PETALING JAYA: Free Malaysia Today (FMT) has issued an apology after one of its reporters posed a question during a public lecture that was believed to have carried racial overtones. "FMT wishes to put on record that it had no prior knowledge of the journalist’s intention to raise the question, nor did we approve of his comments. The statement was signed by both FMT executive chairman Nelson Fernandez and managing director Azeem Abu Bakar. A video of the question has been posted on social media, where the journalist asked if the speaker saw the parallels between "the Palestine problem and the Chinese problem in Malaysia." The journalist also asked if pro-Palestinian supporters vehemently rejected right-wing views, such as Zionism, why would they support right-wing ideals, such as anti-immigrant views.

Source: The Star January 14, 2026 23:57 UTC