DATUK SERI WONG CHUN WAI
64 Years of Age, Malaysian
Chairman of BERNAMA, the Malaysian National News Agency.
Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai is one of the best known Malaysian journalists. He is currently the Chairman of BERNAMA, a post he was appointed on Sept 1, 2023.
Prior to this he was a member of the BERNAMA board (2004-2010) and its Supervisory Council (2010- 2014).
He was also an advisor at the Star Media Group from January 1999 until December 2024. He has over 40 years experience in the media industry.
Prior to this appointment, he held the post of Group Managing Director and CEO of the Company from November 2013 until 2019.
In 2008, at the age of 46, he was appointed Group Chief Editor (GCE), the youngest to ever hold the position in the Company. He rose from the rank, joining as a cadet reporter in 1984, and rose to the highest post. Subsequently, in 2010, he was also the first GCE to be appointed as an Executive Director.
Chun Wai received his primary and secondary education in St Xavier’s Institution in Penang, where he was born on May 25, 1961. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), majoring in political science and history, in 1984.
He also studied at the Malay Letters Department. He has attended financial and leadership development programmes organised by the International Centre for Leadership in Finance at several American universities including the University of Stanford and University of Southern California in 2006.
He was an adjunct professor at Northern University of Malaysia (UUM) in 2015 at the Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School. He was appointed Industry Leader/ Fellow at the National University of Malaysia (UKM) in 2015. In April, 2021, Wong was appointed an adjunct professor at the Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty of UKM.
In 2003, he won the prestigious Best Journalist Award for news features from the National Press Institute for his investigative article on Malaysian terrorists and their arms training in Afghanistan.
In the same year, Asia Inc, a regional business magazine, named Chun Wai in a list of Asia’s top 50 young movers and shakers. He was then the deputy group chief editor.
Chun Wai was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Media Industry by the World Chinese Economic Forum in Chongqing, China in 2014. The recognition was conferred by then Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
In 2012, he has the distinction of becoming the first Malaysian to be elected into the board of the Paris-based World Editors Forum.
He had also won the media leader title in 2015 from the McMillian Woods, a renowned accounting firm.
Chun Wai was elected the chairman of the Bangkok-based Asia News Network, an alliance of 21 media groups in Asian cities in 2012 and appointed an Honorary Advisor (2016-2019) of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC).
He has also served as a member of the Governance Council of the National Innovation Agency in the Prime Minister’s Department from 2012-2016. He was also appointed a trustee of the Global Movement of Moderates in 2013-2016. Both appointments were made by then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
He also served as an advisor to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in its Consultation and Prevention of Corruption Panel in 2009. He was appointed to the post by then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
In 2021, Chun Wai was appointed by then Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as a member of the National Recovery Council.
Chun Wai is a much sought after speaker at conferences at national and international level. He was invited by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (Wan Ifra) to speak at its conferences in Bangkok (2013), Hong Kong (2014), Manila (2016) and Kuala Lumpur (2017).
He has also spoken at many forums in universities, colleges and schools on journalism, moderation and nation-building, which are his favourite subjects.
Chun Wai is also a regular feature on television and radio where his views are sought of.
In 2008, Chun Wai attended the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative to join many international leaders to discuss global concerns including the environment in New York at the invitation of former US President Bill Clinton.
He is currently a director at the Asian Leadership and Strategic Institute, an independent think tank. Chun Wai is also a member of the Corruption Perception Index Special Task Force since July 2024. At the corporate level, Chun Wai is an independent director at Sports Toto Bhd.
Chun Wai writes a weekly column in The Sunday Star called “on the Beat” which focuses on political and religious moderation, and a fortnightly travel column called “Off The Beat” in The Star lifestyle section on alternate Saturdays. He has authored two books, “On The Beat” (2011) and “Penang’s History, My Story” (2014). He also co-authored the book “Moderation” (2016). All three books were published by Star Media Group.
In November, 2019, Universiti Sains Malaysia chose to translate his book on Penang into Bahasa Malaysia and has named the book “Nostalgia Pulau Pinang, Jejak Hidupku.” Plans are being made to publish the book.
Besides his popular commentaries and articles in The Star, his works appear regularly in The Straits Times of Singapore, China Daily in China and Hong Kong, Sin Chew in Malaysia, Jakarta Post in Indonesia and The Nation in Thailand, on both print and online platforms.
He has scored many world exclusives through his writings including an interview with the late Stephen Hawking, known as one of the world’s most famous scientists, in 2010, in Cambridge. He also interviewed former US President Bill Clinton twice in 2008, in New York and Kuala Lumpur. In 2014, he also sat down with President Jokowi for an interview in Jakarta.
Chun Wai also made world headlines when he wrote an article on Al Qaeda terrorist Hambali and produced the most updated photograph of the terrorist at Guantanamo Bay in 2010.
In 2014, he interviewed then London Mayor Boris Johnson, who has gone on to become the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
In his years as a journalist, he had visited over 50 countries, and accompanied then PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, during his 22 years in office, where he covered press conferences and met global icons like Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Lee Kuan Yew, Jiang Zemin, Joseph Estrada and others.
His fascination for people isn’t limited to politicians. Over the decades, he has met and interviewed figures like Richard Branson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Beckham, Arsene Wenger, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Choo and Jackie Chan among others, and his meetings are themselves stories worth telling.He is, no doubt, a journalist extraordinaire.
He is a strong advocate of moderation, commonalities and positive values for a well-balanced and sustainable society.
Chun Wai is also an active community worker in charity work. He is also a trustee of the Berjaya Foundation and had previously served in a similar post on the Star Foundation.
He is also a qualified and registered trainer with the Human Resources Development Fund under the Human Resources Ministry.
Chun Wai is also the host of a popular webcast and as well as a YouTuber with a huge following.
For his work, he was conferred the title of Darjah Yang Mulia Mahkota Wilayah, which carries the title of Datuk Seri, from the Yang diPertuan Agong, in 2009.
In 2003, he was conferred the title of Dato Shahrafuddin Idris Shah, which carries the title of Dato, from Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. In 2010, His Highness appointed him a Justice of Peace.
In 2002, Chun Wai was conferred the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka, which carries the title of Datuk, from the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Melaka Tun Syed Ahmad Syed Mahmud Shahabudin. He was appointed a Justice of Peace in 2007.
