KUALA LUMPUR: Leading Malay daily Utusan Malaysia has defended its criticism of Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob (pic) last week, saying it was not a personal attack.

It said in its weekend edition Mingguan Malaysia that the criticism of Adnan was in response to his criticism of the daily after it carried hard-hitting reports about Cameron Highlands.

“To those who expected Awang to continue with last week’s tone to criticise Adnan Yaakob, it will not come true this week ... it’s proof that there is no agenda to threaten his leadership,” said columnist Awang Selamat, the pseudonym for the daily’s collective editorial team.

Shrugging off the threat of legal action, the columnist said the previous criticism was only to rebut Adnan’s “unfair” rebuke of Utusan.

“It is enough that the message has been clearly sent to him. Utusan has to protect its own interests. Moreover, the criticism is rational and has its own value, it is not being done at whims and fancies.”

In a dial down from his vitriol last week when he blasted Adnan for overstaying his welcome and for being too ensconced in his comfort zone to be able to accept positive criticism, Awang Selamat yesterday sought to play down the tiff.

He said Adnan continues to be a respected menteri besar and that the long-serving administrator of Pahang shows his openness by choosing not to respond to criticism from him and other columnists.

“In other words, he can accept criticism despite unhappiness from some of his loyal followers. It looks like Adnan wants to move forward, so does Awang’s spirit,” he said.

The columnist said any disputes between media practitioners and politicians are normal in a democratic world and this is the reason why he is not bothered by wild allegations from a few parties, including bloggers who support Adnan.  — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 17, 2014.