MEDIA, CIVIL SOCIETY MUST COLLABORATE ON KEY ISSUES - BERNAMA CHAIRMAN

GEORGE TOWN, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- The media and civil society, especially non-governmental organisations (NGOs), must work together on issues of common interest such as poverty and the environment to reach wider audiences, Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) Chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai said. 

Speaking at the SM Mohamed Idris Memorial Lecture 4 at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) here today, he said the media and civil society form two pillars of any healthy democracy.

“We (media and civil society) depend on each other and in many ways we could do a lot of things together. NGOs often possess deep ground-level expertise on issues like poverty, environment, governance and consumerism.

bootstrap slideshow

“When they work together, their impact is multiplied and their collaboration is important for several key reasons,” he said during his lecture, ‘Penang – The Home of Independent Thinking’, which traced the early beginnings of civil society and the emergence of newspapers, thinkers and activists in Penang.

Also present were USM Centre for Policy Research director Prof Dr Azeem Fazwan Ahmad Farouk, Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) president Meenakshi Raman, Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) president Mohideen Abdul Kader and SAM vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Anwar Fazal Mohammed. 

Wong said the media, on the other hand, including social media influencers, could reach mass audiences and shape national conversations.

The National Journalism Laureate said strong NGOs such as CAP and SAM provided credible data, testimonies and context, with the media then transforming that information into accessible and compelling stories.

He described these two NGOs as serious entities with global recognition, unlike “some one-man shows which claim to be NGOs.”

“The NGO–media partnership ensures serious issues do not remain confined to policy circles; they reach the public and policymakers,” he said.

Wong, who was born in Penang and began his journalism career there, also paid tribute to CAP founder SM Mohamed Idris, describing the late consumer activist as one of the most important figures in the history of civil society in Penang and Malaysia.

“Uncle Idris (SM Mohamed Idris), as we called him, was our biggest and most influential advocate of consumer rights, environmental protection and workers’ rights,” he said. 

The prominent journalist also paid tribute to activists such as Mohideen, Meenakshi, Anwar Fazal, the late Martin Khor, and Aliran founder Dr Chandra Muzaffar.

He also singled out economist Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram, now Senior Adviser at the Khazanah Research Institute (KRI), and highlighted the legacy of Dr Wu Lien Teh, the renowned ‘plague fighter’ in Harbin, China, credited with creating the medical mask.

Wong said that Dr Wu, a Penangite, was the first Chinese individual admitted into the medical faculty of the University of Cambridge, and later returned to Penang, where he confronted the British administration for allowing the opium trade.

Wong also expressed pride that Penang has long served as a home of independent thinking.

-- BERNAMA