By Mohsin Abdullah

Sunday 7 June 2020 was a sad day.

That day, the Mandarin news bulletin on local terrestrial television station ntv7 went on air for the last time. It was curtains down, lights off.

Forgive me if I sound emotional. I am sorry for being personal in writing this article.

I was part of ntv7 in particular its news and current affairs department, thus by extension the ntv7 Mandarin news outfit.

ntv7 Mandarin had a long and colorful history – a journey which began in 1998 when the ntv7 station was set up by its owner, businessman Tan Sri Effendi Norwawi.

My ties, or should I say relationship, with ntv7 Mandarin started in 2005 when Media Prima Berhad then stamping its mark on the nation's media industry bought the ntv7 station.

I was then undergoing my second stint with Media Prima owned TV3, namely its news division.

Long story short, I was sent to ntv7 to helm the newly acquired station's news and current affairs department.

Under its previous management, the ntv7 news department was branded as MNN or My News Network. When Media Prima took over, we embarked on a rebranding exercise, giving all the news and current affairs programs a new look and feel. And we reverted to ntv7 news' original brand i.e. using the "Edition" or "Edisi" name for all the bulletins.

As the editor-in-chief of ntv7 news and current affairs department, I was in charge of all its news operations, and as the Mandarin news outfit was part of the department, it automatically came under my charge. Although I did not (and still do not) speak a word of Chinese, I had the honor of working with the head of Mandarin News Mr. Tan Boon Kooi. An experienced and accomplished journalist, Tan made sure I knew what went on air and what major assignments the team was covering – vital things for an editor-in-chief to know.

I had a great working relationship with Book Kooi and we became good friends until today.

As for the staff, most of them were young, some not that young but were not too old either, but all of them were full of energy. They worked hard and were dedicated.

Sadly, some were earning not too great salaries. Put it simply, small pay. And some were employed under what is known as "legal contracts". I don't know where or how the term "legal" came about. Nonetheless I hated it. It became an issue between me and the top management. I won't go into the details as this article is about the Mandarin news team. Not me.

But I say this much about the "legal" contracts. Those employed under such contracts were only paid for the days they were working. No work, no pay. And they did not enjoy medical benefits and other perks accorded to regular staff.

I remember asking the legal contract employees as well as those with small pay why they continued to work at the station. After all they were young, had tertiary education and many of the female staff were good looking. All these were assets which could have landed them employment elsewhere. Most time they did not reply, preferring to smile instead.

I knew they were in it because they loved their job. They loved journalism, TV news broadcasting in particular. But I felt they were on a, what you might call "crusade" of ensuring news in Mandarin continued to be aired and more importantly for the Chinese language to continue thriving and be used and heard.

I asked many of the staff if I was right in saying that. Again, what I got in return were smiles. However, two of them replied to say I was right.

Media Prima then was an Umno-linked company. It was, and still is predominantly Malay despite change of ownership. And for a bunch of Chinese boys and girls working in a very Malay atmosphere was "challenging" to say the least.

While many Malay employees at ntv7 then were "color blind" and not racist, there were a few who had a "Ketuanan Melayu" attitude. Still, the Mandarin team soldiered on!

Many Umno folks back then had viewed the Mandarin news bulletins suspiciously although they never understood Mandarin. They called the Mandarin team personnel "pro-DAP". I often wondered why the staff weren't called "pro-MCA" but always "pro-opposition".

There were people in Umno and BN who were not happy with some of the things the Mandarin team covered or highlighted as well as how it was presented on air.

However, I was very sure the team members had never been members of DAP nor any other political parties for that matter. Maybe a handful were sympathetic towards the opposition and were opposition inclined. I didn't know then and I don't know now.

But I do know that all of the staff acted or rather performed their duties professionally. They covered issues based on the news value but Umno in particular was not too happy with the issues the team showed on television.

And the party made lots of noise and brought it up to my big bosses. Sometimes the issues they complained about were, as I saw it, trivial or petty, like during the campaigning prior to the 2008 general elections. The complaint was ntv7 news, be it Mandarin, English or Malay, was showing lengthy visuals of party flags of DAP and PAS, apart from covering lots of opposition ceramahs. Thus, my department was accused of promoting the opposition.

Then there was the feud in September 2008 between Gerakan and Penang Umno resulting in Umno members tearing a picture of Gerakan president Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon.

Umno wasn't happy that ntv7 reported the issue "extensively" and showed to the nation the antics of Umno members and visuals of the poster being shredded.

Enough said, although there were many other incidents and complains, as editor-in-chief I took the blows, so to speak, and managed to insulate the entire news team especially the Mandarin unit. It was my responsibility, anyway.

And I have my boss – Media Prima director of news Datuk Kamarulzaman Zainal to thank for. He protected all of us many a time of "crisis" when the walls seemed to be crashing down on us.

But we continued pushing the envelope. What more that was during the premiership of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and it cannot be denied during Pak Lah's reign the Malaysian media enjoyed quite a bit of freedom never tasted before. Whether he was a true media freedom reformist or something else, we'll talk another time.

But bear in mind that freedom must be taken in a Malaysian media perspective i.e. freedom by Malaysian standard. But it was very much appreciated nonetheless.

When Pak Lah was forced out of office in 2009, Kamarulzaman had to leave Media Prima. Before coming to the company, he was Pak Lah's press secretary and thus deemed a "Badawi man".

As I was taken in by Kamarulzaman, I too had to go.

This is a story for another day!

We were replaced by a team seen as pro then incoming PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Yes, I had heard lots of stories about the Mandarin news team working under the pro-Najib team which I don't intend to dwell into here.

Now that the team is gone, replacing the pro-Najib team is a new management at Media Prima. And it was them who have decided to shut down the ntv7 Mandarin news wing. For economic reasons. We know Media Prima has been bleeding financially for years.

But the good thing I hear is that members of the ntv7 Mandarin news would be absorbed into the 8TV Mandarin news outfit, meaning nobody will be losing his job. I pray it stays that way.

I end by saying this to the ntv7 Mandarin news team: It's been a privilege for me to have worked with each and everyone of you. I wasn't perfect but I tried my best. And I thank you for giving your best.

I hope ntv7 Mandarin news will make a comeback sometime in the future. God willing!

(Mohsin Abdullah is a veteran journalist and now a freelancer who writes about this, that and everything else.)