Wanita MCA chief Chew Mei Fun today urged the Information Ministry to maintain the existing air time of RTM's Mandarin news or even extend it.

She was responding to the ministry's decision to drop the air time of Mandarin news from one hour to 30 minutes as part of RTM's restructuring exercise.

Replying a question at Dewan Negara, Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek had informed that the Mandarin news segment would be broadcasted at 8pm on RTM1. Previously, the Mandarin news was telecast at noon and 8pm.

mca party election nomination day 131008 04 chew mei fun "I have gathered information that RTM1 would change into an information channel. RTM1 may go on air for 24 hours as a news station. Thus, I see no reason for the Mandarin news air time to be halved," said Chew.

"With the extension for screening hours, RTM1 should continue providing one hour for Mandarin news, if not more. It makes no sense to decrease the duration of Mandarin news. Similarly, with the longer broadcast time, the Tamil news should also be given more coverage," she added.

On another matter, the MCA leader also expressed disappointment that the five-minute ‘Frontline’ magazine programme aired before the 8pm Mandarin news maybe shelved.

She emphasised that "RTM2 Mandarin news enjoyed higher viewership compared to RTM's news broadcasts in other languages, thus enabling more viewership for RTM."

People have high expectations

Comparing the statistics of news programmes, she highlighted that "the noon Mandarin news held a viewership of 150,000 to 200,000 which was comparatively higher than the hourly news viewership which stood between 100,000 to 120,000."

"The 8pm Mandarin news audience grew higher with 400,000 to 500,000 viewers. This indicates that RTM's Mandarin news competes on par with Mandarin news of other TV stations if not better," she noted.

Owing to the outrage when the plug was pulled on 'What Say You', a popular Mandarin phone-in talk-show which discussed national issues, the Wanita MCA chief called on the ministry to re-televise the said programme.

"These days, Malaysians pay more heed to transparency and openness. Being more sophisticated, Malaysians hold higher expectations from the government.

"By re-broadcasting 'What Say You', the Barisan Nasional government would demonstrate transparency and provide a link for public discussion," she said.