Bernama, Ministry Intend To Reintroduce Tamil, Mandarin News Over BNC - Minister Salleh

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) and the Communications and Multimedia Ministry intend to reintroduce Tamil and Mandarin news broadcasts over the Bernama News Channel (BNC) television network, said Minister Dr Salleh Said Keruak (centre). He said discussions were being held with the Bernama management for the proposal to be implemented soon. "We have received requests from the communities for these news broadcasts to be reintroduced, and we will look again at the need. "Going by the speech of (Bernama General Manager) Zulkefli Salleh (two left) just now, the Tamil news broadcast had the highest rating and, as for me, if that's the consideration, there is surely no reason why we cannot have Tamil and Mandarin news broadcasts over BNC," he said to reporters at Wisma Bernama here Thursday. Earlier, Salleh and Malaysia's Special Envoy for Infrastructure to India and South Asia S. Samy Vellu (three, right) launched the Bernama Radio 'Tamil Oli' Tamil programme that will start on Feb 4. The Tamil Oli programme, created in collaboration with New Wave Events Sdn Bhd, will be broadcast from 11am to 1pm and from 11pm to midnight every Saturday and Sunday. The programme, on the 'infotainment' concept, can be followed on Bernama Radio over 93.9FM in the Klang Valley, 107.5FM in Johor, 107.9FM in Sabah and 100.9FM in Sarawak. Salleh said Tamil Oli would be one of the better channels for the Indian community to receive information. "We have to ensure that the people of various races and religions get the correct information. Although Bahasa Malaysia is our official language, it does not mean that we neglect the other languages. That's one of the reasons for having this programme," he said. Zulkefli said 'Tamil Oli' would add value to Bernama's service as a news agency that reported accurate information. Zulkefli said Bernama also planned to create a Tamil online news portal to give the people more options to obtain current and accurate information. On another matter, Salleh said the ministry was prepared to cooperate with the Higher Education Ministry and the police to address the reported influx of online syndicates offering false academic qualifications in 24 hours. "We will consider whether we can block these portals. However, we understand that some of these portals are hosted abroad and not in Malaysia. We have to look into this. "The people have to make sure whether such institutions have accreditation or otherwise. They must not be gullible. Logically, it is impossible for us to get a degree, a doctorate, so fast," he said. Salleh said more programmes would be held this year to educate the public so that they would not be easily duped by the information they receive and false news. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA