'Threat' to journalist: Come forward and apologise – Afdlin Shauki

ANY minister or leader who shows arrogance by yelling at journalists or trying to pressure the media is urged to come forward and publicly apologise to the individual involved and fellow media friends.

Setiawangsa PKR chief Datuk Afdlin Shauki Aksan, said an apology is not a weakness but rather a sign of political maturity and respect for the people.

According to him, journalists are part of the people and their questions represent the people.

He said treating journalists in a rude manner, threatening to complain to the editor, or seemingly trying to 'teach' the media is against the values ​​of civilized leadership that are the foundation of the Madani government's struggles.

"I do not agree with such leadership style. The people rejected the old government not only because of their policies, but because of the behavior of a few leaders who felt untouchable, insulted journalists' questions and used political powers to suppress the voices of others," he said.

Afdlin Shauki claimed that the leader's anger when questioned by reporters seemed to be repeating the mistakes of certain individuals in the previous government.

"If today, there are leaders in the Unity government who start showing the same behavior, which is getting angry when questioned, belittling journalists, threatening to 'call your boss', then we are repeating the same mistakes that we ourselves have condemned.

"If that happens, the people will start losing confidence in this government. This is dangerous, not just for certain individuals, but for our entire struggle," he said.

Earlier, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming was reported to have been angered by a question asked by a journalist from a Malay-language newspaper when announcing the ‘I Lite U’ urban lighting project in the capital.

The incident occurred when the journalist asked why the theme of the project was in English and not the national language.

Afdlin Shauki added that the culture of bullying journalists cannot be normalised.

"If the old government did that, we would be angry. If we ourselves start doing that, we will have lost the moral right to talk about reform."

"This is not a racial issue, not a party issue. This is an issue of the morality ... of power. It doesn't matter if you are Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sabahan or Sarawakian. Anyone who becomes a minister must show courtesy, be humble when asked and be prepared to answer with arguments, not with threats," he said. - November 2, 2025