PUTRAJAYA – Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) will have to answer to the Communications Ministry over its move to broadcast a Paris Olympic badminton match featuring an Israeli player while purportedly sidelining national singles ace Lee Zii Jia’s match.
When asked on questions raised by netizens regarding the incident, minister Fahmi Fadzil said that he will request the national broadcaster to submit its response on the matter.
“I have not been informed (of the matter), (but) I will ask RTM for an explanation,” Fahmi, who is also the government spokesperson, told reporters during a press conference, here today.
Last night, a Facebook post criticising RTM for its broadcast of Israeli men’s singles Misha Zilberman’s fight against Nepal’s Prince Dahal made the rounds on social media.
In the post, the user claimed that RTM had failed to provide substantive screen time for Lee’s Group G battle against Spain’s Pablo Abian, which went on concurrently with Zilberman-Dahal’s Group P match.
The Malaysian shuttler managed to smash his way to the round of 16 by the end of the game, with Zilberman also managing to defeat his opponent.
However, the Israeli athlete will not advance to the knockout stage due to his previous two losses.
Previously, RTM issued a statement to clear the air after it courted backlash over an automatic mistranslation in its post commemorating the installation of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim.
The National Broadcasting Department’s agency clarified that the post was auto-translated by Facebook from its original Malay text, causing the words ‘junjung kasih’ to be translated to ‘condolences’ in the caption. – August 1, 2024