History has been made. My brother Elphege and his sidekick, Yazzer have won the nation’s top TV journalism prize in their first attempt, defeating stiff competition from all over the country. In fact, their entry, about the plight of schoolchildren in Pitas, was the only one from Sabah to be shortlisted. Incidentally, I am not sure if during the visit they also distributed many a children’s book.

The Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) - Petronas Malaysian Press Night 2008 was held on 2nd May at One World Hotel, PJ.

The TV journalism prize is one of the 5 main categories of the awards.

They received their prizes from the Prime Minister himself:

Close-up of group photo: he’s fortunate to happen to stand next to the PM. Also can be seen is the country’s undisputed best environmental journalist (electronic media), Karam Singh Walia:

He SMSed me around 11pm informing me about his win, this photo was taken around 11.30pm. From left: Yazzer, Datuk Joniston Bangkuai (Sabah Journalists’ Association president) and Elphege:

I remember when they first won the state-level press award (Kinabalu Shell Press Awards) some years ago. That was already quite something. Then when they started winning that on a regular basis, it was time to aim for something higher.

After receiving his prize, he found himself on the receiving end - interview requests.

The other winners of the main categories were:
- Best Media Photo Category: Mohd Zaki Amiruddin (Utusan Melayu);
- Environment Journalism Category (electronic media): Karam Singh Walia (TV3);
- Environment Journalism Category (printed media): Melati binti Mohd. Ariff (BERNAMA)
- Best TV Feature: Rosli Mohd. Nordin & Mohd. Najib Hassan (RTM);

MPI received 498 participations from the print and electronic media this year with the panel of judges headed by UKM lecturer Prof Dr Mohd Safar Hasim.

Sources
MPI blog