Agus Yusoff now J-Kom chief, focused on fixing race relations

Former lecturer-cum-political analyst Mohammad Agus Yusoff has been appointed as the director-general of the Community Communications Department (J-Kom) under the Prime Minister's Department.

First on the agenda of the former Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) lecturer is fixing the negative racial narrative brought about on social media during the 15th general election (GE15).

"I see that the GE15 has split our society. The influence of social media has brought about many negative effects on inter-racial ties.

"To fix this, we in J-Kom will educate the people with the proper knowledge and ethics so that patriotism and inter-racial relationships can be preserved," Agus (above) said in a statement today.

Last December, Agus, who was then teaching at the State University of Gorontalo in Sulawesi, Indonesia, turned down an offer from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to work with the government.

Last November, Agus defended his involvement with a group of Malay professors who openly backed Anwar's bid to become prime minister.

According to Agus, J-Kom will implement a programme, with three main thrusts based on the Malaysia Madani concept.

"J-Kom's three main thrusts are cultivating knowledge, creating a society with digital skills and strengthening the people's patriotic spirit.

"We will implement the plan according to the Malaysia Madani model so that the programmes can realise the government's desire to make Malaysia a developed, harmonious and prosperous country," he said.

Agus added that J-Kom will work with other government agencies, the private sector, NGOs and the youth and community leaders to achieve the goals.

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