PETALING JAYA: Free Malaysia Today (FMT) has issued an apology after one of its reporters posed a question during a public lecture that was believed to have carried racial overtones.
In a statement on Wednesday (Jan 14), FMT said that the incident occurred during a public lecture featuring United Kingdom politician George Galloway titled “Gaza Exposes the Complicity of International Actors” held on Jan 12.
"FMT wishes to put on record that it had no prior knowledge of the journalist’s intention to raise the question, nor did we approve of his comments.
"When the matter then became the subject of discussion on social media on Jan 13, FMT took immediate action by opening an internal investigation, which has led to disciplinary action being taken against the journalist.
"In the course of the investigation, it also came to FMT’s attention that, contrary to statements made by various persons on social media, the journalist in question did not use the word “apartheid” at the forum. Be that as it may, FMT recognises the inherent sensitivities contained in the journalist’s comments and in the question, which he posed, which Mr Galloway rightly denounced," the statement said.
The statement was signed by both FMT executive chairman Nelson Fernandez and managing director Azeem Abu Bakar.
FMT added that it regretted the "distress our journalist has caused the forum’s speaker, its organisers, the attendees and Malaysians at large", and that it sincerely apologises for the issue.
A video of the question has been posted on social media, where the journalist asked if the speaker saw the parallels between "the Palestine problem and the Chinese problem in Malaya."
The journalist also asked if pro-Palestinian supporters vehemently rejected right-wing views, such as Zionism, why would they support right-wing ideals, such as anti-immigrant views.
