I refer to your report No meeting of minds for party Youths on globalisation on the forum jointly organised by Persatuan Pemuda Negara Malaysia and Persatuan Graduan Muda Malaysia.

Your reporter stated that ''the programme was scheduled for 9am but it only started at 11.30am, after an unexpected opening speech by Malaysian Associated Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary S Anusha.''

If he had checked his facts, he would have known that registration was at 9am and the keynote address by Selangor and Federal Territory Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Treasurer Anusha Santhirasthipam took place as scheduled at 10.15am.

And from where did he get that she was the secretary of the national chapter of the chamber?

Before I go on to another gross mistake made by your reporter yet again, I would like to know if he had simply dismissed Santhirasthipam — who had been a corporate lawyer for more than a decade before venturing into business in the mid-90s — as a virtual nobody simply because she was an Indian woman.

Your reporter's other bloop included getting the name of Singapore-based ThinkCenter's executive-secretary Anbarasu Balrasan grossly incorrect.

According to your reporter "Singapore's Think Centre member Anbarash" was one of the speakers. Who on earth is Anbarash?

This is a clear depiction of shoddy and lazy reporting. Why didn't he countercheck his facts on the Internet? Isn't that what globalisation is all about?

Editor's note: It has always been our policy to accept criticisms of our reporting and own up to our mistakes. Yes, we have got the position of S Anusha wrong. However, the reason why her speech was reported as being unexpected was not because the writer was dismissing her as a "nobody simply because she was an Indian woman".

Indeed, Anusha's speech was not stated in the programme given to journalists. Similarly, Singapore-based ThinkCenter's executive-secretary Anbarasu Balrasan was referred as Anbarash in the official programme.