THE rumour mill amongst the press boys has been in overdrive again lately, especially with the impending exit of NSTP deputy chairman Kalimullah Hassan, Pak Lah's appointee who's also said to be a confidant. At the top of the pile is whether Najib Razak, Pak Lah's successor in Umno and the government, will retain the present line-up there and at Media Prima or put in a few of his own men as most Umno presidents had done.
Kalimullah rejoined NSTP as group editor-in-chief in 2003 soon after Pak Lah took over as Umno head and prime minister from Mahathir Mohamad. I say rejoin because some people seem to have forgotten that Kali was previously a journalist with the New Straits Time for a while in the late 80s, which he joined after the Star had problems of its own.
He relinquished that post in 2006, believed to be a result of lobbying within the Umno supreme council. The company then made Kali a deputy chairman although he was already made a board member in 2003. Most people in the press were not convinced that Kali was prepared to let go completely the news operations at Balai Berita following that appointment and certain goings-on at 31 Jaslan Riong strongly suggested that he was very much running the show from upstairs.
I know Kali casually and will not go too much into what I know about Balai Berita during his time there. The most heard criticism about the company's newspapers under him is the way the papers have embarked on a spin against certain people and on certain issues. Those who were with the group for a long time will vouch that before this period the NSTP's newspapers, although slanted in favour of Umno and the government, never knew how to effect even a half spin!
This is where a lot of people are aggrieved and feel that they have been unfairly treated. One of them is Mahathir and there are those who say that while there have been problems between Mahathir and Pak Lah, the NSTP's spin worsened the rift to the the point of no return.
In yesterday's NST Kali wrote a long tribute to Pak Lah. This is to be expected and applauded. In writing something very complimentary Kali was only expressing his gratitude to the man who opened many doors for him which must have made him what he is today in the Malaysian corporate world. No one should begrudge Kali's piece. If only he had kept to just being complimentary to Pak Lah......
But no. He also went on a tirade against people who would still be very much in the seats of power after Pak Lah. He went on and on about Mahathir. Something like 45 per cent of the space in his commentary was devoted to a condemnation of Mahathir and this despite Kali talking in the same piece about Mahathir's tenacity to condemn.
I think this was where Kali got carried away and that instead turned his (possibly) farewell tribute to Pak Lah into a final salvo against Mahathir.
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10 comments:
If Kali doesn't know when/how to leave, then we will have to show him the way.
I dont't mind losing my job in the NSTP if spittin on his face is a sack-able offence.
RiongRanger
Kenapa Shah Rukh Khan dapat DMSM (Dato') dari Melaka?
Dato Ali Rustam nak tanding Timbalan Presiden UMNO. Dato' Najib nak tanding Presiden UMNO. Isteri Dato Najib, Rosmah, suka Shah Rukh Khan.
Faham? Kalau itu pun tak faham, sudahlah!
Kalimullah is a WOR-DHING-GHELL. as the sounds say; ignore his existence do more better than thinking about it.
Personally I think Kali the Hindu God should be taken to a good resting place and have a nice and peaceful retirement at Taiping Kamunting camp.
He has done a lot of dammage to Malaysia and RAKYAT,he is a very good spin doctor who spins everthying and finally he is the major cause on the down fall of PAK LAH and UMNO and BN.
Dear Aziz,
I do not know who is Kali until the last election.I have not kept track of the Malaysian news for quite sometime,the last GE makes me interested back into the Malaysian news.Since TDM resignation theres nothing new in the news.
So i guess its not fair for me to critic Kali.But,his article in the NST is something thought provoking of who is this man.The way he wrote is something like a desperate person trying to say his last piece before he is kicked out.Blaming TDM of what Pak Lah has become is unbecoming.Pak Lah started on a good footing with almost 90% of Malaysian supported him.He is to be blame for riding on his laurels.
Dear Aziz,
Plse do me a favour.
WHAT IS SHARUKHAN'S CONTRIBUTION TO MALACCA SPECIFICALLY AND MALAYSIA AS A WHOLE TO DESERVE A DATUKSHIP?
Plse find out thru your invetigative journalism the logic of bestowing such an honour.
Looks like the rest of the datukship recipient from m'cca this becomes a clown.
profit, no need to waste time to find out y. i'm with u all the way on this -- mengarut betul!!!! buat orang ketawakan kita saja.
riongranger, cool, sabar. tak baik fikir begitu. if he has to leave let him leave. maybe his rezeki will be better elsewhere. i know he said not too nice things about me and a friend or two although we have had no dealings with him & can't think of any occasion when he did him no good tapi biarlah, we decided long ago that it was not worth our while to explain to people/react.
riong ranger .. why you need to spit on his face. There are others who resigned in protest and those who are sacked, forced resignation for objecting to kali. but you chose to stay and earn money from nst. you only dare to say and spit after kali tendered his resignation. shut up la opportunist.
anonymous, betul jugak tu. whenever i meet an nst guy who talks about the usual problems there i always tell them "i've heard enough so plse.... if u are not prepared to speak up then shut up and suffer in silence. u guys complain all the time and yet have been there for the last 25 years, tolerating all kinds of nonsense by different editors". and mind u, these are journalists who we expect to be braver than others to speak up
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