KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — The Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj and the Tengku Permaisuri of Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin visited the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) headquarters today.
This is His Royal Highness’ second visit to Wisma Bernama after the first on July 10, 1986, as the Regent of Selangor.
Their Royal Highnesses were welcomed upon arrival at 11am by Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, Communications Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa, and Bernama chairman Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai.
Also present were Bernama editor-in-chief (assuming duties of chief executive officer) Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin, deputy editor-in-chief (news service) Arul Rajoo Durar Raj, deputy editor-in-chief (economic news service) Nasriah Darus, and senior officials.
Sultan Sharafuddin and Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin began the visit by touring the photography exhibition in the lobby, which showcases a selection of the best works of Bernama photographers.
Their Royal Highnesses then proceeded to the Editorial Department for another exhibition of the various media equipment, including cameras, drones and bulletproof vests, used by the Bernama newsmen, before attending a briefing on Bernama’s operations.
Bernama, serving as a national news source, began its operations on May 20, 1968, and is an agency under the Communications Ministry.
In line with the media industry’s evolution, it not only disseminates news to its clients through the ‘wire’ services but also has its own television and radio channels, known as Bernama TV and Bernama Radio.
Bernama also has around five million followers across various social media platforms, including on Facebook, TikTok, X, Instagram, and YouTube.
When touring the media equipment exhibition, Sultan Sharafuddin, who is a known photography enthusiast, spent 10 minutes inquiring about the collection of cameras and drones used by Bernama photographers during their news coverage.
This includes a Nikon D5 camera with an 800mm lens weighing about seven kg, which is widely used for sports news coverage and was also used during Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s ceremonial installation as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on July 30, 2019.
The royal visitors were also presented with a briefing on the Financial Information System developed by Bernama, which displays real-time data from Bursa Malaysia about the actual performance of the Malaysian stock market.
Fahmi also briefed Their Royal Highnesses on the 5G network rollout nationwide, particularly in Selangor, while Wong presented the briefing on the role of Bernama as an information hub for the people and the history of the news agency, which focuses on accurate and trusted news sources.
After the briefing, Sultan Sharafuddin and Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin also visited the Bernama TV news studio and watched several augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) video clips.
— Bernama
