Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has urged the media to be more responsible in reporting sensitive issues, especially those concerning race and religion.

He said the media which had now been given greater freedom, should not sensationalise their stories to boost sales without thinking of the repercussions on the people.

"In filing reports, the facts must be right. And don't deliberately try and create conflicts especially when it concerns matters of race and religion.

"Although Malaysians are strongly united, each community has its own sensitivities.

"In this era of greater openness, we need to act with care and wisdom," he said during the one-hour Wawancara Khas Bersama Menteri (Special Interview With The Minister) aired over TV1 last night.

According to a Bernama report on the programme, Najib had also dismissed a viewer's email that asked if the religious conversion saga had exhibited the cabinet's ineffectiveness.

"The cabinet all this while has been very open and willing to discuss all issues, no matter how sensitive, be it religion, race, culture or education. And it has succeeded in resolving so many challenges," he said

Ministers' memo

As for the memorandum submitted by nine ministers on religious conversion, he said their action had caused displeasure among the people and the situation needed to be controlled promptly.

He also believed the was misconceived because it gave the impression that there was a split in the cabinet between the Muslim and non-Muslim ministers.

"Their retraction (of the memorandum) was most proper. As soon as they did that, the situation became calm again," he said.

The memorandum which was submitted to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Jan 18, called for a review of laws affecting non-Muslims, in particular sub-clauses of the Article relating to religious conversion.

The ministers also wanted the conflicts between syariah and civil laws to be rectified.

While some lauded the move others criticised it on the grounds that such sensitive matters should be discussed behind closed doors.

The religious conversion issue was triggered by the controversy surrounding the death of former army commando M Moorthy alias Muhammad Abdullah.

Following his death, Moorthy's religious status became a hot issue when his widow S Kaliammal insisted that he was a practicing Hindu while the Islamic religious authorities held that he was a Muslim.

Moorthy, who died on Dec 20, was eventually buried by the religious department on Dec 28 following a Syariah High Court ruling that he was a Muslim and after the High Court decided it had no jurisdiction to intervene in the case.

Kaliammal has since filed for a judicial review with the Court of Appeal.