Meanwhile,
in response to the Malaysian Press Institute’s proposal for a special course to
prepare journalists for assignments in war zones, Bernama quoted Dr Latiff as
saying that the ministry welcomed any form of cooperation with MPI.
“We
cannot fight fate. If it’s meant to be, it will be, but the least we can do is
go (to the war zones) with proper equipment and preparation.” The proposal came
about following the death of BernamaTV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, 39,
while on a humanitarian mission with Putera 1Malaysia Club to Mogadishu,
Somalia.
Deputy
Defence Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad.
What kind of bull shit is this Deputy Defence Minister trying
to put over us? So now the death of Bernama TV Cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor
is FATE?
“Shots were fired at the government truck that was accompanying
their vehicle, Noramfaizul who was sitting by the door was hit by a stray
bullet which pierced his lungs. Another cameraman, Aji Siregar Mazlan, also
suffered injuries”.
No Mr Deputy Defence Minister I do not agree with you. The
ambush itself is fate – nothing could have prevented it from happening. But
what happened before and after the ambush is not fate – it is preparation.
Was
this unfortunate cameraman ever provided with survival training and safety
guidelines when operating in war ravaged Somalia? If he had been then those
safety instructions would have saved his life!
Putera 1Malaysia Club should have understood that terrorists
consider cameraman “soft targets” to be used as political pawns for their own
advantage – far easier to take a cameraman as hostage or to kill than to go after armed
soldiers, diplomats or CEO’surrounded by armed bodyguards in armoured vehicles.
Reuters have a policy that states that no journalists or cameraman can go to
a conflict zone without state-of-the –art training such as offered by British
military specialists!
When this cameraman made that commitment to do front-line
coverage for Putera 1 Malaysia’s club it is their responsibility to reduce the
risk to Noramfaizul by ensuring safety issues were taken care of. It is a
disgrace, if not criminal for them to send Noramfaizul into harm’s way without
proper training, protective gear or clear guidelines as to how far he could go
into danger zones in pursuit of a photograph to be used for political
propaganda!
The Club President Azeez should be ashamed of himself! It is his obligation to provide the best available
training, equipment, insurance and counseling and to protect the exposed
cameraman from all the dangers in a war ravaged zone before Noramfaizul even got onto the plane to Somalia.
In the first place i dont even understand why Malaysia needs to send our cameraman there! What do we hope to achieve?
ReplyDeleteHH,
ReplyDeleteSadly, opportunists such as Azeez do not gives an ass rat to innocent victims like Noramfaizul as Noramfaizul was just a tool to record the great "humanitarian" effort of 1Putera Club. One might even conclude that Noramfaizul knew what he was getting himself into but this is now water under the bridge.
Opportunists like Azeez and his UMNO party will exploit Noramfaizul's death to their advantage by announcing all forms of aid to be given to Noramfaizul's family following his "fated" death. These UMNO goons have no feelings at all. If Noramfaizul's death is fated, he might as well have not join the great 1Putera Club "humanitarian" mission and die peacefully at home with his loved ones at his side. Such disgusting and shameless spins from UMNO and its propaganda machines.