A tale of late NSTP editor Hishamuddin and a ‘terrorist’

FMT:

A tale of late NSTP editor Hishamuddin and a ‘terrorist’


To say that Hishamuddin Aun was a nice boss would be an understatement. He was a quiet administrator, no fanfare, no ego

Ever get the feeling that you should have done something you wanted to do but had put it off until it was too late? I did, when I learnt of the death of fellow FMT columnist Hishamuddin Aun.

I had thought about contacting him over the past couple of months but I kept putting it off. Now he is gone. Hishamuddin died on Oct 1 at the age of 64.


He was also my former boss at the New Straits Times.

The former group editor-in-chief (GEIC) of New Straits Times Press Bhd (NSTP) lost his life to pneumonia at Hospital Sultan Idris Shah in Serdang. I only found out after he died that he had been hospitalised for more than a month.


Hishamuddin joined Bernama as a cadet reporter in 1979 before moving to Berita Harian in 1982 where he rose up to become sports editor. He was the paper’s group editor from 2003 to 2006 before taking over as NSTP GEIC.

After leaving NSTP he served as editorial adviser at Astro Awani and Astro Arena.

When Hishamuddin became a columnist at FMT, he messaged me on July 21, 2023 to say: “Bro, happy to share that I have joined you in FMT.”

I first met Hisham when he was in Berita Harian but we came to know each other a little better only when he was GEIC of NSTP. I was then chief news editor at NST.

Even from those days, he would call me bro or Kathir, not Kathi as most others call me. To say that he was a nice boss would be an understatement. He was a quiet administrator, no fanfare, no ego.

Once, he was put in a rather awkward position: He had to tell me that I could not continue writing my column; and he found that somewhat difficult.

This was in 2007, just days after the Nov 25 Hindraf rally – when minority Indians took to the streets to bring awareness to their plight.

I had written a piece in my weekly column titled “Let’s seek a win-win solution” on the rally and the government’s reaction to it. It was published on Nov 29.


A day later, on my day off, I received a call from Hisham. He said: “Bro, I’m so sorry lah. I have bad news.”

He said he had been told to tell me to stop writing my column effective immediately. “This is not my decision. It’s from the top. I’m sorry,” he added.

He was GEIC, yet he was apologising to me. That should say something about the man.

I asked who exactly had given the instruction. There was a long, awkward pause before he said it was from those in power outside the NSTP, “you know lah”.

Later, when I was in the office, he again said he was sorry that my column had to be pulled off. Personally, he was okay with it.

I told him I had, for the first time, let a few senior journalists read it before sending it in for publication.

After writing my initial piece, I approached associate editor Rehman Rashid and asked him to read it. “Rehman, I have written about the Hindraf rally and it is possible that being an Indian, I may be biased. Please have a look and tell me if it sounds biased or not.”

He came back to me saying: “It’s perfectly fine. If others want to bury their heads in the sand, too bad.”

Then, as usual with all my column pieces, I gave a copy to NST group editor Syed Nadzri Syed Harun, telling him to read it carefully. He told me to go ahead with it.

I then sent it in to the chief sub-editor’s desk for laying out in the page. Executive editor (production) Lee Ah Chai, who read it, told me he didn’t think the powers that be would like it. Executive editor (news) KP Waran then read it and suggested I tone it down. Which I did.

Despite the fact that it had been toned down, someone in power still didn’t like it and I was asked to stop the column.

But I wasn’t perturbed because this was not the first time my column had been stopped.

In the early 2000s, two columns that I was simultaneously writing in the Sunday Times were stopped after I wrote a piece criticising the government’s Proton policy and how it had made foreign-made cars very expensive. But that’s a story for another day.

Anway, following the decision to stop my column in 2007, some observers outside the halls of NST began speculating about it.

Political scientist Wong Chin Huat, for instance, reproduced my article in his blog of Dec 5 and asked his readers: “Do you find the article below too critical of the government or too sympathetic of Hindraf? I was told that Mr Kathirasen has been summoned for explanation and his column suspended. I have not been able to get it confirmed or disaffirmed by a second source. Please keep me informed if you know anything”.

His cheeky heading was: “No win-win solution: Kathirasen’s column suspended?”

Well, Mr Wong, I could not confirm it then as I was still with the NST. But I can now.

As I said, I wasn’t disappointed with the decision, especially not when, on 23 Nov, the NST’s editorial had slammed the proposed rally under the heading: “Call off that rally”

That column also cost me a promotion, but, again, that’s another story.

But I have to say that the NST did give me a column again in 2011 when Abdul Jalil Hamid took over as group managing editor. After meeting all the section heads, Jalil asked me – I was then working on contract – why I was not writing my column and that he had enjoyed reading them. I told him I had been told to stop writing.

Without asking for the reason, he said: “Start writing again”. And I did.

Coming back to Hisham, we kept in touch via WhatsApp, usually exchanging festive greetings. He would also call or message to compliment me on my columns, saying things like: “It is important to have more such stories to educate society”.

Once, during the Covid 19 contagion in 2021, when I asked him if all was well with him, he replied: “Like Aaamir Khan said in The 3 Idiots: All is well, all is well.” He had a pleasant touch of humour.

At another time, he wrote: “Good morning Mr Kathir. Why politicians don’t lie is superb.” When I thanked him, he shot back with: “Politicians don’t lie – they do everything standing up.”

He was also self-effacing and modest. When he informed me about joining FMT as a columnist, I asked if he would be writing on what he loved best – sports. He replied: “Also bcoz of my incompetence in other areas of reporting”.

Over the years, he would message to commend me on my column pieces that he enjoyed reading or agreed with. He liked to say, “You terrorist lah, bro”.

For instance, on March 17, 2024, he shared with me my column titled “Beautiful Malaysians like Nazirah should be celebrated”, and below it wrote: “You terrorist lah, bro.”

On April 11, 2024, he wrote: Good morning, Kathir. Your piece on RHB raya video is really terrorist lah. The eyeball numbers speak for themselves.”

The first time he said this, he explained that by “terrorist” he meant I was a “terror” when it came to writing.

On May 3, 2024, he wrote: “Good morning, Kathir. 100 shares, 41k views, You terrorist lah. Register me for your next tuition class in column-writing. I promise to be a very obedient student.”

I’m reproducing these to show that he was very generous with praise and very encouraging in his words; and that he didn’t display any ego. He was my former boss, a former GEIC, yet he could bring himself to say such things.

Once, earlier on, when he said “You are a terrorist lah, bro”, I told him: “Don’t say that lah boss. I’ll get arrested and you will have to bail me out.” He laughed, and continued saying it.

His last message to me was in reply to my Hari Raya Aidil Fitri greeting this year. He wrote: “Thank you, Kathir, and may God bless you and your family always.”

Thank you Hisham for your encouragement, kindness and humility. May you be at peace.