RTM Apologises for Misidentifying Indonesian President, Gets Thai & S’pore PMs’ Names Wrong Minutes Later

Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), also known as the Malaysian Department of Broadcasting, has apologised over 3 separate incidents where it misidentified foreign leaders in their live broadcast of the 47th ASEAN Summit on Sunday (26 October).

Taking to their Facebook page, RTM issued 3 apology statements for misidentifying the Prime Ministers of Singapore and Thailand, as well as the President of Indonesia.

RTM apologises for misidentifying the leaders of Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore during the 47th ASEAN Summit broadcast 

During the broadcast, RTM incorrectly said the Prime Minister of Singapore is Lee Hsien Loong instead of Lawrence Wong, the Prime Minister of Thailand is Srettha Thavisin instead of Anutin Charnvirakul, and the President of Indonesia is Joko Widodo instead of Prabowo Subianto.

All of the mentioned names are the predecessors of the current leaders of each country. While Lawrence Wong is the direct successor to Lee Hsien Loong as Singaporean Prime Minister, and Prabowo Subianto is the direct successor of Joko Widodo as Indonesian President, there has been another Prime Minister after Srettha Thavisin, Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

RTM wrote, “The Malaysian Broadcasting Department apologises for the errors that occurred in RTM’s live broadcast in conjunction with the 47th ASEAN Summit and related conferences at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).”

In each statement, RTM apologised to the respective leaders and their governments over the mistakes, and assured them that it is taking the errors seriously.

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

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