THE biggest challenge for mainstream media in the 2000s has been the growth of digital technology, with social and alternative media being the most disruptive influences.
He was just 46, the company’s youngest GCE but his young age had its advantage – he knew what youths were looking for. They wanted credible news and brand identity, and he wanted to show that legacy media could offer them all of these, and more.
At a time when loud, strident voices were getting vehement on social media, he wanted to offer a balance – with moderation.
“I wanted The Star to be known for its moderate stance,” says Chun Wai, as he prefers to be known.
“Young consumers are interested in what your brand stands for and I strongly felt that SMG needed branding to continue progressing past the 1987-88 Operasi Lalang era and regaining its footing.”
Indeed, moderation in editorial content anchored SMG as it expanded its reach from print to online, radio, events and exhibitions, and over-the-top video services.
To walk the talk, in 2014, SMG launched a Voice of Moderation campaign to promote unity, rational discourse and inclusivity in a polarised society.
A book titled Moderation, which compiled 28 essays from various prominent Malaysians, activists and journalists offering diverse perspectives on the concept of moderation in the country, was published in 2016.
SMG, under Chun Wai’s leadership, also organised a series of Anak Anak Malaysia and Harmony walks and Ride for Malaysia events that had diverse groups interacting with each other.
With a series of achievements behind him, he became the first Malaysian to be elected into the Paris-based World Editors Forum in 2012.
He was also appointed as chairman of Bernama, the national news agency, in 2023 but the veteran journalist’s proudest moment came when he was awarded the National Journalism Laureate award in 2024, the first journalist from The Star to be thus honoured.
However, he has also had his bad days. He said that he had seen his share of bad editorial judgement and bad articles, saying he wished he could have done better on those occasions.
When he first took over as GCE of SMG, one of the first things he oversaw was a change of workflow processes to ensure output would present audiences with a different angle and deeper analysis of breaking news.
“There are things besides politics that people will love you for,” he shares, spotlighting the pioneering youth advocacy of reporters who had trained under the company’s BRATs Young Journalist Programme which began in 1993.
One such award-winning example was the investigative unit within The Star’s R.AGE youth pullout. Among its many achievements was the uncovering of a legal loophole enabling paedophiles to reach children and teens via smartphone chat apps.
“This got a (new child protection) Act passed in Parliament (in April 2017)!” he says.
“Sure, social media was on the rise but it wasn’t giving young people in-depth stories that they needed,” he points out.
In 2011, The Star’s ePaper for iOS and Android devices was launched and the company took on a “digital first” approach to ensure it was well placed in the digital era.
“Change is always difficult but by the time I became GCE, much of the resistance to the digital approach had waned.”
By the time Chun Wai became chief executive officer (CEO), he had taken note of the change in news consumption, propagating the switch from serving “readers” to “audiences”, from having a “group chief editor” to “chief content officer”, the first such move in the nation, to cater to the transformation of the media industry.
Chun Wai was not content that his colleagues would just be wordsmiths, as he also wanted them to be comfortable in front of the video cameras and quick on social media.
“We produced shorter, visual-themed reports for younger readers as we transitioned from our older set,” he shares while noting that the older audiences – often informed decision-makers – preferred well-researched, in-depth articles.
Big news companies like SMG face a tougher job serving a buffet of information compared to one-dish news portals that cover just politics or high society.
The Star Online e-portal, which was launched in 1995, remained one of the company’s core strengths under Chun Wai. It was Malaysia’s first online new portal, coming years before others picked up the trend.
With insights from 11 years at SMG’s helm, as its executive director in 2010 and CEO from 2013 to 2019, Chun Wai admits that it is hard to sustain high reporting standards amid increasing clickbait journalism.
However, he was motivated by a sense of responsibility that he finds sits heavier on the shoulders of legacy media workers: “Sometimes, we may be late (in reporting) because we need to verify details, but we’ve been trained to be very cautious as we live in a multiracial country.”
As news production became more democratic and news delivery rapidly sped up, he helped ground SMG’s counter-approach by recognising the double edge that these developments had.
“Practically anybody can call themselves a content creator or influencer.
“But I think that accuracy and brevity are key. In the old days, we were taught ground rules such as a person’s right to privacy, especially through court reporting.
“Many today are not aware, or have forgotten that they are responsible for comments published in their account or portal,” he states.
The business section also had his rapt attention. “As GCE, I realised the importance of the business section as its readers make investment decisions.”
He also continued the company’s succession planning. His predecessor Datuk Wong Sulong had sent him for leadership and finance courses on a bank scholarship between 2004 and 2006.
“If he had not given me that opportunity, I would not have learnt about financing methods,” Chun Wai says, adding that the experience taught him the negotiation skills needed to be an effective news administrator.
“I also learnt that a vast trust-based network of businessmen will get you funding,” he shares, adding that he built on this by remaining an active newsman.
