KUCHING: Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah made no effort to hide his disappointment with the way Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) is “playing politics”.
Karim questioned the manner RTM had been treating news of state government functions in recent months, which was far different from what it used to do in the past.
“I am very disappointed with how they have treated us,” said Karim in a press conference held on the sidelines of the state assembly sitting here yesterday.
“If it is a Chief Minister’s function, then show the Chief Minister’s face-lah,” he said, strongly hinting that there certainly seemed to be systematic efforts to keep the images and faces of leaders of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) out of the RTM TV screen.
He said RTM is a government-owned broadcaster, it should not be used to play politics against GPS, which is duly elected by Sarawakians to rule the state.
Asked if Sarawak has other alternatives to RTM, Karim said: “Of course, we have, but RTM is a national broadcaster, we contribute towards its existence…such as paying taxes.”
During Wednesday sitting, Karim told the DUN that Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo was “playing politics”, which was why RTM was not fair in its coverage.
However, Gobind had been reported as saying that the allegation of RTM not covering the Chief Minister and state government programmes was baseless.
In response, Karim said, “… (Gobind) is playing politics (using RTM)” citing how the recent Aiffa, an international film festival, was not given ‘live’ coverage like what was done before.
“Given the opportunity, I would want to meet Gobind to thrash this matter,” Karim added.
