HAWANA 2025 celebration kicks off today

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Journalists Day (HAWANA) 2025 celebration, themed “Journalism in the New Era: Embracing AI, Safeguarding Ethics,” officially kicks off today.

Organised by the Ministry of Communications with the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) as the implementing agency, the three-day HAWANA 2025 celebration runs until Sunday and begins with the HAWANA Carnival, held at the ground floor concourse of Sunway Putra Mall here from 10 am to 10 pm.

The HAWANA 2025 Carnival will be officiated by Communications Ministry Deputy Secretary-General (Telecommunications Infrastructure) Mano Verabathran at 3 pm today, and is expected to attract 5,000 visitors.

The carnival features 20 booths, including those from Bernama, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), Astro, TV AlHijrah, and digital portals such as RotiKaya and Vanakkam Malaysia, as well as participation from media agencies in Sabah and Sarawak.

Among the activities at the HAWANA Carnival are Bernama’s mini studio, pocket talks, Bernama services, as well as quizzes, lucky draws and a news reading challenge.

Nearly 100 strategic partners are sponsoring and contributing to HAWANA 2025, an increase from 44 last year, reflecting the growing interest in the event not only from government departments and agencies but also from corporate entities.

HAWANA 2025 is expected to gather around 1,000 media practitioners from both domestic and international organisations, making it an important platform for strengthening professional networks and empowering journalistic ethics in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

Tomorrow, the HAWANA 2025 celebration will continue with the HAWANA 2025 Forum at Dewan Tun Hussein Onn, World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL), starting at 9 am, followed by the main event officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at Dewan Merdeka, WTCKL.

May 29 has been gazetted as National Journalists Day in honour of the first publication of the Utusan Melayu newspaper on May 29, 1939, to celebrate the contributions of media industry players who serve as a medium for shaping an informed society.