It S The Job Of The Media To Ask Tough Questions Not Just The Ones You Like Redzuan

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KL, 26 June: I thought only desperate politicians liked to blame the media to get out of whatever shit hole they have dug up for themvelsves. 
Well, some of these politicians are putting on different hats and hiding behind non-governmental organisations to attack everyone who does not agree with them or whom they do not agree with, including the media.
Ridzuan Abdullah, the president of the deregistered NGO called Ikhlas, has just taken the blame-the-media game to the next level. He isn’t just blaming the media for his predicament, he’s accusing them of sleeping with his enemy! See FB link https://www.facebook.com/ehailingdotfm/videos/1920511945427435/?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&fs=e
The other day, Ridzuan had called for a press conference to air his and Ikhlas’s grievances with a local construction and infrastructure company. At the press conference, Ridzuan was asked by the reporters present about the status of Iklhas, the so-called  non-governmental organisation that he was using as a platform to attack the company.
Ikhlas had been deregistered on 24 Nov 2022 by the Registrar of Societies. Ridzuan himself reportedly was charged with filing fraudulent claims with Socso to obtain incentives from the Penjana Kerjaya 2.0 Program totalling RM378,000. He was alleged to have submitted documents with inaccurate salary information. The charges against Ridzuan were made under Section 18 of the MACC Act 2009.
Ridzuan took umbrage with all these relevations.And called those reporters (or the media they represent)  “talibarut” (lackey) of the company that he and his NGO were targetting.
For someone who unabashedly bragged that “I’ve been involved in NGOs for more than 20 years”, Ridzuan has demonstrated a shocking lack of understanding of - and regards for - what we reporters and media do. 
Well, bad news buddy, it’s the reporter’s jobn to ask questions and check and double check to make sure that they are reporting facts.
When you call for a press conference, you better have the  answers to their questions. Facts, please, not mere allegations. We don’t want to be sued for defamation.
Reporters are not assigned to attend your press conference so that they can admire your 20 years of NGO work, rub shoulders with your buddies, drink your coffee and eat your kueh, or collect door gifts. 
They have a job to do. 
They ask questions. Sometimes, tough questions. 
Who, when, what, where, why and how.
So, instead of helping him take down his enemy, the press conference backfired. The media turned their focus on Ridzuan and Ikhlas, instead, dug up his past, and asked interrogated him and his NGO instead of asking questions about the company that they were trying to take down.
Read: Ikhlas deregistered three years ago - FMT
In his anger and desperation, Ridzuan  uploaded what looked like a home-made video to attack the reporter or reporters who had asked him those tough questions at the press conference.
In the video, he accused them of being “tali barut” or “lackey” of the company that he and his Ikhlas buddies (who faithfully made up the prop for the home-made video and chipped in here and there) were trying to take down.
More than 40 years in the media , I’ve had great regards for NGOs and the people who lead them. But over the years, we read about and witnessed some kind of decline: more than a couple of them and their office bearers have been dragged to court for indiscretions and misdemeanours. 
Legitimate NGOs are keeping their distance. Read  “We didn’t know: PPIM drops Ikhlas after learning NGO was deregistered.”
And, no surprise, desperate politicians like Ridzuan lurk somewhere behind all this.
Read also: C4 links NGO impropriety to regulatory, oversight gaps - Daily Express;

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