MACC: media should ‘protect’ our image
KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) operation review panel said the media should “protect” the anti-graft body in order to encourage foreign direct investment into the country.
Datin Aminah Pit Abd Raman said the press had been unfair in its coverage of the MACC so far. ”We are talking about image. This is the country that we love, you are the press. You can write one negative article that will effect investment for an example but you can also highlight the positive things.
“For example, there are cases that we win but we only get a small column. What we are trying to say is this that corruption is there but to sell the country to foreign investors then you must say that MACC is doing a lot of things,” she said during a press conference at the Malaysian Anti Corruption Academy (MACA).
The Amanah Raya Berhad’s board director added that the press must help rebuild MACC’s image.
“What we do not want is the press criticising us and talking about the cases that we lose but we only get a small column for cases that we win like we have not done anything. If you love the country, then all of us must a play a role in rebuilding MACC’s image especially the press,” said the panel member.
The panel’s chairman Tan Sri Hadenan Abdul Jalil added that the public must re-evaluate its commitment to the fight against corruption.
“It is a self-assessment. Malaysians must ask if they are really helping the government and the country to overcome corruption,” he said.
A year after the death of Teoh Beng Hock, MACC is still struggling in a seemingly losing battle to regain public confidence.
The 30-year-old political secretary to Selangor state councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah was found dead last year on a 5th-floor landing at Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, nine floors below the MACC’s Selangor then headquarters.
He had been interrogated overnight by anti-graft officers probing claims his boss was misusing state funds.
On the anniversary of Teoh’s death, MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed pledged today not to “cover up” the actions of anyone who may have been involved in causing the DAP political aide’s death.
