NEWLY minted Community Communications Department (J-KOM) director-general Mohd Hisyamuddin Ghazali a.k.a. Syam Ghaz (social media moniker) has found himself in hot soup barely a week into his assuming duty for fanning 3R (race, religion, royalty) sentiment with his “Cina sesat” (deviant Chinese) racial slur.
The description was directed at “opposition stooges” Datuk Eric See-To and Datuk Albert Tei Jiann Cheing whom he claimed “can now direct their 24-hour attack on PMX Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim” to him alone.
“My job is to facilitate PMX focus on developing the nation. Let us handle the two Cina sesat. Let’s forge ahead,” he had penned in Facebook post prior to dropping the word “Cina” (Chinese) after an array of social media mocking for impropriety.
In all fairness, both vocal Madani critic See-To who is deemed a loyalist of disgraced former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Tei, the businessman in the centre of Sabah’s mineral exploration licenses scandal, has for the past week or so been engaged in a war of words with Syam Ghazi on social media.
In fact, Syam Ghaz had personally lodged a police report against Tei who is now an anti-Madani activist over allegations that he had disrupted operations at the Communications Ministry through a series of gatherings held since last month.
in a reaction, MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong has demanded an explanation from Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching if such is the latest stance by her ministry or “if this is the latest communications standard of the Madani government”.
“More disappointingly, Teo Nie Ching is not only the Deputy Communications Minister but also a DAP leader and DAP Johor chairman. As such, DAP must also be answerable,” the five-term Ayer Hitam MP penned in a media statement.
J-KOM’s leadership ‘crisis’
“If words like this are used by the opposition, of course DAP is the loudest to talk about the 3Rs, national unity and racial harmony. But when it comes from a newly appointed government official, why is DAP silent?”
Towards this end, the former transport minister has insisted the following from Teo who is also the DAP women’s wing chief:
- State whether the J-KOM DGs statement is acceptable or not;
- Order Syam Ghaz to publicly apologise or sack him;
- Clarify whether disciplinary action will be taken; and
- Provide assurances that J-KOM will not be used as a partisan propaganda machine funded by public money.
As it is, Syam Ghaz is not a stranger to the political scene as the Amanah politician in Kelantan since 2015 has contested for the state’s Apam Putra seat in the 2018 national polls in which he fared miserably with only 1,082 votes (7.21%) and had his deposit forfeited.
In the 15th General Election (GE15), he contested in the Kuala Krai parliamentary seat whereby he again lost by having polled 4,148 votes (6.4%) and again had his deposit forfeited.
Aside from having an “election loser” to helm the department, it is public knowledge especially in the opposition circle that J-KOM has seen persistent scrutiny and a rapid turnover of four chiefs since the Madani government took power.
Sedikit latarbelakang Ketua JKOM yang baru.
Mohd Hishamuddin Bin Ghazali (juga dikenali sebagai Syam Ghaz atau Hisyamuddin Ghazali) pernah mewakili AMANAH dalam pilihan raya dan kalah.
PRU14 (2018) : Beliau bertanding atas tiket AMANAH (di bawah Pakatan Harapan) untuk kerusi… pic.twitter.com/rUEb97Mlbg
— Amer Hamzah (@amer7211) June 11, 2026
The political activist from Kelantan who was also former special functions officer to Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was appointed as the new J-KOM head honcho on June 8 to replace Datuk Ismail Yusop who was re-assigned to the Prime Minister’s Office after leading the department for about 17 months
Ismail a.k.a. Tok Abah was appointed J-KOM boss in January 2025 to succeed Selangor PKR secretary Khairuddin Othman who assumed the post on March 1, 2023 to replace Datuk Dr Agus Yusof – the first J-KOM chief appointed under the Madani administration.
Meanwhile, See-To who was the former Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy strategic communications director has taken a swipe at DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook that the derogatory “Cina sesat” label could be detrimental to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in the run-up to the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state polls:
Because Johor and Negeri Sembilan depend a lot on Chinese votes. When the J-KOM head uses the term “Cina sesat”, what is “famous” at the end of the day is not reform, not government communication but the term itself.
Today it has appeared in the Malay media, the English media – including ALL Chinese media – even Asia TV reported it. Congratulations J-KOM!
In the past, they said they wanted to fight the 3Rs. Today, the (Madani) government’s communication officers themselves made the term “Cina sesat” a national headline.”– June 14, 2026
