The Malaysian Insight

IT is “suicidal” for Utusan Malaysia to continue being Umno’s voice, especially when the newspaper’s finances are in a rut, said former chief editor Zainuddin Maidin.

The country’s oldest Bahasa Malaysia-language daily should, instead, be a voice representing Malaysians, said the former minister.

“Right now, Utusan represents Umno’s ideology, not the people’s. That’s why the daily is in trouble. But they are just not bothered.

“They don’t care that people now hate Utusan and have stopped buying it. They realise the situation, but are just not bothered.

“Even after Pakatan Harapan’s win, Utusan is still blindly carrying their (Umno’s) agenda. The people have stopped accepting Utusan,” he told the Malaysian Insight.

He said Utusan is left with no choice, but to be managed by a team of professionals free from political influence.

This is the only way the publication can be saved, he said.

“Utusan must be independent, and exit from the present arrangement. It must be led by professionals who look at making profit, and not political leaning,” said the 79-year-old Zainuddin, better known as Zam.

He became an Utusan reporter at 18, and was its chief editor from 1983 to 1992, during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first tenure as prime minister.

Zainuddin then entered politics, and was elected Merbok MP in 2004. He was made information minister from 2006 to 2008.

He said Utusan has the experience of purging “unwanted elements” and recovering from its losses.

He said in 1961, the daily was infiltrated by left-leaning nationalists, prompting then prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj to take action against reporters and editors, resulting in Umno taking over the newspaper.

He said even though the purge and takeover resulted in a three-month picket by staff, the daily eventually recovered and became influential once more.

Zainuddin said the same thing must be done now with Utusan’s fanatical editors and those still tied to Umno’s ideology.

The Malay party owns a 49.77% stake in Kumpulan Utusan Melayu Bhd, while tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari’s Nilam Setar (M) Sdn Bhd is the second-largest shareholder (14.76%).

Following Umno’s thrashing in the 14th general election, Utusan is trying to find its footing in a PH-administered Malaysia.

A drop in sales and advertising revenue is bleeding out the daily, with management failing to pay salaries on time. It has also not been paying staff claims and making deductions for the Employees Provident Fund, even though such details appear on salary slips.

As part of its attempt to cut costs and stem its burgeoning debt, Utusan has been reformatted as a tabloid from the traditional broadsheet format, beginning last Sunday.

Former National Union of Journalists-Utusan chairman Amran Ahmad Nor said whoever takes over the newspaper’s management must look into the welfare of its 1,400 employees.

“If salaries can’t be paid on time, the situation is dire.

“Utusan has no direction at all. It only publishes news that put Umno and Barisan Nasional in a good light.

“Now, it has reached a critical level. We had expected their financial troubles for some time, but nothing was done as Umno was in power,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

He agreed with Zainuddin that the publication must be freed from the clutches of political influence, citing as an example former MP Abd Aziz Sheikh Fadzir, of Umno, who was appointed as Utusan group chairman on June 7.

“Umno must let go. Let someone with financial power take over.” – September 18, 2018.