Media council, not police, should handle Sin Chew flag gaffe: Kadir
Published: Apr 17, 2025 12:29 PM
Updated: 3:32 PM
Summary
- A Kadir Jasin believes Sin Chew Daily’s flag error should be dealt with by the media council, not through police or MCMC investigations, as the paper has already apologised publicly.
- He urges the expedited formation of the council to properly handle such media-related matters within the industry’s ethical framework.
As Sin Chew Daily faces investigation over an error in its front-page illustration of the Jalur Gemilang, veteran journalist A Kadir Jasin has suggested that the matter would be better addressed by the media council, rather than becoming a police or MCMC case.
In a Facebook post addressing the issue, Kadir noted that the newspaper had already acknowledged its mistake, issued a public apology, and published it in its own pages.
From the perspective of journalistic ethics, he said, the daily has fulfilled its obligations.
“If the publication of the graphic was done intentionally, I would consider them to be either extremely foolish, downright malicious, or incredibly bold.
“However, if it was unintentional, then they are either ignorant in not recognising their own national flag, or they were simply careless in their work, with a very weak editorial and internal control system - in other words, unprofessional.”
Set up media council soon
He further stated that the formation of the media council should be expedited, to enable such issues to be handled by a dedicated industry body.
The Malaysian Media Council Bill 2024 was passed in Parliament in March, with the founding board expected to be established by June.
The Chinese-language newspaper had published an incomplete illustration of the Jalur Gemilang, without the crescent moon, on its front page last Tuesday in conjunction with the coverage of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Malaysia.
The incident drew criticism from various quarters, including Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who said the unacceptable mistake could trigger public sensitivities.
Subsequently, the newspaper issued an apology for the mistake, explaining that it was an unintentional technical error.