August 20, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek today played the religion card to hit back at deejay Jamaluddin Ibrahim for claiming they had met many times before, and issued a biting reminder that this was the holy month of Ramadan.
Dr Chua said the MCA has never interfered in the operations of The Star Publications. — file pic
In denying that the party was to blame for axing Jamaluddin yesterday, the MCA president claimed he had only met with the 98.8 FM radio deejay once on May 3 this year, and even then, it had been at Jamaluddin’s request.
“Such meetings with journalists, whether print or electronic, is part of my duty as the party president. It is not true that I have met him five times as he has claimed,” he said in a statement today.
Dr Chua chastised Jamaluddin for making such “misleading” allegations and reminded the Mandarin-speaking deejay of his Muslim responsibilities.
“Jamaluddin, as a Muslim, should be more responsible and not make misleading and wrongful statements, particularly in this holy month of Ramadan,” he said.
Dr Chua also sought to absolve the party of any involvement in Jamaluddin’s removal from the popular station.
“The MCA has never interfered in the operations of The Star Publications (M) Bhd and its subsidiary, Star Rfm Sdn Bhd which owns the 988 Mandarin radio station.
“The party is fully aware of the status of The Star Publications Bhd as a public listed company and its responsibilities to the shareholders.
“I also believe that the media group should not be used or abused for any individual agenda,” he said.
Dr Chua stressed that as the MCA was not responsible for the decision to remove Jamaluddin, it would not intervene in the case.
“The matter will be fully handled by the management (of the station),” he said.
Jamaluddin, who is the host for the station’s “Hello Malaysia” programme, was told to leave recently for allegedly offending the authorities with racially sensitive remarks.
He was axed following a letter from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to the station on Wednesday, which informed him that the programme was suspected of being a threat to national security and compromising race relations.
Following his removal, Jamaluddin’s colleagues in the station caused a bigger stir yesterday when they wept openly on-air while discussing the issue.
They also turned the programme into a tribute to the popular host, the son of Malaysian freedom fighters the late Shamsiah Fakeh and Ibrahim Mohammed who both lived in exile in China due to their involvement in the Communist Party of Malaya.
Since then, the breakfast programme’s remaining three deejays have also been removed, while its chief executive officer Wong Lai Ngo and senior programme manager Tan Chia Yong were suspended.
It is believed that Jamaluddin’s suspension had stemmed from the invitation of popular columnist Oyoung Wen Feng during last Friday’s programme to speak on issues pertaining to racial discrimination.
It has also been speculated that the MCA was the silent hand behind Jamaluddin’s removal as the deejay was known to be supportive of Dr Chua’s predecessor, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.
Ong was recently forced to relinquish his post as MCA president when he lost his bid to retain the seat during the party’s elections in March this year.
It is believed that Jamaluddin has frequently voiced his views during discussions on air and was often in favour of Ong’s leadership.
In a press conference today, Star Rfm chairman Linda Ngiam said that the removal of Jamaluddin and the others were not due to political pressures from the MCA.
She said that the programme would continue without discussions and call-ins from listeners, and would be led by different deejays.
Ngiam said that the MCMC, in its letter, had advised the station to air content that was not too controversial.
She, however, said that it was yet to be determined how the station’s programme had breached MCMC’s guidelines.
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