KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — Star Media Group (SMG) today announced that veteran newsman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai will step down as the managing director and chief executive officer of its publication, The Star, on January 1.
Wong, 57, will, however, continue to play a role in the company as SMG Advisor from January 1, where he is expected to tap into his experience and network of contacts, the group said in a statement today.
“I am deeply thankful that I was given the opportunity to serve as MD/CEO for six years. That’s a pretty long time in Malaysian corporate life, and more so in a most challenging business like the media.
“The role of a CEO in a Malaysian media company is certainly very different from that of my counterparts in other companies, which is much more straightforward,” Wong said in the statement.
“It’s not the end of an era for me. I just want to return to my passion — journalism and writing. After all, this is part of succession planning and transformation,” said Wong, who chose to relinquish his role earlier than required instead of staying on until 2020.
Wong has spent over 30 years at The Star, which he joined in 1984 with a pay of only roughly RM300 a month then.
He was also with The Star when the government revoked its printing permit in 1987, leading to the company’s five-month suspension.
During his journalism career, Wong was said to have made history at the age of 46 when he became the youngest group chief editor of The Star in 2007.
Wong would go on to helm the company “through many tricky political hurdles, religious sensitivities and social predicaments”, the statement said.
He said the company was formerly known as Star Publications Bhd, but has now evolved to become SMG to reflect its wider assets and businesses that include print, online, radio, over the top (OTT) video service provider, events and exhibitions.
“Transformation has taken place, and we are completely into the digital era, where we are digital first. But I will leave my trusted colleagues, whom I’m sure will do a better job, to deal with the changing times,” he said.
