border Committee (GBC) meeting, set to take place in Kuala Lumpur next week. Acting Defence Minister General Natthapon Nakpanich welcomed the consensus on holding the extraordinary GBC meeting in Malaysia from August 4 to 7, expressing appreciation for the collaborative effort. "It is my pleasure to confirm that Thailand accepts the proposal to include representatives from Malaysia, as the ASEAN Chair, US and China, who have been providing assistance since July 28, as observers to the GBC meeting,' he said in a statement. He added that the participation of observers from Malaysia, the United States, and China is scheduled to take place on August 7. Natthapon also expressed his sincere appreciation to all parties involved in making the preparations possible, particularly to the Malaysian side for its excellent coordination in arranging this important meeting. Last Thursday, Thailand's Defence Ministry proposed that the upcoming GBC meeting be held on neutral ground, suggesting Malaysia as the venue, and recommended that it run from Aug 4 to 7 to allow sufficient time for comprehensive discussions. Conflict at the Thai-Cambodian border began with a brief skirmish on May 28 and escalated into armed clashes on July 24. On Monday, Thailand and Cambodia agreed to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire following a special meeting hosted in Putrajaya by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the current Asean Chair. - Bernama