Even PM's brother's CIMB shuns Utusan, rues Zam
MalaysiaKini.com
Nov 11, 2014

Zainuddin Maidin poured his heart out about how companies shun the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia with regard to advertisements.

This, the daily's former top editor noted, includes the CIMB bank, which is controlled by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's brother, Nazir.

"Unfortunately, even CIMB gives a bigger advertisement allocation to non-Malay newspapers," he said, adding that the issue should be raised at the upcoming Umno assembly.

Zainuddin, who is also the former information minister, blamed media planners and advertising agencies for Utusan's predicament.

He claimed that since these agencies were mostly controlled by the Chinese, Utusan has fallen victim to their "racism and prejudice".

Referring to DAP, he said the situation became worse after the 2008 general election which saw a Chinese "communal" party securing a big win.

"This attitude is not new, they have always belittled Utusan even when its circulation figure was close to 300,000 and Mingguan Malaysia (Sunday edition) 600,000 in the 1980s.

"This is because they are afraid of Utusan's financial clout which would contribute to the voice of national identity," he added.

Zainuddin, who is popularly known as Zam, also sang praises of Utusan despite detractors dismissing it as a racist publication.

He said Utusan is the reference for all foreign missions in this country, especially the superpowers.

"Utusan's voice is seen as the most authoritative in terms of national identity, which would determine the future social, economic and security stability of the nation," he added.

Despite attempts by the opposition and liberal forces to confuse Utusan's "liberal and moderate" image as something "racist and extreme", he said the daily's management refused to yield.

"Utusan has been boycotted, sued, accused of being racist and other things, but its circulation continued to grow until becoming the number one Malay daily in Malaysia," he added.

Zainuddin's posting was in response to Utusan inking a Memorandum of Understanding with CISCO, an international trailblazer in the IT field.

He said Utusan's ability to secure this agreement amid facing great social, economic and political pressure, would open the eyes of its critics.

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