Government, media must work together to build Sabah, Malaysia

KOTA KINABALU: The government and the media must respect each other's responsibilities, with the shared goal of building Sabah and Malaysia.

Sabah Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Caesar Mandela Malakun said disagreements over politics and other issues should not undermine the relationship between them.

He said that honest engagement and constructive dialogue were essential to nation-building.

"As someone in the government, I recognise that journalists have an important job to do.

"Your responsibility is to inform the public and ask questions. That is your responsibility, and we respect that.

"At the end of the day, I think what is important is that we must agree that we are doing this to build our nation, to build Sabah and to build Malaysia," he said at the closing ceremony of the inaugural Medcomm KK Pool and Darts Friendly Tournament in Kota Kinabalu last night.

Caesar added the state government valued fair reporting and constructive criticism as part of the media's role in keeping the public informed.

He said relationships could also be strengthened outside official functions and meetings, as informal gatherings allowed people to understand and respect one another better.

"Sometimes we forget that a single game together like this and enjoying each other's company means a lot, a thousand times more than all our work," he said.

He congratulated the Kota Kinabalu Media and Communications Recreational Club (Medcomm KK) on organising the tournament, which brought together nearly 200 participants, including media practitioners from Peninsular Malaysia and representatives from government agencies.

Present were National Press Club vice-president Datuk Farrah Naz Karim and treasurer Sharanjit Singh, as well as Medcomm KK chairman Christopher Maskilone.