J-Kom in the spotlight again

PETALING JAYA: The post of the Community Communications Department (J-Kom) director-general has come under the spotlight again following the termination of Dr Mohd Khairuddin Othman (pic) just six months into the job.

“Yes, it is true,” he said when contacted yesterday about the dismissal.

However, he declined to elaborate, saying that Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil should be the one to give the reason for his termination.

(As at press time, Fahmi had yet to respond to media queries on the matter.)

Khairuddin was made the DG on March 1. His predecessor resigned in November last year after holding the post for about nine months.

Talk is swirling that the termination of Khairuddin, who is Selangor PKR secretary, is due to internal politics but PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh maintains that the party does not interfere in government appointments.

“We know the line drawn between party matters and government affairs,” she said.

Several party members, however, claimed that Khairuddin lost his job due to rivalry between different camps in Selangor PKR.

“Although his appointment was endorsed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who is PKR president, there are PKR members in the Federal Government who were not keen that Khairuddin had the job,” a party source claimed.

“The team which is not for Khairuddin feels that he has yet to deliver, so it is better for him to step down and hand it over to someone who can do better,” he said.

Another Pakatan Harapan member was of the view that government policies could have been better publicised and that J-Kom had not done enough.

“This makes it difficult for the government to explain its policies, despite being people-friendly,” said the Pakatan member, who holds a position in a ministry.

One of the members of the J-Kom team who worked with Khairuddin said there were high expectations when he was brought in.

“It is not right to say he did not do his best.

“He may have not been much in the public eye but Khairuddin has been able to assist the government to convey to the grassroots, via social media, messages about economic growth, the strengthening of the ringgit and lower unemployment,” he said.

“These social media posts don’t necessarily carry the J-Kom as we use a wide range of approaches, such as utilising influencers to get the message out there,” said the team member, who declined to be named.

Khairuddin was previously with PAS before he switched to PKR. He was Paya Jaras assemblyman for two terms.

J-Kom was set up in February 2021 under the then Communications and Multimedia Ministry.

Later, the department was moved to the Prime Minister’s Department.

In December last year, J-Kom was transferred to the Communications Ministry.