KUALA LUMPUR: Two stories - one on homeless people and another on pollution in the Klang river led The Star to win two journalism awards from the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) and Petronas.
Two StarMetro reporters - Brenda Ch'ng Ai Hwa and Sheila Sri Priya Raman Chetty - won in two separate categories at the MPI-Petronas 2014 journalism awards, given out at Malam Wartawan Malaysia 2015 here Monday night.
Ch'ng, 27, bagged the A. Samad Ismail young journalist award for her story on the homeless.
"I can't believe I won. It was difficult to get the story on the homeless as it was challenging to locate them.
"It was also another challenge to get them to open up as some were scared," said Ch'ng, who bagged RM7,500 as prize money, splitting the RM15,000 purse with joint winner, TV3's Siti Khadijah Jaafar.
Sheila, 35, clinched the environmental journalism award after she wrote about pollution in Klang river due to indiscriminate dumping. She bagged RM15,000 in prize money.
"Although it is a long-standing issue, nobody brought it to the media's attention.
"After The Star reported it, we saw changes," she said, adding that she was inspired by seniors at work and thanked editors for allowing her to pursue the story.
A total of 14 categories of awards given last night, with winners receiving their prizes from Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek.
In his speech, Ahmad Shabery acknowledged the contribution made by journalists in reporting news and conducting investigative reporting.
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