Key points
- A Malaysian government official says clear public communication is essential to maintain trust and governance.
- Deputy Foreign Minister Dato’ Lukanisman Awang Sauni spoke at the Malaysia Foreign Media Visitors’ Programme 2026.
- Malaysia cited its COVID-19 approach of using medical experts instead of politicians to lead public briefings.
- Officials stressed that public messaging must remain simple, evidence-based, and focused on preventive health.
Main story
The Malaysian Government says strategic communication is central to effective governance, stressing that authorities must communicate policies clearly to earn public trust.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dato’ Lukanisman Awang Sauni, stated 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 previous experience as Deputy Minister of Health, Lukanisman explained that effective communication was essential in helping the public understand and adopt 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 noted that Malaysia had shifted its health strategy towards prevention, encouraging healthier lifestyles and early disease detection through public awareness campaigns. The deputy minister noted that the media remains an indispensable partner in communicating government policies, while holding the responsibility to report accurately.
“Malaysia is an open country. We are very free. We have freedom of speech,” he said, adding that criticism of government policies was welcomed, provided it was supported by evidence.
Lukanisman emphasized that strategic communication became especially critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the government intentionally relied on trusted health professionals rather than elected officials to communicate with citizens.
“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.
Instead, Malaysia’s Director-General of Health became the public face of the country’s pandemic response, reassuring citizens through regular, transparent briefings. Lukanisman urged public officials to maintain open dialogue with journalists, noting that responsiveness builds professional trust and ensures public messages remain simple, relatable, and credible.
The issues
Governments worldwide struggle with public skepticism, misinformation, and policy fatigue. Malaysia’s strategy highlights the necessity of depoliticizing critical public communications by utilizing technical experts and fostering open, evidence-based media engagement to maintain institutional credibility.
What’s being said
“We decided not to have a politician as a spokesperson during COVID-19 because everybody was pissed off with politicians at that time.” – Dato’ Lukanisman Awang Sauni, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
What’s next
Participants of the MFMVP 2026 will continue their policy familiarisation program across Malaysian federal and state institutions, engaging with government leadership to study Malaysia’s governance and strategic communication frameworks.
Bottom line
Effective governance relies as much on clear, credible communication as it does on sound policy, with Malaysia demonstrating that evidence-based openness and expert-led messaging are essential for sustaining public trust.
