Bernama's computers stolen in Parliament
Rahmah GhazaliPublished: Aug 30, 2008 7:36 AM | Updated: Aug 30, 2008 7:53 AM
When most of the journalists were busy covering yesterday's Budget 2009 in Parliament, their Bernama colleagues had quite a ‘different' story to tell - two of their five desktops installed in the media room were stolen.
When most of the journalists were busy covering yesterday's Budget 2009 in Parliament, their Bernama colleagues had quite a ‘different' story to tell - two of their five desktops installed in the media room were stolen.
Bernama assistant news editor Ahmad Fuad Yahya only discovered that the computers were stolen yesterday although they had been missing for some three weeks - before the current parliament session started.
All this while, they thought that the desktops were taken away by their technicians for computer update purposes.
Upon checking with the technicians yesterday, Fuad was told that they never took away the computers.
“It was only then that we realise the desktops were actually stolen,” Fuad said.
He has since informed Bernama headquarters about the matter and reported the theft to parliament administration.
Bernama journalist Haslinda Zainal was also shocked to learn that the computers were actually stolen.
“All this while, I thought they took away the computers because they wanted to replace them with laptops,” she added.
The two computer sets stolen include flat monitors, keyboards and CPUs which were provided by the news agency for their journalists' use in parliament.
Haslinda also raised her suspicion that it could be an ‘inside job’ as the theft took place when parliament was not even in session.
"The door to the media room is locked when there is no session, so how could our computers be stolen? This could be an inside job," said Haslinda.
This is the third such theft in the media room this year. In May, Malaysiakini journalist S Pathmawathy also had her laptop stolen.
Another reporter also claimed that she had lost her laptop, a few days after Pathmawathy lost hers.
'First World' Parliament lacks CCTV
The reporter, who requested anonymity, expressed surprise that the 'First World Parliament’ even lacks close-circuit camera (CCTV). The media room is not equipped with CCTV.
"This is ridiculous. Parliament should be a safe, secure place but it is not," said the reporter.
The reporter also recalled that parliament security people were not helpful when she reported the theft to them.
"They said I should be careful with my belongings. But security apparently is not good enough. Everyone put their stuff there and go to the lobby to ‘chase’ ministers and MPs," she retorted
Haslinda also echoed similar sentiment, saying that CCTV should also be installed in the media room as "this is not the first time computers were stolen there".
Bernama assistant news editor Ahmad Fuad Yahya only discovered that the computers were stolen yesterday although they had been missing for some three weeks - before the current parliament session started.
All this while, they thought that the desktops were taken away by their technicians for computer update purposes.
Upon checking with the technicians yesterday, Fuad was told that they never took away the computers.
“It was only then that we realise the desktops were actually stolen,” Fuad said.
He has since informed Bernama headquarters about the matter and reported the theft to parliament administration.
Bernama journalist Haslinda Zainal was also shocked to learn that the computers were actually stolen.
“All this while, I thought they took away the computers because they wanted to replace them with laptops,” she added.
The two computer sets stolen include flat monitors, keyboards and CPUs which were provided by the news agency for their journalists' use in parliament.
Haslinda also raised her suspicion that it could be an ‘inside job’ as the theft took place when parliament was not even in session.
"The door to the media room is locked when there is no session, so how could our computers be stolen? This could be an inside job," said Haslinda.
This is the third such theft in the media room this year. In May, Malaysiakini journalist S Pathmawathy also had her laptop stolen.
Another reporter also claimed that she had lost her laptop, a few days after Pathmawathy lost hers.'First World' Parliament lacks CCTV
The reporter, who requested anonymity, expressed surprise that the 'First World Parliament’ even lacks close-circuit camera (CCTV). The media room is not equipped with CCTV.
"This is ridiculous. Parliament should be a safe, secure place but it is not," said the reporter.
The reporter also recalled that parliament security people were not helpful when she reported the theft to them.
"They said I should be careful with my belongings. But security apparently is not good enough. Everyone put their stuff there and go to the lobby to ‘chase’ ministers and MPs," she retorted
Haslinda also echoed similar sentiment, saying that CCTV should also be installed in the media room as "this is not the first time computers were stolen there".
View Comments0