Returning to the National Press Club

Challenging and exciting times, indeed

Jalan Tangsi, April 1: The first time I relinquished the NPC presidency, in 2007, was mainly due to an ongoing court case against me the blogger and the fact that I was no more attached to a formal news outlet after parting ways with the NST, my employer for 21 years, a year earlier. Other than a fortnightly column with a Singapore newspaper, I was not writing for any of the local papers and was considered a full-time blogger then. Blogging was new and constantly under siege and we had just set up the National Alliance of Bloggers (with uber bloggers Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Jeff Ooi, A. Kadir Jasin, Kickdefella, A Voice, 3540 Jalan Sudin, Eli Wong, Susan Loone, Patrick Teoh and many more). I wanted to focus on the All Blogs. I was its first (and only) president.

The second time I let go of the NPC presidency, in 2013, I had just left The Malay Mail (my second - and much shorter - tour of duty as editor at the tabloid; the first was from 2001 to 2006) and I wanted to concentrate on the newly-formed Blog House (the organisation to replace the All Blogs, which had faded after two of its office bearers won the general election of 2008). I was the All Blogs advisor.

Last Wednesday, I had just returned from an international Press event in Spain when the guys called up to ask me to attend the National Press Club's 27th Annual General Meeting at its clubhouse in Jalan Tangsi, Kuala Lumpur. Bernama deputy editor-in-chief Datuk Mokhtar Hussain, who succeeded me in 2013, had already informed me the week before that he wasn't seeking re-election as president of the NPC. 

For reasons (some of which) captured in the following interview with twentytwo13.my, and due to the exciting and ever-changing political and media landscapes, I decided to offer to come back and serve the NPC to the best of my ability.

Wish me and the new team luck.

To read the twentytwo13 article, click h e r e.
Read also: The National Press Club has a new president by Bernama