SEPTEMBER 28 — Malay singer Shila Amzah gained fame after she was placed third in the Chinese reality talent show “I Am A Singer Season 2” earlier this year. She returned and held a concert in Malaysia on September 13. Unexpectedly, she was accused by the Malay media of not inviting the Malay media to cover the concert. It then evolved into an online war of words and some Malay media, artists and bloggers even threatened to boycott her. The storm was intensified, forcing Shila and her father ND Lala to fly back from China to conduct a press conference to clarify the incident.

We are unable to thoroughly understand the dispute between Shila and some Malay media. However, the remarks of ND Lala, who is also her manager, saying that “It’s alright if you write gossip, we can accept that. But, this is defamation”, plays a sobering role here.

Factual reporting is the fundamental principle of news reporting. Even if artists’ privacy and personal lives are the focus interesting most readers, media with the spirit of professionalism should not make something out of nothing to please or meet readers’ curiosity, let alone to hype news out of dissatisfaction towards certain artists and defame them.

Shila loves singing and her father has put in much effort to help her develop her talent. Two years ago, she won the highest honour award in the Asian Wave Final with her unique personal charm. In February this year, she contested in the “I Am A Singer Season 2” and her beautiful appearance and high-pitched voice helped her receive a major boost in China, gaining support from fans from different countries and regions. In addition to fans from China, she is also loved by young non-Malay music lovers, truly practising the spirit of music without borders.

Shila stepped on the international stage with her own effort and hard work, winning glory for Malaysia. Compared to those who have to rely on the government’s support, she is definitely worthy of love and encouragement from the people, particularly the Malay community and media. She is promoting Malaysia with her outstanding performance on stage. Unexpectedly, some people actually accused her of forgetting her own country and identity. They attacked her with words, while questioning her patriotism. If they boycott her because she develops her career in China, it only means that these people are close-minded, even though we are already living in the era of globalisation.

How could some of the Malay media ignore the existence and achievements of a girl who has been working hard to pursue her dream and winning honour for the country? In this multi-racial and cultural country, we need positive media coverage to build a harmonious country. On the contrary, if the restrictions caused by unspoken rules like race, language and culture affect the ways news is reported, it would not only have a negative impact on the authority and credibility of the media, but it is detrimental to social harmony. Particularly, in this era of new technology, some of the Malay media should abandon conservative, subjective and arbitrary thinking.

In contrast, most audiences of Shila’s concert were Chinese and it received massive coverage from the Chinese media, fully reflecting the spirit of “1Malaysia”, while indirectly refuting remarks by some politicians accusing the Chinese media of pursuing chauvinism and having undermined racial unity.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.