Wong steps down as SMG CEO
Veteran journalist to remain as Group Advisor for editorial and corporate relations
PETALING JAYA: After a career spanning more than three decades in a single company, Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai will step down from his role as Star Media Group’s (SMG) managing director/chief executive officer on Jan 1.
But SMG will remain Wong’s home as he contributes using his wide network of contacts and wealth of experience, both locally and internationally, as the company’s Group Advisor on editorial and corporate relations matters, starting Jan 1.
The company will make an announcement when a suitable successor is appointed.
The board expressed its appreciation to Wong for his invaluable contribution to the group.
The 57-year-old, who comes from a generation where hard work and loyalty were the norm, leaves behind a tenure in which he led the company through many tricky political hurdles, religious sensitivities and social predicaments.
“I am deeply thankful that I was given the opportunity to serve as MD/CEO for six years. That’s a pretty long time in Malaysian corporate life, and more so in a most challenging business like the media.
“The role of a CEO in a Malaysian media company is certainly very different from that of my counterparts in other companies, which is much more straight forward,” he said.
Wong, who describes himself as “old school, yet still eager to learn and adapt”, joined The Star in 1984, earning only about RM300 a month.
He went through the company’s suspension for five months in 1987 when its printing permit was revoked but was lucky enough to participate in its subsequent takeoff and eventual pole position in the English media circles.
“I joined The Star for what it stood for, despite its lower pay, compared with other established media outlets then. While there is always hype over how politics should be reported, I’d like to emphasise that we have continuously advocated moderation as our brand,” he said.
Wong, who assumed the MD/CEO post in 2013, also made history by becoming The Star’s youngest group chief editor at 46 in 2007, a feat no local journalist has yet to match.
He said the company was previously known as Star Publications Bhd but has now evolved to become SMG to reflect its wider assets.
“From print to online to radio, to events and exhibitions, and now OTT (over the top) video service provider, SMG has transformed.
“Transformation has taken place, and we are completely into the digital era, where we are digital first.
“But I will leave my good colleagues, whom I’m sure will do a better job, to deal with the changing times. “It’s not the end of an era for me. “I just want to return to my pas- sion – journalism and writing.
“After all, this is part of succession planning and transformation,” he said on the cusp of stepping down from his position as SMG’s top executive, a call he made to do much earlier than contractually obligated until 2020.
It doesn’t matter if he chose journalism or journalism chose him – The Star offered Wong a job and a life that he truly cherishes today.
“I’m blessed to have worked here, and if I were to start all over again, I will still choose The Star.”
KUALA LUMPUR: The Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill drafted by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in 2005 should be the cornerstone for the commission, say civil society groups.
Urging the government to “not reinvent the wheel by drafting a brand new Bill”, the groups said the Bill drafted in 2005 by the RCI to improve the police force should be retained as it has “bite” and provides enforcement powers to the police oversight body, among others.
Bar Council’s IPCMC Task Force chairman Datuk Seri M. Ramachelvam said they would accept improvements on that Bill but it cannot be diluted to make it toothless.
“This was the criticism with the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), which the IPCMC is being set up to replace,” he said.
“We all know that didn’t work. EAIC has not fulfilled the role and function of policing the police.
“The EAIC can only make recommenda- tions but has no enforcement powers to discipline the wrongdoers.
“The EAIC failed and continues to fail because it has no enforcement powers. For credible disciplinary institutions to function, they need enforcement powers,” he said.
Also present were representatives from the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), Suara Rakyat Malaysia, Amnesty International, Society for the Promotion of Human Rights Malaysia (Proham) and the National Human Rights Society (Hakam), among others.
The task of drafting the new Bill for IPCMC or looking into the existing Bill on IPCMC has been handed over to the EAIC.
EAIC completed the drafting process on Nov 28 before sending it to the Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC), where its legal team is currently poring over the Bill.
“To be frank, they have not informed us of what that Bill is.
“But we believe IPCMC must have enforcement powers. That is a prerequisite,” said Ramachelvam, adding that stakeholders would be consulted before the Bill is tabled in Parliament in March next year.
“I expect the GIACC will send the new Bill to us for consultation in the next two weeks.”
The setting up of the IPCMC to replace the EAIC was in line with Pakatan Harapan’s election manifesto to tackle and investigate matters concerning police integrity and misconduct.
The IPCMC was first proposed by the RCI to be independent, with powers to investigate and to take necessary action.