Bernama apologises to Penang CM

PENANG: Bernama (Malaysian National News Agency) has apologised to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for its news story on March 12 which mistakenly quoted Lim as commenting on the May 13 incident.

The apology was contained in a letter dated Saturday and signed by its editor-in-chief Yong Soo Heong.

In the letter sent to the Chief Minister’s office and faxed to The Star, Yong said the inclusion of the fact was intended to give background on the establishment of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1971.

“Nevertheless, upon a thorough review, the inclusion of that fact along with Lim's quote may have been inappropriate," he said in the letter.

On March 12, Bernama quoted Lim as saying that the NEP, which was introduced in 1971 after the May 13, 1969, racial riots to eradicate poverty and restructure society, was the source of “cronyism, corruption and inefficiency.”

The Chief Minister’s office in a statement urged the media to play their role in reporting facts.

--THE STAR