Monday September 24, 2012
Veteran newsman accuses Malaysiakini of being insincere
By SIRA HABIBU
sira@thestar.com.my
PETALING JAYA: Veteran journalist Y.L. Chong has challenged Malaysiakini to reveal its annual financial report.
He said that while the portal operators claim to promote transparency, accountability and media independence, they neither announced the value of shares nor declared dividends.
He was responding to comments by Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran that co-founders and staff of the news portal owned 70% of the shares.
Chong quit Malaysiakini 11 years ago following the top manage-ment's refusal to publicly declare its links to currency speculator George Soros.
The issue surfaced again recently following reports that Malaysiakini and Suaram were among several anti-establishment organisations that allegedly received foreign funding.
The two main contributors are the American-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Soros-linked Open Society Institute (OSI), which had been financing groups supporting its interests and objectives around the world.
Chong questioned if Malaysiakini revealed its annual financial statements to its staff.
“When I was serving as news editor, I was verbally told during top management meetings that I am also a shareholder.
“But I never received in black-and-white how much shares I owned.
“And until today, Malaysiakini has never revealed the value of its shares,'' he said.
Chong said as the news editor, he was privy to information raised at Malaysiakini's meetings.
“I learned that Malaysiakini had then received 10% downpayment of RM188,000 from MDLF (Media Development Loan Fund) for a 10% interest in Malaysiakini,'' he said.
“I want Premesh to declare how much is the 70% shares owned by Malaysiakini co-founders and staff worth now,'' he said.
In an immediate reaction, Premesh said Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd owned Malaysiakini and the company files its annual returns yearly with CCM (Companies Commission of Malaysia).
“This includes all details of shareholders. The par value of the shares is RM1,'' he said, adding that all staff who owned shares had been issued share certificates.
However, he said, they had not issued any dividends to shareholders.
- Khaled: DAP did well in GE13 by 'simply making promises'
- Maximus: No private land will be used for Sabah marine park
- PM Najib: BN has to adapt to remain relevant
- Centre to train Sabahan youths to run renewable energy systems launched
- It takes nearly 72 hours to get a new polycarbonate passport now
- Najib: Rallies only lead to chaos
- Leave no stone unturned in latest death in lock-up case
- Give birth naturally, women urged
- King launches ‘Colours of 1Malaysia’ at Dataran Merdeka
- Housewife extorted over nude pics
- Election Commission promises utmost transparency in redelineation exercise
- Barisan leaders: 'All for one and one party for all’ a good idea
- Guan Eng confident of Pakatan unity despite pressure
- Too blessed to be stressed
- It can take longer to get a passport for time being
- Travel Picks: Top 10 golf resorts around the world
- Chinese premier criticizes EU move on trade measures
- Justice Department opposes AMR's $20 million severance for CEO Horton
- News Corp to take charge of up to $1.4 billion this quarter
- Wall Street Week Ahead: Investors look for signs in the rally's break
- Unhappy with how your fave series is faring? Amazon gives you a say
- Visa, Mastercard ask U.S. court to declare card fees are lawful
- Wall Street posts first weekly loss since mid-April on Fed angst
- IMF's Lagarde escapes formal investigation in court
- Politics of development pays dividend
- A thematic play seen
- Sarawak counters hogging the limelight
- Getting GST acceptance will be tough
- A yen for the unloved dollar standard
- Bitten by the music bug
- Sweet revenge as Froch defeats Kessler
- Pandelela-Mun Yee and Yan Yee-Jun Hoong bag bronze medals in Mexico
- World No. 1 Nicol sinks Waters to reach British Open final
- China confident of sweeping aside their final opponents
- Koreans in the final despite Dong-keun’s loss
- Macdonald and Marques share the lead
- McIlroy among big names who miss the cut as Molinari leads
- Kuchar leads in weather-hit second round
- Two tied at the top as rain stops play in the Bahamas
- Nico Rosberg revels in the rain as Mercedes stamp their mark
- Whitmarsh: McLaren’s hopes were too high this season
- Affendi brushes off hand injury to win CP130 race in Terengganu
- Hafizh needs to step up a gear after coming in fifth
- Vignesa right on track to retain GT Open title
- Dragons’ Melton confident of getting the better of Pringle in Game 2
- The Wall Street Journal: Anwar asked Jusuf to broker deal over GE13
- It takes nearly 72 hours to get a new polycarbonate passport now
- Housewife extorted over nude pics
- Election Commission promises utmost transparency in redelineation exercise
- Give birth naturally, women urged
- Najib: Rallies only lead to chaos
- ‘Harry Potter Wong’ casts his spell
- Saiful marries TV3 newscaster decked in Zang Toi finery
- Leave no stone unturned in latest death in lock-up case
- Too blessed to be stressed
- Give birth naturally, women urged
- Too blessed to be stressed
- It takes nearly 72 hours to get a new polycarbonate passport now
- Indian warships visit Malaysian waters
- ‘Harry Potter Wong’ casts his spell
- Theme parks and long holiday help fill Johor hotel rooms
- Exemplary educators
- The Wall Street Journal: Anwar asked Jusuf to broker deal over GE13
- DAP’s Ngeh in hot water over subservient tweet
- Why field candidates against allies, asks Shamsul
RSS
