“I’ll remember that, and I’ll be calling your chief editors.” This is what housing and local government ministerNga Kor Ming said to an Utusan Malaysia journalist for asking why the “I Lite U” project he was launching in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2026 had an English name instead of a Malay one.
When he heard the question, Nga was seen asking the name of the media company that the journalist represented.
After the journalist answered “Utusan Malaysia”, Nga would coldly say:
“I’ll remember that, and I’ll be calling your chief editors. 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 editors because this concerns national interest.”
If we have long entertained rumours of powerful politicians calling the press to dictate editorial decisions and journalistic enquiry, well, guess what—Nga Kor Ming has just basically confirmed that the rumours are true.
That Nga could so casually conflate the “ I lite U” programme with “national interest”, before indicating that that he intends to see the journalists suffer for ruining “national interest” by asking a question during a press conference, sends a chilling as how much control a politician thinks that they should have over the media.
This, in turn, raises a disturbing question: are the news reports we read truly the work of journalists committed to informing the public, or are they merely the narratives that those in power want us to hear?
We only know that ministers call editors to dictate terms because Nga Kor Ming made the mistake of saying it in public. Nga might have been unable to contain himself and exploded on video—but what is to say that other ministers, who have better control over their emotions, are not quietly doing the same thing behind closed doors, without any of us being any wiser about it?
The National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ) has since hit out at the minister for what it described as an “unethical” attempt to intimidate the media. The union warned that any action restricting press 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.
While the NUJ did not name Nga specifically, the timing of its statement made the reference obvious. In a reel posted on Facebook, the housing and local government minister was clearly seen reprimanding the Utusan journalist.
NUJ reminded ministers that as public servants, they must respect the role of the media as the voice of the people—not belittle or pressure journalists for asking uncomfortable questions.
“The question was simple and could have been easily answered by the government, particularly by the minister,” the union said.
“Summoning an editor to ‘explain’ a journalist’s question at a press conference sends the wrong and dangerous message—as if journalists should be punished for carrying out their duties honestly and responsibly.”
I agree. What Nga Kor Ming did might just be the tip of the iceberg. Behind the scenes, this sort of editorial control—exerted by the powers that be over what the public should see and hear—may be far more pervasive and institutionalized than we dare to imagine.
Because for every minister who explodes on camera, there may be ten more who do the same thing quietly, with just a phone call.
And this being the case, is it any surprise that the public is increasingly relying on social media commentaries to understand their reality? When politicians are indicating that that exert pressures on the mainstream media's narrative, why wouldn’t the public turn instead to exposes and commentaries by ordinary citizens on social media to explain what is truly going on?
Even if the information expressed over social media might not be reliable, at least it is free.
On the other hand, even if the information expressed over mainstream media is reliable, the fact that it is not free means that it might be slanted or manufactured to forward a particular agenda, rather than to inform the public as to the reality of the lives.
A reliable, functional and free press is one composed of members of the public who report on issues that matter to them, freely and truthfully, while staying true to the ethical code of their profession.
If ministers like Nga Kor Ming are openly saying that the press is not actually free, then what code of ethics can it possibly uphold?
A slave has no code—only a free entity does.
Without freedom and an ethical foundation, what purpose can the press possibly serve the public? Rather than call itself “the media”, the more accurate term would be to describe it as a propaganda unit—either for the government or for its paymasters.
To prevent the press from being reduced, debased, and downgraded into nothing more than the government’s mouthpiece or the propaganda arm of its owners, we must ask: why was Nga Kor Ming so emboldened to threaten a journalist in full public view?
Until that question is answered honestly, every assurance about Malaysia’s press freedom will ring hollow.
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