VISITING MEDIA PRIMA HEADQUARTERS IN KUALA LUMPUR

   22nd SEPTEMBER 2025    ~ After the lunch date at Dolly's Dimsum in NU Sentral [READ HERE], Puan Shamsul Niza [a friend of UPM TESL] was kind to take for an excursion to her working place in Media Prima. This should be my second time visiting this place. The first time was many years ago when we had to interview a literary figure at The New Straits Times, Mr. Kee Tuan Chye, for our literature assignment.

I was first taken to this room where Puan Shamsul Niza showed me how a microfilm machine worked. It was a wonder as one could access the newspaper of the past by inserting this film reel into the machine. I was able to read the news published in the New Straits Times newspaper on the day I was born.

I also had the chance to flip through a few coffee table books published by the company. I was getting of the books as it was about my favourite cartoonist whom I grew up with, Dato' LAT.

We actually walked through the places where people, most probably journalists of the newspapers and television stations, were all busy at work. However, no cameras were allowed there.

Then I was shown the venue where Podcast recordings were made. Mind you, the podcast produced here was not the amateur level that was made in one's bedroom or dining hall. All the machines were sophisticated and [very]  expensive, and required professionals to run them.

The very last stop was on the ground floor of the building where there was a row of local radio studios. There were DJs inside who were operating the live on air transmission.

In Molekfm Studio, I could see the celebrity DJ Mat Dan at work. My friend signalled to him and he then  promptly  approached and moved nearer to the glass panel for a photo but it was not clear because of the reflection. Surprisingly, he came out from the room and for an up close and personal photo session.

That should wrap up my short visit to Media Prima Building. I had to thank my friend, Puan Shamsul Niza, one more time for the opportunity, and the new experience was priceless. The meeting came to an end at Kuala Lumpur Sentral when my friend drove and drop me off so I could catch the train to the airport, where I had another appointment waiting [READ HERE].

I WAS IN THE NEWSPAPER FOR THE SECOND TIME

I appeared in the newspaper for the second time, after almost three years.If you were all wondering why suddenly I was there, the answer is: I have friends working in the press. I was just airing my hope, no - not about Bersih 3.0 Rally, but rather for the country's education system. My colleague, Puan Shirley, wrote on my FB wall, what I had said was "the voice of teachers in Malaysia" and suddenly I felt very important

the date is very important

first page

find me if you can

the first newspaper appearance, on the wall

Thanks to Puan Hazlina Aziz for recommending me to the person writing the column even though the photo was a bit too small if compared to the first one I was in. :)

WAKING UP AS A CELEBRITY, FOR ONCE

I grabbed today's edition of the New Straits Times as early as 6:45 a.m. to find out that Puan Rozana Sani had indeed featured my blog in the Tech&U pull-out. How many times in your life would you have the chance to appear in a newspaper with 1/6 of your photo covering its page and the other 1/6 with story about you (or rather your blog). So I would like to thank Puan Rozana Sani for liking my blog (I hope) and also for all her effort to put me in her paper which is an experience of a lifetime.

New Straits Times, August 17 2009, Tech&U page 14

Nevertheless, I think not many people are reading the NST or the Tech&U section as nobody seemed to notice about this historical event except for a group of librarians who were waving me the newspaper from the opposite block in front of the library. So I waved back at them, like a newly-crowned Miss Universe. Thank you, there were people who knew! I am still famous.

You can try and see the NST online version of this article at http://technu.nst.com.my/Current_News/techNu/Monday/Blogger/20090817133333/Article/index_html but I am not sure how long this page can be accessed by public.