Malaysiakini.com said that a report carried in the latest issue of an international magazine, the Far Eastern Economic Review , that the online news portal has received funding from financier George Soros' Open Society Fund is not true.

" Malaysiakini does not receive any funds from Soros' Open Society Fund," said Malaysiakini.com chief executive officer Premesh Chandran in a press statement today.

Chandran was referring to an article titled "Levelling the Field"' in the Feb 8 edition of the Hong Kong-based magazine which stated that malaysiakini was among the media organisations in Asia which received funds from the Open Society Fund, a charity body set up by the US-based billionaire.

Chandran added that malaysiakini , launched in November 1999, was financed from a mix of different sources.

"We are prepared to publicly declare details of our income to show that not a single sen comes from the Open Society Fund," added Chandran.

This inaccuracy appeared in the introduction to an interview with Soros conducted by the Review 's Nayan Chanda in Davos on Jan 28.

Chandran said malaysiakini 's funding comes from capital investment from the company's founders, revenues from advertisements, sale of editorial content, grants from the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa) - a regional network of journalist organisations - and contributions from readers.

"We will be receiving a capital injection of about RM2 million in an investment deal which will allow us to develop the variety, quality and quantity of our independent news coverage."

He also said that the fresh cash injection will also help malaysiakini to expand into development of digital media technologies, hosting services and e-commerce.

Chandran said that such a gross mistake made by a reputable international magazine is highly regrettable and could damage the reputation and credibility of malaysiakini as a source of independent news in Malaysia.

Clarification assured

When contacted in Hong Kong, the magazine's managing editor Michael Vatikiotis said the magazine will be making a correction and publishing malaysiakini 's letter of clarification in its next issue.

"We will be making a correction in the Internet edition too," he said.

The Feb 8 issue of the Review , which carried the interview with Soros, will hit the street this weekend and is currently available on its [#1] website [/#].

Soros is arguably the world's most notorious currency speculator. He "broke" the Bank of England in 1992 and made more than US$1 billion in a few weeks betting against the British pound.

In 1997, he was blamed for shorting the Thailand's currency, the baht, which set off devaluations not only in Thailand but also elsewhere in the region, including Malaysia, causing a devastating financial crisis.

As a result, he was labelled as a "moron" by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Soros has used part of his wealth funding charity projects around the world through his Open Society Fund.

Soros was to have visited Thailand yesterday but cancelled it following outrage from Thai nationalists who blamed him for the Asian economic crisis and had threatened to pelt him with excrement and rotten eggs.

He was to have given a speech at the Foreign Correspondent Club of Thailand.