Two former editors of mainstream and pro-government newspapers in Malaysia slammed their former newspapers and BN reps on the 1MDB-linked yacht seizure in Indonesia.
A former senior editor of a government-owned paper has spoken out on the seizure of luxury yacht Equanimity linked to fugitive Penang-born businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low).
The former New Straits Times (NST) group editor Mustapha Kamil Mohd Janor poked fun on Facebook at “broiler chickens” wanting to protect the elusive millionaire without even knowing him personally.
He said those defending Jho Low were not sincere because they are only protecting their own rice bowls.
The news was not reported in the mainstream media in Kuala Lumpur, but the newspapers reported the responses by Barisan Nasional (ruling party) members.
Either they denied the yacht belonged to Jho Low or remained silent when asked about it.
The former Utusan Malaysia senior editor Ku Seman Ku Hussain also slammed the media blackout on the seizure, asking “Why are there parties out there eager to protect Jho Low?”
“There was a newspaper (which spun) the news by publishing Jho Low’s statement claiming the seizure was politically motivated.
“There were other papers who completely ignored the news of the luxury vessel seizure as if it was smaller than the news about a division chief who was pissed on by a horse.
“Why are there, parties here, who are so eager to protect Jho Low? As the elders say, there will no smoke without fire,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Mustapha quit NST in 2016 after 26 years with the company in wake of the 1MDB controversy.