Should Nga Just Apologise Set Aside Ego For Threatening Utusan Journo Or Remains Unrepentant

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DRAWING a distinction between threatening and reprimanding, a call for all media to boycott all future events by the Housing and Local Government Ministry has been mooted by some rightists after minister Nga Kor Ming stood firm on his action of ticking off a Utusan Malaysia journalist in the “I Lite U” project polemic.
Instead, the DAP deputy chairman who has been subject to heavy shelling has through a ministerial statement proffered the notion that those responding to questions should also be given the space to provide answers to each query raised.
As such, offering courteous corrections to ensure factual accuracy and mutual understanding is a form of cooperation used to achieve the objectives of government policies and programmes.

“Under Nga Kor Ming’s leadership, the ministry always respects media freedom and appreciates the role it plays in delivering accurate information to the rakyat,” read the media statement issued yesterday (Oct 31).
“As a commitment towards upholding the dignity of Bahasa Melayu (BM) as the national language, the entire media conference by the minister was held entirely in BM.”

To briefly re-cap, the Utusan Malaysia journalist had purportedly asked why the name of the “I Lite U” initiative was in English instead of BM during the pre-launch of the project in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY 2026) on Thursday (Oct 30).
The question must have hit a raw nerve of the Nga 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 and that “I would call your chief editor because this concerns national interests”.
Train doesn’t stop at Nga
Even Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Maimunah Mohd Sharif was trolled for being a ‘sycophant’ for backing the Teluk Intan MP after she explained that the use of an English name for the “I Lite U” project was just a marketing gimmick to attract international tourists and not to deny the importance of the national language.


“The name carries the meaning ‘Innovative, Lighting, Infrastructure, Towards, Eco-Elegance and Urbanisation’ which encapsulates Kuala Lumpur’s aspirations towards being a smart, sustainable and beautiful city at night,” she told the media when met after the launch of the “Calendar of Events 2026” event yesterday (Oct 31).

“We are not ignoring BM; it’s just that in the context of promoting the city and tourist attractions, a more creative approach is used. The name ‘I Lite U’ was chosen to create an international impact for it can easily be remembered.”
In fact, the controversy was raised at yesterday’s (Oct 31) Cabinet meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof following which Nga is prepared to meet Utusan Malaysia to clear the air and provide a personal explanation, according to Madani government spokesman Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.

However, the Communications Minister cannot vouch if the lawyer by training would apologise to the journalist and Utusan Malaysia.
“As for an apology, I leave that to him,” he quipped, noting that it is up to Nga and his media team to issue further responses on the matter
Interestingly, there seems to be two sides of the coin for some ‘non-rightists’ have questioned the ulterior motive of the Utusan Malaysia journalist in fielding the seemingly provocative question in the first place:

Well, going back to Media Relations 101, one little trick that Nga can learn to circumvent similar pitfalls in the future is just to accord benefit of doubt to journalists – even if one’s heart can tell that he has ulterior motive – by simply deferring the answer to a feel good “we shall look into your proposal”. –  Focus  Malaysia

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