The host of Mandarin radio station 988’s breakfast show ‘Hello Malaysia’ Jamaluddin Ibrahim and the station’s chief executive officer Wong Lai Ngo have been sacked.
The duo were handed their termination letters this morning, signed by StarFM group general manager (broadcasting) Richard Ong.
According to Ong’s letter to Jamaluddin, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had claimed that the company had breached licence conditions 10.2 and 10.3 during a programme aired on Aug 13.
“The company therefore holds you, as the presenter/producer, accountable and responsible for the said breach/offence and other breaches.
“With that, we regret to inform you that your employment with the company is terminated with immediate effect,” he said.
Condition 10.2 states: “The licensee shall not provide any content which may upset the sensibilities and sentiment of any race or religion in this country.”
Condition 10.3 states: “The licensee shall not provide any content which contains cultural and moral values that are against the community aspirations of the nation.”
No chance to defend themselves
Met by reporters later, Jamaluddin expressed regret that he and Wong were not given any opportunity to defend themselves.
They claimed they scrutinised the recording of the broadcast and there was no evidence that they violated 10.2 and 10.3 of the licence conditions.
They will be seeking legal advice on the next course of action.
On the day the alleged offence place, the programme host had interviewed openly gay pastor Ou Yang Wen Feng on race relations.
According to Jamaluddin, the first half of the Hi Malaysia broadcast that day also aired responses on a hawker who tried to set himself on fire at Komtar in Penang the day before.
Wong and Jamaluddin said there was nothing wrong with the content of their programme that day, but they were “brutally axed” for political reasons.
Wong claims that on July 28, she was asked by newly-appointed Star Publications (M) Bhd chief operating officer Ho Kay Tat to resign because of the new MCA regime.
Star Rfm’s parent company Star Publications is owned by Huaren Holdings Bhd, which is the investment arm of BN’s second largest component party, MCA.
“He asked me to resign by July 31, but I insisted that as a chief executive officer, I could not leave under such short notice,” she said.
‘Big boss’ unhappy
Jamaluddin also claimed that after the Aug 13 programme was aired, an MCA leader was upset that a party-owned radio station interviewed the top leader of bitter rival DAP during the broadcast.
He was referring the 988’s interview on that day with Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng over the hawker who tried to set himself on fire.
According to Jamaluddin, the MCA leader raised the issue at a party central committee meeting.
Wong said she was grilled by Star Rfm’s Linda Ngiam over the decision to interview Lim, which “made the big boss very unhappy”.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress vice-president Mustafar Maarof said that the body was willing to extend its help to Jamaluddin and Wong to resolve their dispute, which he termed a labour matter.
Chua, at a press conference today, refused to comment on the sackings.
He reiterated that MCA had never interfered in Star’s operations.
In another development, 988 issued a statement late this evening confirming the sacking of Jamaluddin, Wong and head of programming Tan Chia Yong yesterday over the MCMC’s findings.
According to Ngaim, the station had received two warning letters from MCMC. She revealed that the commission had imposed a fine on the radio station for the breach in conditions.
“The company has also looked into the various action taken by the three individuals subsequent to the MCMC letter … and found that they were not in the interest of the station and Star RFM,” said Ngiam in a statement.
09/09/10
mi1: UMNO is really paying a racists and dirty game but it will not last forever because people are watching
The duo were handed their termination letters this morning, signed by StarFM group general manager (broadcasting) Richard Ong.
According to Ong’s letter to Jamaluddin, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had claimed that the company had breached licence conditions 10.2 and 10.3 during a programme aired on Aug 13.
“The company therefore holds you, as the presenter/producer, accountable and responsible for the said breach/offence and other breaches.
“With that, we regret to inform you that your employment with the company is terminated with immediate effect,” he said.
Condition 10.2 states: “The licensee shall not provide any content which may upset the sensibilities and sentiment of any race or religion in this country.”
Condition 10.3 states: “The licensee shall not provide any content which contains cultural and moral values that are against the community aspirations of the nation.”
No chance to defend themselves
Met by reporters later, Jamaluddin expressed regret that he and Wong were not given any opportunity to defend themselves.
They claimed they scrutinised the recording of the broadcast and there was no evidence that they violated 10.2 and 10.3 of the licence conditions.
They will be seeking legal advice on the next course of action.
On the day the alleged offence place, the programme host had interviewed openly gay pastor Ou Yang Wen Feng on race relations.
According to Jamaluddin, the first half of the Hi Malaysia broadcast that day also aired responses on a hawker who tried to set himself on fire at Komtar in Penang the day before.
Wong and Jamaluddin said there was nothing wrong with the content of their programme that day, but they were “brutally axed” for political reasons.
Wong claims that on July 28, she was asked by newly-appointed Star Publications (M) Bhd chief operating officer Ho Kay Tat to resign because of the new MCA regime.
Star Rfm’s parent company Star Publications is owned by Huaren Holdings Bhd, which is the investment arm of BN’s second largest component party, MCA.
“He asked me to resign by July 31, but I insisted that as a chief executive officer, I could not leave under such short notice,” she said.
‘Big boss’ unhappy
Jamaluddin also claimed that after the Aug 13 programme was aired, an MCA leader was upset that a party-owned radio station interviewed the top leader of bitter rival DAP during the broadcast.
He was referring the 988’s interview on that day with Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng over the hawker who tried to set himself on fire.
According to Jamaluddin, the MCA leader raised the issue at a party central committee meeting.
Wong said she was grilled by Star Rfm’s Linda Ngiam over the decision to interview Lim, which “made the big boss very unhappy”.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress vice-president Mustafar Maarof said that the body was willing to extend its help to Jamaluddin and Wong to resolve their dispute, which he termed a labour matter.
Chua, at a press conference today, refused to comment on the sackings.
He reiterated that MCA had never interfered in Star’s operations.
In another development, 988 issued a statement late this evening confirming the sacking of Jamaluddin, Wong and head of programming Tan Chia Yong yesterday over the MCMC’s findings.
According to Ngaim, the station had received two warning letters from MCMC. She revealed that the commission had imposed a fine on the radio station for the breach in conditions.
“The company has also looked into the various action taken by the three individuals subsequent to the MCMC letter … and found that they were not in the interest of the station and Star RFM,” said Ngiam in a statement.
09/09/10
mi1: UMNO is really paying a racists and dirty game but it will not last forever because people are watching
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