I refer to the Malaysiakini report DPM: Interfaith panel just ‘small fry’.

In the report, you quoted the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as saying the interfaith committee was made up of ‘small-fry’ and was legally toothless and thus, was no threat to Islam. ‘They are just small fry, (with) a small role played within the Prime Minister’s Department.’

As an editor, I am sure you appreciate ‘small fry’ is a derogatory term and the deliberate choice on the part of your organisation to put these words into the mouth of the deputy prime minister to describe a government-appointed committee reflects poorly on your objectivity, reporting and editing standards.

Moreover, the actions of your journalist and editor in this instance clearly indicate malicious intent and a conscious attempt to cast aspersions on the deputy prime minister and his office and instigate confusion within the government and the people of Malaysia.

As a responsible organisation, journalists and editors should have the common sense not to cause or promote confusion, especially when dealing with issues pertaining to religion and religious harmony, more so when you take into consideration that you operate in a multi-cultural and multi-religious community.

In this instance, your organisation has proven it is capable of deliberate and blatant distortion of the news through the use of misleading and inappropriate words and terms and irresponsible editorialising of a simple press conference.

I describe the deliberate actions of your organisation in very strong terms because the derogatory term ‘small fry’ was never used by Muhyiddin at any point during the press conference at Bandar Sungai Buaya on Monday, April 12, let alone to describe the interfaith committee as insignificant.

If perhaps your reporter has any difficulty or is unable to reproduce his notes to recall the exact words used by the deputy prime minister, please allow us to reconstruct the press conference for the benefit of all.

During the press conference Muhyiddin was asked by Astro Awani broadcast journalist Mohd Fadzil Abdul Aziz and the transcript of the question is as follows:

‘Follow up pasal statement Perkasa, peranan Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, yang beranggapan kononnya Tan Sri Koh tak capable?’

‘Itu mungkin ada kaitan dengan jawatankuasa, jawatankuasa itu adalah jawatankuasa untuk memberi ruang dalam usaha mewujudkan persefahaman dan perpaduan antara kaum dan antara agama, ini bukanlah majlis yang kita pernah sebutkan dulu, council dan bukanlah ia suruhanjaya, ia dibuat dalam bentuk pentadbiran di bawah Jabatan Perdana Menteri supaya wakil-wakil yang duduk di situ bolehlah bincang, saya tak fikir kita nak amalkan dasar menutup, dalam soal sebegini penting biarlah ada peluang untuk mereka bertukar-tukar pandangan.

‘Tujuan pokoknya untuk mewujudkan persefahaman mengenai perkara agama dan perpaduan. Mereka tidak ada kuasa memutuskan apa-apa, ini bukan macam yang dicadangkan satu pihak dulu, tak ada. Jadi apa-apa ini soal pentadbiran, ia akan bawa balik kepada Jabatan Perdana Menteri, mungkin ada hasil-hasil perbincangan yang mungkin boleh digunakan sebagai panduan untuk menambahbaik hubungan antara agama dan kaum, kita ambil.

‘Tetapi soal-soal kedudukan agama Islam itu tak akan disentuh, soal bagaimana kedudukan, bagaimana martabat itu tidak akan disentuh. Saya fikir dalam urusan harian sekarang ini pun, kalau tak ada pun, memang ada hal sebegitu dilakukan, kita kena hormat antara agama, kita kena wujudkan semangat kerjasama perpaduan, sebab itu peranan itu diberikan kepada Hajah Ilani, ia bukan setaraf apa pun, its just a small committee…’

I am sure you can appreciate that a small committee does not equate to ‘a small fry’.

Based on the transcription above, your interpretation of Muhyiddin’s statement is severely misleading and had caused a lot of distressed, uneasiness, and dissatisfaction among the many parties involved.

In view of this serious misrepresentation, we would appreciate if you would publish this letter together with a retraction of your earlier report, issue an immediate apology to the deputy prime minister for the misleading article in the name of fair and accurate reporting.

The writer is press secretary to the deputy prime minister.

Editor’s note: Malaysiakini’s clarification issued yesterday.