This posting, but more importantly the comments that accompany this posting in Rocky’s blog, gives a fascinating insight into how corruption works in Malaysia. The case in point here is Fox Communications, a PR agency set up by two former journalists with backing from prominent people and ministers in the Abdullah Badawi administration.
They burst onto the Malaysian scene a few years ago and began getting the huge, juicy and lucrative contracts, primarily because of their backing. Then, after Badawi was forced to resign, their source of patronage dried up and they withered. Now they have had to close down.
In the comments section of Rocky’s posting are also very interesting references to APCO, the international public affairs agency that was appointed by the present government to PR Malaysia for fat fees. How much have they succeeded in PR-ing the unPR-able? No one seems to have held anyone accountable or demand to know whether taxpayers money has been well spent in the appointment.
Fox, a short life and a death not mourned
DEATH OF A PR AGENCY. I was not sad at all to read the Star’s piece Fox to cease ops on March 31. I sense that the writer of the article, or perhaps the editor who went through the piece and approved it for publication, was not saddened, either. The thing is, Fox had an unfair advantage over other agencies during its time. It had powerful “cables”.
The body that oversees the PR industry in this country should try and gain some lessons from the Fox affair. How did a new PR firm run by two ex-editors manage to get so much on their plate in such a short time, from Sime Darby’s merger exercisse (well, we know what has happened to that) to the various “Corridors”. Some said the Finance Minister at the time had a hand in making it happen for Fox. It’s an old story so many times on blogs including mine, but surely we are curious?
Here’s the full story from The Star
Unspun 
Leave a Reply