HAWANA must be made a national agenda - Annuar

The Communications and Multimedia Minister gave his assurance that as long as he was still serving the government, HAWANA will be given the highest priority and attention.

"The government and the ministry must give due recognition to the status of the HAWANA celebration.

"This means the nation must accord this recognition and the Cabinet has now agreed to this. We thank Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob for the recognition given," he said at the closing ceremony of the National Media Forum, held in conjunction with HAWANA 2022 here.

HAWANA 2022, carrying the theme "People's Voice, National Aspiration" is celebrated here today by media practitioners, and will be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob this evening.

In addition, Annuar wants the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (K-KOMM) to pay more attention to all matters discussed and formulated in today's and future HAWANA forums.

He said this was important to resolve issues, including grievances faced by journalists and media practitioners that the public is mostly unaware of.

"I understand we have quite a number of journalists associations, some active and some not, so we want to ensure there is a proper umbrella body so that representation is solid," he said.

Annuar also wants major towns and cities to seize the opportunity of bidding to host the next HAWANA celebration as it will be a prestigious annual event.

Meanwhile, in his speech during the main event of HAWANA 2022, Annuar said the celebration was a manifestation of the recognition given to the country's media institutions in line with the long history of the role of journalists.

It is also an appreciation to journalists who, in conveying information to the people, are able to interpret and take lessons from the events they cover.

"With the theme 'People's Voice, National Aspiration', HAWANA 2022 aims to continue the tradition and noble values of journalism and adapt to the new challenges of the digital world post-COVID-19," he said.

Annuar also congratulated the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) and the Malaysian chapter of the Malaysian-Indonesian Journalists Association (ISWAMI) for being the main driving force behind the organisation of HAWANA 2022.