Steven Gan steps down as Malaysiakini editor-in-chief

After helming Malaysiakini’s editorial for 23 years, Steven Gan is stepping down as the independent news website’s editor-in-chief at the end of this month.

He will, however, remain in Malaysiakini, taking a nominal role as editor-at-large.

“It has always been my intention to give way to the next generation when they are ready. The time has come,” Gan said.

“There are many capable men and women in Malaysiakini whom I have full confidence in taking the organisation to the next level.

“In addition, my body and mind are telling me to take my foot off the pedal.”

Gan has been suffering from an eye ailment that makes it hard for him to look at the computer screen for long periods. He plans to divide his time between Malaysia and Thailand, where his wife, Prangtip, hails from.

Malaysiakini is envisaged by co-founders Premesh Chandran and Gan as a social enterprise, a cause-driven business aimed at serving the common good, instead of a purely profit-making venture.

“Little did we know that not only we disrupted the media industry in Malaysia, we also created one of the country’s most successful social enterprises,” Gan said.

In the near future, the co-founders plan to transfer all their shares to a trust fund which will continue the organisation’s mission.

Premesh, Gan and the non-profit venture capital Media Development and Investment Fund (MDIF) have a 29 percent stake each in the company, while the rest is set aside for Malaysiakini staff.

Premesh and Gan launched Malaysiakini in 1999 in a bid to evade the country’s strict censorship of the media.

Under the duo, Malaysiakini grew from a scrappy website of five staff to an organisation with more than 100 today.

According to Reuters Institute Report 2022, Malaysiakini has a weekly reach of almost half (48 percent) of the online audience in the country, based on research done by international data analytics firm YouGov.

It has the highest reach in the country and among the highest in the 46 countries surveyed since YouGov began its survey in Malaysia five years ago.

Over the past two decades, Malaysiakini has covered six general elections, seven prime ministers and saw the arrest of three of its journalists.

It was declared a traitor by one prime minister and sued by another. It faced debilitating cyber-attacks, got kicked out of press conferences many times and was raided by the police at least five times.

Malaysiakini – the country’s first and only independent media - has combined the highest standards of journalism with cutting-edge technology to bring political change to a country which was ranked near the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index.

“We began in an era when there were no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok. Technology has changed the way we consume information. So, too, our political landscape.

“Malaysians have since discovered the power of the vote. However, the issues that have hobbled Malaysia remain. Misinformation and disinformation are made easier through social media,” Gan said.

“Much like the US and other parts of the world, Malaysia has been mired in a culture war, spurred by the belief that the country belongs to a certain group of people and not the ‘others’.

“In the US, a section of Americans thinks they ‘own’ the country. So, it is not surprising that they fight tooth and nail against those who are seen to undermine their racial supremacy and entitlement.

“Given that identity politics is such that it would be difficult to convince voters to change sides, Malaysiakini will strive to reach out to a new generation of Malaysians to, among others, ensure that they can make an informed decision at the ballot box.”

Last speech

Malaysiakini has been undergoing a leadership transition in recent years. Premesh, 53, stepped down as chief executive officer last year.

With Premesh and Gan no longer playing a major role in Malaysiakini, the company will now be led by a new generation of leaders. The co-founders will, however, continue to sit on Malaysiakini’s board of directors.

Gan gave his last speech as editor-in-chief on his 60th birthday at an office gathering last November, during which he also announced changes to Malaysiakini's top leadership in the wake of his departure.

The editorial will be led by executive editor RK Anand and managing editor Ng Ling Fong. Both the editor-in-chief and chief executive officer posts are to remain vacant for now.

Tham Seen Hau has been moved from KiniTV to take on the new role of digital editor. Her tasks include focusing on the business side of news – subscription and social media.

Azreen Madzlan has been promoted to replace Seen Hau as KiniTV editor, while Robin Koh will assist her as KiniTV deputy editor.

Andrew Ong has stepped down from his position as news editor to take up the new role of product and innovation editor - to hasten Malaysiakini’s adoption of AI (artificial intelligence) and other new technologies so that it will help journalists to do their job better.

AI will reduce many of the mundane tasks done by our journalists and editors, and free them up so that they can focus on more complex tasks.

Zikri Kamarulzaman has been promoted to replace Ong as news editor. In addition to news desk duties, his role is to train Malaysiakini journalists and enlist new recruits when needed. Koh Jun Lin has been promoted to deputy news editor to help Zikri.

Meanwhile, Lee Long Hui has moved from Kini News Lab to Technology to be trained as a programmer. Aidila Razak, apart from looking after Special Reports, will now take on additional duties of coordinating the News Lab team.

Malaysiakini’s Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese sites will continue to be headed by their respective editors, Jimadie Shah Othman and Lee Weng Keat. The Tamil site remains a joint venture with the independent news portal MalaysiaIndru.

“With Anand and Ling Fong in charge of Editorial, and general manager K Manohar in charge of non-Editorial departments, Malaysiakini is in safe hands.

“It is now the turn of these new leaders and you to shape Malaysiakini's future,” Gan told Malaysiakini staff at the company’s end-of-the-year gathering in November.

“There is no need for me to say that Malaysiakini is driven by a great mission – to make Malaysia a better place for all of us and for generations to come. Indeed, there is no grander mission than this.

“But in pursuing this mission, we need to make sure that our heart is in the right place. Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu encapsulated this best.

“He said: ‘Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say, 'We have done this ourselves.’”