Nga Kor Ming Under Fire For Threatening Utusan Journo Over Naming Project In English

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RIGHTISTS led by firebrand UMNO Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh have slammed Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming for harshly reprimanding a Utusan Malaysia journalist whose line of questioning touches the sensitive national language policy.
This came about following a viral clip of a media conference yesterday (Oct 30) on the “I Lite U” project in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY 2026) whereby the Malay language daily journalist had purportedly asked why the name of the initiative was in English instead of Bahasa Malaysia (BM).

The question must have hit a raw nerve of the DAP deputy chairman who instead of politely answering the question as would be the norm, took offence of it by instead demanded to know the name of the media company that the journalist represented.
After the journalist answered “Utusan Malaysia”, Nga could be heard berating: “I’ll remember that and I’ll be calling your chief editor. I don’t want you coming here and ruining the event (with such a question). I’ll hold Utusan Malaysia accountable – I’ll call your chief editor because this concerns national interest.”



















Earlier, the Teluk Intan MP had attempted to justify albeit in a stern tone that “this is VMY 2026, hence one has to learn how to come out from one’s comfort zone. Our target are tourists from the world over”.
He added: “Even if we’re unable to master the English language, we must make sure that every tourist that comes here has a sense of belonging. Obviously, we respect the national language, so I hope you (referring to the Utusan Malaysia journalist) don’t turn this into an issue. Which media are you from?”
Retaliation
Nga’s impromptu fury would obviously be a not-to-be-missed opportunity for Akmal to score brownie points in the eyes of his followers when he cautiously countered without naming the former:
“This is the person whom during his opposition days had no qualms bashing the government on media freedom,” the staunch defender of race and religion penned on his Facebook page.

“Today, when these people become ministers, they get easily offended by questions posed by journalists and are ready to threaten action against journalists. What a stupid minister!”
PAS Shah Alam information chief Nurul Islam Mohamed Yusoff hit out at Nga for overlooking the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the latest government circular dated Oct 29 on BM usage in all government correspondence.

“You reckon tourists wouldn’t come if you name the place Lembah Cahaya or Dataran Cahaya? It would be good if the name is in Malay for this can raise the prestige of the Malay language internationally,” argued the PAS activist in a FB post.
“If Tokyo didn’t retain the name of its historical site as Ginza (which means silver mint), we wouldn’t even know what Ginza means or what’s the history behind Ginza. Fortunately, the Minister in Tokyo is not like Nga Kor Ming.”
Interestingly though, the National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ) has also lambasted Nga over his “unethical” reprimand.
The union warned that any action that restricts media freedom would only damage the government’s credibility and erode public trust.
“Just as journalists must adhere to ethics, politicians too must be ethical,” NUJ said in a statement. “The question was simple and could have been easily answered by the government, particularly by the minister.” –  Focus Malaysia

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