Malaysian broadcaster RTM issues 2 apologies for wrongly identifying national leaders at Asean summit

Malaysian broadcaster Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) has issued two apologies for misidentifying the leaders of three countries during a live broadcast of the 47th Asean Summit.

The incident occurred during the opening ceremony of the summit on Sunday (Oct 26), which is being held in Kuala Lumpur till Oct 28.

During the broadcast, RTM's commentator wrongly identified the leaders of Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

In a Facebook post on Sunday afternoon, the RTM noted that the commentator named the President of Indonesia as Joko Widodo.

He was the previous president and was succeeded by Prabowo Subianto in October last year.

The broadcaster also issued a second apology later in the evening for mistakes regarding Singapore and Thailand.

RTM said that it had misidentified Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong as his predecessor Lee Hsien Loong.

The commentator had also got the name of the Thai prime minister wrong. Anutin Charnvirakul was identified as Srettha Thavisin, who was removed as premier in 2024.

"RTM views this matter seriously and appropriate action has been taken," said the broadcaster, who apologised to the respective leaders and their governments, in addition to all affected parties.

"RTM will also continue to increase editorial control and fact-checking to ensure that every piece of information presented is accurate and has integrity."

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dana.leong@asiaone.com