Making friends with Indian journalists

Had lots of reasons to be happy about with the completion of a four-day visit to Malaysia by a group of 10 senior journalists from India two weeks ago. I was tasked with drawing up the visit programme held under the Asean-India Media Exchange Programme from Aug 21 to 24. It was the first time that I had actually put my hands into such thing, having been appointed to head the Features and Foreign News Service. Weeks before they arrived, made a number of phone calls and emails to the relevant people in drawing up the itinerary. Apart from hotel accommodation, we contacted aides to several ministers to arrange for them to meet the journalists. When they arrived at the KLIA, got them on the super-fast KLIA express train which took only 28 minutes from the airport in Sepang to the capital city. Over the next two days, the participants called on Works Minister S.Samy Vellu, Tourism Minister Dr Leo Michael Toyad, Deputy Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis. They also visited places such as Putrajaya, the new Federal administrative capital, Petronas Twin Towers and KL Tower.