Pujut rep slammed for using harsh words on reporter

MIRI: Northern Sarawak Journalists Association ( NSJA) president Andy Jong Wan Joon has slammed Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon for using insulting words to attack a reporter on his Facebook page.

He said the assemblyman should have shown some respect to members of the media.

“Whether the misunderstanding was due to reporting error or miscommunication, I am sure that living in a civilised community encourages us to communicate proactively to achieve mutual understanding.

“Instead of bombarding the media via social network and using harsh words that could make the situation worse, it is best for the people’s representative to look for initiative to make things right. I am sure that using the right way could reflect on their reputation,” Jong said in a statement following a meeting between Dr Ting and NSJA on Monday.

Jong and his exco members as well as representatives from major newspapers attended the meeting that was held at the DAP Miri office.

Last Thursday (May 4), Dr Ting posted a controversial post on his Facebook page which stated that ‘ Miri has a reporter who purposely causes chaos’, followed by numerous comments, one of which described the reporter as a ‘prostitute’.

It sparked grave concern amongst reporters who immediately complained to NSJA, prompting Jong and his exco members to investigate.

“As a people’s representative, posting such an irresponsible post not only defames and victimises reporters as professional media members, it also causes the public’s wrongful perception towards the latter which is very unfair,” Jong said.

During the dialogue, Dr Ting promised to remove the post along with the comments, but there was no apology from him.