Azlan Jaafar, the group editor-in-chief of Media Mulia, said Nga’s willingness to apologise to the media has brought the matter to a close, allowing all parties to carry on with their duties without further disruption.

“Utusan Malaysia thanks the minister for bringing an end to this controversy. We also extend our gratitude to everyone – from politicians to ordinary citizens – who came forward to defend our reporter and the role of the media as a whole in Malaysia.

“We hope that everyone has learned something valuable from this incident,” he said in a statement.

Media Mulia is Utusan Malaysia’s publisher.

Azlan also said Utusan Malaysia’s management had chosen to remain silent throughout the episode to avoid further complicating matters for those involved.

Tajuddin commended Nga for his “magnanimous” apology, saying that in Islam, those willing to yield to avoid escalating conflicts, even if they are in the right, “are considered among the best in the eyes of God”.

He told FMT that in misunderstandings involving race, religion or national symbols, Malaysians should always be ready to apologise.

Nga drew brickbats for reprimanding an Utusan Malaysia reporter at the pre-launch of his ministry’s “I Lite U” project in Kuala Lumpur after being asked why the programme’s name was in English and not in Malay.

The DAP minister responded by saying he would contact the reporter’s editors because the question concerned “national interests”.

Following public backlash, Tajuddin had advised Nga to apologise, saying the incident was a misunderstanding that could be quickly resolved.

At a press conference yesterday, Nga said he never meant to offend anyone, and retracted his remarks.