Of Malaysia’s first lady position and NYT’s flip flop explanation…
I guess by the time this posting hits the waves, the Malaysian parliament would have endorsed a strong worded statement condemning the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Najib can’t afford to lose face on this issue, not when PR managed to gather thousands of marchers to US embassy in protest of the said Israel attack.
Let the rest comment on the Israel-Gaza issue. For this writer, life is getting much better now with NYT (New York Times) admitting mistakes on the “First Lady of Malaysia” issue.
The Nut Graph, in its byeline “New York Times admits mistakes” dated 7th June 2010, reportedly mentioned that NYT retracted its earlier statement that an ad placed in the paper was placed by Malaysian government. Can you believe that? NYT, one of the leading papers in USA and certainly in New York make the mistakes! If it happens to Berita Harian or Utusan, that it’s quite forgiving es[pecially if it matters UMNO and UMNO-linked personalities. NYT? It’s downright baffling…
Consider other statements by NYT regarding the same issue :-
- In NYT internal system, the ad was reserved as Government of Malaysia but in fact the ad was not placed by Government of Malaysia. The ad was signed by “Family and friends in the USA and Malaysia”;
- NYT can tell that the ad was not paid by Government of Malaysia but it is not NYT’s practise to release the names of who placed the ad;
- It took NYT 18 days to realise that they make a mistake and the mistake is made by one Diane McNulty who is the Executive Director (Community Affairs and Media Relations). The person who corrected the mistake is one Abbe Serphos who is Director (Public Relations);
- Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) President regrettted that BCIU’s well intended gesture became something of a political issue;
Is something cooking here? Why the protracted reply? It is simply fishy here…. Whilst the Government has taken a “silent elegance” approach to the issue, The Nut Graph should be commended for their continuity in tracking the issue.
