Kenyalang Journalism Awards 2023: See Hua Group emerges champion in six categories

MIRI (Nov 24): The Kenyalang Journalism Awards 2023 tonight saw See Hua Group emerging champion in six categories.

In the English News Reporting Category, Jacqueline Radoi David of The Borneo Post came in first while her Miri colleague Jenifer Laeng placed third.

Also from The Borneo Post, Mohamad Ghaz Ghazali was champion in the English Sports Reporting Category while the English Sustainability Category saw Jacqueline Radoi David winning second place.

The Borneo Post’s Ronnie Teo emerged champion in the English Business and Economics Category while his colleague Yvonne Tuah Merawin came third.

First placed in the English Community Wellbeing Category was Cindy Lai while Peter Boon came in third.

In the Bahasa Malaysia Business and Economics Category, Steve Anuar of Utusan Borneo took third place.

Utusan Borneo’s Rengenyan Labang came in second in the Iban News Reporting Category as well as the Iban Digital Economy Category and Iban Community Wellbeing Category.

See Hua Daily News meanwhile came in first, second and third for the Chinese Sustainability Category.

See Hua Daily News also came second in the Journalism Awards (Feature and News Feature) Category and placed third in the Chinese News Reporting Category.

Apart from that, See Hua Daily News emerged champion in the Chinese Community Wellbeing Category and came in third in the Chinese Digital Economy Category.

A total of 355 entries for 11 categories of Kenyalang Journalism Awards were received this year.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg in his officiating address said the important role that the media play in development cannot be over-emphasized.

“The dissemination of correct and truthful information about development programmes and policies are crucial in ensuring that the country, Sarawak in particular, can move forward smoothly for the benefit of the rakyat,” he said.

His text speech was read by Minister of Transport Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin.

According to Abang Johari, the task of information dissemination nowadays is made much easier with the advent of Internet and social media platforms.

“Everybody now can write and publish practically about anything they like on social media. This is a good development in this era of technology as we have more avenues for us to express ourselves.

“But it can also be a double-edged sword that can make or destroy,” he said.

He disclosed that fake news and false information are flying around in the social media with little sense of responsibility and journalism ethics.

“This is an issue that the current Unity Government through the Communications and Digital Ministry is trying to address by engaging with the service providers like TikTok and Facebook to stem provocative and fake postings,” he said.

However, not all social media practitioners were not well-meaning people, he added.

“Many people made beautiful and informative postings to share information with others in cyberspace. This is a service to the community at large which should be emulated by other users.

“I believe our mainstream media guys are always people who are mindful of adhering to journalism ethics that requires reports to be made objectively and responsibly in the effort to create a well-informed society,” he said.

He added that sharing false information is not in line with the effort of keeping the society informed.

“The rule of thumb, which I am sure you all know, is that if you cannot verify the truth of the information, don’t publish, until you can get it verified,” he said.

Also present at the ceremony were Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, Dato Sebastian Ting; Deputy Minister of Local Government and Public Health, Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil; president of the Federation of Sarawak Journalist Associations, Andy Jong and president of Northern Sarawak Journalist Association, Chai Chon Chin.