The post of Bernama chairman usually goes to someone very dear to the Prime Minister. I am not sure how close Azman Ujang is to Najib Razak but I've heard he can be quite honest in his views, and that means he can be a pain (especially to the people upstairs). Once, when Anwar Ibrahim was Deputy Prime Minister, Azman openly ticked him off for giving precedence to the foreign media and suggested that Anwar fix his own "press apparatus". If you're not used to it, you'd think it's crass. Reality is, sometimes that's the only way to make some people listen. +++ If he hasn't changed, Azman's appointment should benefit the national news agency, which is in dire need to become influential once again. If he's just going to play it safe and treat the chairmanship as a goodbye present, we'll really have to say goodbye to Bernama ...
