By Sarafina Christopher
The Malaysian Government says strategic communication is central to effective governance, stressing that governments must not only formulate sound policies but communicate them effectively to earn public trust and confidence.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dato’ Lukanisman Awang Sauni, said this during an interactive session with participants of the Malaysia Foreign Media Visitors’ Programme (MFMVP) 2026.
The programme, organised under the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP), brought together journalists from 10 countries, including Nigeria.
Drawing from his experience as Deputy Minister of Health, Lukanisman said effective communication was essential in helping the public understand government policies.
“Our focus is to explain to the public that we have obligations to build more clinics and more hospitals.
“But at the same time, there are obligations of our citizens to take care of their health by practising good sugar intakes, doing twice-a-year medical check-ups, and it’s free,” he said.
He said Malaysia had shifted its health strategy towards prevention, encouraging healthier lifestyles and early disease detection through public awareness campaigns.
The deputy minister said the media remained an important partner in communicating government policies, while maintaining the responsibility to report accurately.
“Malaysia is an open country. We are very free. We have freedom of speech,” he said.
He added that criticism of government policies was welcomed, provided it was supported by evidence.
“They have also been allowed to criticise the government, but it must be based on evidence,” he added.
Lukanisman said strategic communication became especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the government relied on trusted health professionals to communicate with the public.
“We decided not to have a politician as a spokesperson during COVID-19 because everybody was pissed off with politicians at that time,” he said.
He said instead, Malaysia’s Director-General of Health became the public face of the country’s pandemic response, helping to reassure citizens through regular briefings.
“We won so many hearts and minds of the people. This is how the media can create some ideas for the public,” he emphasised.
He added that governments must ensure that public messages were simple, relatable and responsive to citizens’ concerns.
According to him, the story must be simple and not complicated.
The deputy minister also urged public officials to maintain open communication with journalists, saying responsiveness helped build professional trust.
He added that effective governance depended not only on good policies, but also the ability to communicate them clearly, consistently and credibly to the public.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Deborah Coker