{
  "id": 7201354,
  "title": "Apabila belas ihsan mengatasi konfrontasi",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/apabila-belas-ihsan-mengatasi-konfrontasi",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-13T23:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2026/09/14/apabila-belas-ihsan-mengatasi-konfrontasi"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Executive Director of the FMT, Nelson Fernandez, spoke at the Muslim Community Youth Forum in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. As inter-community relations are at a critical juncture in Malaysia, the media and civil society must play an important role in overcoming confrontations, Fernandez said. Addressing the public forum on social media and young people, he stated, \"Everyone talks about religion, but nobody talks about love, kindness, and goodness. All of this is confrontational. How can we talk about religion and confrontation in the same breath?\" The process of overcoming confrontation must begin in the newsroom first. \"Conflict becomes part of the news. But it shouldn't be the only news,\" he said at the Muslim Community Youth Forum yesterday. Respect must be cultivated by news organizations among the people of Malaysia, Fernandez said, starting from the workplace itself. \"How do we serve each other, how do we make editorial decisions, and whether we apply the same standards to everyone?\" Fernandez said he believes more in the concept of respect than simply tolerating different parties. \"Tolerance can mean simply putting up with someone we don't agree with, but respect requires more than that – a commitment to understanding, fair interaction, and acknowledging the dignity of others.\" The presence of personnel from diverse backgrounds working together in the newsroom is also crucial, as one journalist may notice religious or cultural sensitivities that others overlook, challenging the narrative that can be conveyed through a news headline, or identifying contextual shortcomings. When discussing the Digital Battlefield, social media and the young generation, Fernandez shared an example demonstrating what can be achieved when kindness overcomes inter-community differences. A middle-aged woman entered the office crying, seeking help to raise funds for a severely disabled young girl. Within a few hours of FMT reporting the story, Diya Amanda, a reader, contributed RM150,000, and a larger fundraising effort ultimately succeeded in allowing the surgery to be performed. \"The woman from the NGO came to my office speaking Chinese,\" Fernandez noted. \"The journalist and editor assigned to write about this story was Indian. The disabled girl and her family are Malay. But none of this was a direct problem for us.\" She believes that such incidents show the strong unity truly existing in our country. \"For me, this reflects the strong unity truly existing in our nation.\" Fernandez said the story highlights the importance of having a strong platform and readers who believe in us, not just in the number of readers following the story, but in the ability of the news to mobilize society to take action. It also shows that journalism can be part of the healing process, not by denying divides or sensitive issues, but by ensuring such matters do not become the only narrative told by Malaysians about each other.",
  "summary": "Pengerusi Eksekutif FMT Nelson Fernandez berkongsi bagaimana bilik berita mampu menerbitkan pelaporan lebih baik mengenai isu kaum dan agama.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Apabila belas ihsan mengatasi konfrontasi",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/apabila-belas-ihsan-mengatasi-konfrontasi-7205326",
        "published": "2026-09-13T23:30:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}