{"id":5653,"date":"2020-08-25T17:55:34","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T09:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=5653"},"modified":"2020-08-25T17:55:38","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T09:55:38","slug":"deputy-minister-do-not-politicize-flag-distribution-in-slim-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=5653","title":{"rendered":"Deputy Minister: Do not politicize flag distribution in Slim River"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TANJUNG MALIM, Aug 25\u00a0&#8212; The Information Department&#8217;s distribution\u00a0of the Jalur Gemilang\u00a0to the public in Slim River here should not be politicized, said Deputy\u00a0Communications and Multimedia Minister\u00a0Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the department had a role to play in fostering a patriotic spirit and love for the country, especially ahead of National Day on Aug&nbsp;31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;That is the job of the ministry, so if there is any Information Department program involving flags and so on it should not be a political issue because this is an effort for us to inculcate the spirit of Independence and patriotism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We are continuing this effort nationwide through the\u00a0&#8216;Info On Wheels&#8217; program, regardless of time, so those who are making it an issue do not have a patriotic spirit,&#8221; he said\u00a0when met by reporters at a relaxation program with Orang Asli\u00a0in Kampung Sungai Teras, near here, today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-1024x577.jpg\" alt=\"slim\" class=\"wp-image-5654\" width=\"461\" height=\"259\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-1024x577.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-177x100.jpg 177w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-800x451.jpg 800w, https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9.jpg 1047w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zahidi was commenting on a report by a news portal claiming that the Information Department was a Barisan Nasional (BN) political tool in the Slim state by-election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Zahidi was satisfied with the media coverage of&nbsp;the Slim by-election, which entered its 11th day of campaigning&nbsp;today, with the candidates receiving&nbsp;fair coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Coverage of this by-election is also the best&nbsp;and I hope the voters can make the best decision. We expect (BN) to win because the people no longer believe in Pakatan Harapan,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In another development, he said the ministry planned&nbsp;to provide infrastructure and&nbsp;to improve comprehensive service coverage in the Orang Asli villages in the state constituency, which would be upgraded from 3G to 4G services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier, Zahidi also spent time having breakfast at the Pakya Bistro restaurant in&nbsp;Slim River and attended a feast at the Kampung Kuala Slim Public Open Hall with BN candidate&nbsp;Mohd Zaidi Aziz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Slim state by-election on Saturday (Aug 29) will see a three-cornered contest between Mohd Zaidi and two Independent candidates, namely lawyer\u00a0Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi and former teacher\u00a0S. Santharasekaran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bernama.com\/en\/news.php?id=1873443\">BERNAMA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TANJUNG MALIM, Aug 25\u00a0&#8212; The Information Department&#8217;s distribution\u00a0of the Jalur Gemilang\u00a0to the public in Slim&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9.jpg",1047,590,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-768x433.jpg",640,361,true],"large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9-1024x577.jpg",640,361,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9.jpg",1047,590,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9.jpg",1047,590,false],"newsium-slider-full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9.jpg",1047,590,false],"newsium-featured":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9.jpg",1024,577,false],"newsium-medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/8d3c59b005381f784a3ced1fceadf2e65f44d9a07b0e9.jpg",720,406,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Editor"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?cat=15\" rel=\"category\">Politics<\/a>","tag_info":"Politics","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5655,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5653\/revisions\/5655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}