Second term for 'Rocky' as National Press Club president

KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 -- Petra News executive director Datuk Ahirudin Attan was re-elected as the National Press Club (NPC) president for 2021- 2023 at its annual general meeting held here last night.

This is his second term having won his first in March 2019.

Speaking to Bernama, the veteran newsman, popularly known as Rocky after his blog Rocky’s Bru, said NPC with its new committee line-up would continue to uphold good journalism as it is a crucial part of a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Malaysia.

“We will combat fake news, fight for the Malaysian Media Council and promote self-regulation. We would also like to unite journalists in this country so we can collectively and together do great things for Malaysia," he said. 

Established in 1948, the NPC is Malaysia’s oldest journalism institution.

At the AGM, Ahiruddin also announced donation via NPC’s Journalist Welfare Fund amounting to some RM168,500 dedicated to assisting the media fraternity to combat COVID-19.

“During the pandemic, hundreds of journalists lost their jobs. Again, we at the NPC are glad that we have friends in time of need. Among them were Hong Leong Bank and Datuk Vinod Sekhar with the latter being the biggest contributor to JWF during 2020.

“The JWF was set up to enable us to help more journalists, especially those who are members of the NPC. These journalists may need a couple of thousand Ringgit to cover their medical bills, buy their children’s school books or pay for the funeral arrangement of loved ones,” he said. 

Other than that, he said NPC’s priority this year was to revive the NPC Press Award to recognise the sacrifices, dedication and hard work of the media personnel during the pandemic.

Ahirudin began his journalism career in 1985 with The Star before moving to The New Straits Times Press (NSTP) where he served as Business Times editor and later Malay Mail executive editor.

He then established a blog-news portal, The Mole in 2011.

Apart from him, former Malay Mail executive editor Haresh Deol who currently runs current affairs portal TwentyTwo13 has been re-elected as NPC deputy president, while the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Datuk Mokhtar Hussain reappointed as Advisor to the NPC.

The AGM also appointed veteran journalists Datuk Nuraina Samad, Tony Emmanuel and Datuk Yong Soo Heong as NPC trustees.

Following are other office bearers of NPC for 2021-2023:

Vice-president: Murhayani Othman (Bernama)

Honorary Secretary: Zaidi Azmi (The Mole)

Assistant Secretary: Ismail Rashid (Bernama TV)

Treasurer: K. Sivanesan (Makkal Ossai)

Assistant Treasurer: L. Jaiarajoo (FireTV)

Committee members: Pearl Lee, Zaharin Mat Noor, S.P. Mani, Farrah Naz Karim, Sharanjit Singh, T. Ananthan, Tony Mariadass, Joseph Fernando

Internal auditors: Veera Pandiyan, Graig Nunis

-- BERNAMA