COMMENT | Haresh Deol’s assault in Bangsar a few days ago shocked me.

A veteran sports journalist, deputy president of the National Press Club, and co-founder of the news site TwentyTwo13, Haresh was also once a colleague of mine when we were both news editors at Astro Awani.

Apparently, two men went at him while another filmed the whole thing. I guess it’s because, in 2025, even crime can become content. If you’re going to commit a crime these days, you need to make sure it’s ready for the Gram!

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), the Sportswriters’ Association of Malaysia (SAM), and Gerakan Media Merdeka (Geramm) all condemned the attack, calling it an insult to professionalism and media freedom, which is true.

Haresh wasn’t just writing about football scores. He was...