JOURNALISM ethics in Malaysia have plumbed new depths with personal posts becoming fodder for news, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia deputy president Mukhriz Mahathir said today.

He was responding to two pro-Umno newspaper articles that reported on the lifestyle of his daughter, Meera Alyana Mukhriz.

“I saw many responses from various people questioning the value of that kind of news, where personal posts were used to paint a negative perspective with political implications about family members,” he said during a press conference on Kedah’s 2018 budget today.

Mukhriz said the report should not have been published as there was no correlation between the pictures and illicit funds or 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

The Ayer Hitam assemblyman also took a swipe at 1MDB by saying that the funds were not used to make X-rated films or for gambling in Las Vegas.

“There were mentions that the source of the funds was money stolen from the public, hence, I could consider taking legal action as this is a serious allegation.

“One of the reports cited an anonymous blog implying the wealth was stolen from the public.

“As far as I’m concerned, money stolen from the public is (an issue) with the person in leadership, (and he is) not associated with us,” said Mukhriz.

The former Kedah Mentri Besar said personal attacks on his family were continuous, adding that his office, as well as his brothers’ offices, were raided by the Inland Revenue Board.

“After two months, I received a letter stating that one of my companies had failed to pay taxes amounting to RM21,000. As far as I know, all taxes have been cleared,” he said.

Yesterday, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian published a report on Meera’s “celebrity’s lifestyle”, accompanied by pictures of her wearing designer clothes and travelling around the world on a luxury yacht. 

The newspapers based the article on a Facebook posting by a user called “Sudahlah Mahathir”.

The pro-Umno newspapers said Meera, better known as Ally, travelled around the world in a yacht named after her. Utusan claimed the vessel was given to her by her father.

In response, Marina Mahathir said this was an act of desperation from the ruling coalition to draw attention away from the 1MDB scandal. – November 13, 2017.