Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin expressed disappointment with certain segments of the media, and singled out English daily the New Straits Times (NST).

In his ministerial winding-up at the Dewan Rakyat late last night, he said the newspaper had published a feature article on Jan 4, 2006 that aimed to destroy the Malay identity in Malaysia.

The newspaper, he added, had also carried another article which gave the impression that a person had converted to Islam because of the dominance of Malays in the armed forces.

"This is not a Malaysian doctrine but the legacy of a foreign doctrine that had resulted in a tragedy in Malaysia," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

It is an open secret that Zainuddin and NST do not share a rosy relationship. Following his recent promotion, the daily had published a rather unflattering commentary , which the minister had described as rubbish .

The commentary was penned by New Straits Times Group's (NSTP) editorial advisor Kalimullah Hassan.

The minister and the daily had crossed swords once again last month over a caricature published by NST which certain quarters felt had insulted Prophet Muhammad.

Foreign concepts

Meanwhile, Zainuddin, in his winding-up, said newspapers in Malaysia should not act as the voices for foreign concepts of freedom and democracy but instead should be instruments for the formation of a nationalistic Malaysia and not Malaysian Malaysia.

At the same time, he said some segments of the media had misinterpreted the freedom and transparency promoted by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"They have disregarded the norms and principles of Malaysian laws which all this while have guided the freedom of the press in the country," he said.

This could be seen in the coverage of the nude ear squat video controversy involving a woman detainee at a police station last year, he noted

"We could see several newspapers were biased, emotional and lopsided in their reporting. They claimed the woman was a Chinese national but it was later revealed she was a Malaysian Malay ," he said.

He said newspapers indulging in sensational reporting like this incident did not care about the sensitivities of the people.

The result was diminishing respect for and anger against the police and shame for the country, he lamented.

Show-cause letters

On the issue of RTM showing a video footage of the caricatures of Prophet Muhammad which were originally carried by a Danish newspaper, he said the ministry had issued show cause letters to the officers involved.

"Disciplinary action will be taken against any officer found responsible for airing the pictures of the caricatures," he said.

He said RTM decided on the action despite the Internal Security Ministry informing it that programmes broadcast by RTM were not governed by the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

Zainuddin apologised for the mistake by RTM in airing the cartoons.

"The ministry regrets the incident as the gatekeepers or video editors overlooked the sensitivity of the news clip although it was a fleeting visual footage.

"This is not the same as a still photo which can be easily seen and picked for publication in a newspaper or magazine," he said.