KUALA LUMPUR: Daily Express, the market leader in Sabah and Labuan, again lived up to its top billing as among the nation’s best newspapers by winning two prizes at the national level – and both within days of each other.
It won the Most Supportive Media (Newspaper) award by Cybersecurity, the national cyber security body, last Tuesday, for disseminating information on best cybersecurity practices for the public for the third year running.
Chief Editor James Sarda received the award from Communications and Multimedia Ministry Sec-Gen Tan Chuan Ou at the Ministry in Cyberjaya.
To add icing to the cake, Daily Express also emerged runner up in the International Reporting category of the MPI-Petronas Malaysian Journalism awards Friday night, for a series of reports by former Special Writer Mary Chin and James on the impact that Malaysia has made on the world stage in foreign relations.
Another effort by James and Mary on how religion is becoming the next frontier in the global tourism industry narrowly missed being runner-up in the Features category.
The national press awards were given out by Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik at the Berjaya Times Square building.
Both Mary and James clinched the top prize in Environmental Journalism in the same awards last year, while James has emerged runners up on two other occasions.
Daily Express also won the Prime Minister’s award last year for a series of articles by Kan Yaw Chong which caused the cancellation of the RM700m Sukau bridge in Kinabatangan. The cancellation was hailed by wildlife icon Sir David Attenborough as one of the iconic events in world conservation which provided hope for the people where there was none.
The controversial Sukau bridge approval did not go through the Federal Cabinet, State Cabinet or was even included in the 11th Malaysia Plan but was approved by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Neither Najib nor his Deputy showed up to present the award.
Daily Express is also the only East Malaysian paper that has been consistently winning awards at the national level by competing with the nation’s best journalists, apart from the Kinabalu Shell State level awards.
