FIRST off, I am utterly disappointed with the answer given by Bernama chief executive officer (CEO) Roslan Ariffin to Malaysiakini regarding the issues that I raised about the poor management of workers at Bernama TV’s Mandarin News programme.
The answer given by the Bernama CEO reads as if he is trying to absolve himself and that he is not sensitive to marginalised media personnel.
For the record, as of today, a total of seven media personnel at Bernama’s Mandarin newsdesk have quit, while Bernama TV’s Mandarin news programme’s team of eight has been reduced to three. Besides that, the Mandarin news slot has been reduced from seven days a week to only five.
These changes have collectively affected the quality of our Mandarin news delivery.
Roslan told Malaysiakini that Bernama will not take any legal action against me and that the Bernama statement received by the media on this was not a media statement but an internal report from its human resources department that recommended legal action against me over the issues I raised.
The question is: if this was an internal report, how did media personnel from other media organisations get the statement? Furthermore, if it was an internal report, shouldn’t it have been classified as private and confidential instead of being spread widely?
Has it become a Bernama practice to be nonchalant in releasing internal documents? If that is the case, perhaps Bernama should release other internal documents involving other staff as well.
If an internal report like this can be circulated, the Government might want to be careful about the risks Bernama carries in publishing news about public importance and the country.
As CEO, Roslan should have exercised proper judgement in issuing a statement or position of Bernama, not just giving excuses after being contacted by the other media.
His actions and answers also reflect Bernama’s poor internal management processes.
“Do we need to show our payslips as proof?”
Roslan stressed that employees at Bernama’s Mandarin newsdesk have received increments every time their contracts were renewed.
However, what happened was that salaries in 2019 and 2020 were slashed. And although there was a subsistence allowance, the salary received was the same amount as our original pay before being absorbed into Bernama.
Furthermore, although Roslan repeatedly stressed that there have been yearly increments ever since we were absorbed into Bernama, this only happened when the 2021 contracts were signed. Do we need to show our payslips as proof?
Roslan added that if I were to stay on at Bernama for five years, I could possibly be absorbed as a full-time staff member. But if the welfare of its workers is not prioritised and Bernama considers staff shortages a non-issue, how can any employee stay on?
Even the head of the Mandarin desk officially recommended promoting existing staff to fill current vacancies to make it easier to fill more junior roles. Sadly, the human resources department said the TV arm was undergoing an internal overhaul. Worse so, they later stated that they never received such as proposal!
Roslan also cynically said that I have received my salary throughout the three years that I have been working. He further asked why I was supposedly only raising these issues in my final year. Apart from this, he said all this while I would smile during meetings instead of raising these matters.
This is far from the first time that I have spoken up about matters relating to salary and the welfare of my fellow media colleagues at Bernama. I have repeatedly raised these issues to my superiors – the TV and TV and radio chiefs – as well as the human resources department.
I have also tried to get in touch with Bernama chairwoman Datuk Ras Adiba Radzi to discuss these matters but never received any reply from her. It seems that the welfare of journalists and media workers has not gotten her attention, despite matters reaching a critical stage at the Mandarin desk.
Besides that, the fact of the matter is that throughout my three-year seven-month stint at Bernama, I have never been in any meetings with Roslan.
His statement is, therefore, merely baseless accusations that aim to undermine my position as a news reporter.
“A dedicated team”
It would seem that for Roslan, the Mandarin desk serves to translate news to the public, even though our team is just as dedicated as the other desks in delivering news involving matters of public importance, women’s issues, workers’ rights and Government policies.
And if he thinks that such news reports should be axed because of Bernama’s failure to resolve staff shortages that have affected the quality of our news delivery, then I must say that I am truly disappointed with his professionalism.
Based on his responses, it would also seem that Bernama is not serious about solving our issues.
After all, he cynically and arrogantly told Malaysiakini: “(I told human resources) before we take action, can’t we contact her first? She’s so angry, what made her angry? I said, ‘why fight? Call her. If she messed up, apologise, say sorry (for) any misunderstandings’.”
Perhaps Roslan thinks we should feel good about our pay being stagnant since being absorbed into Bernama. Maybe for him, three employees can handle the workload of eight.
If this is indeed his understanding, and he is sincere in solving our issues, I and my other colleagues have no issues to discuss these with him. However, we will always be represented by our lawyers from here on out.
As a small fry, there is no need for me to spread untruths. As a news presenter and journalist, I always adhere to journalistic ethics and only provide correct information and reports from sources and well-founded facts. – Aug 13, 2022
Sydney Yap is an outgoing Bernama TV broadcast presenter for its Mandarin news programme.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main photo credit: Bernama
