PenangToday apologises for misattributing quotes to Professor Datuk Ahmad Murad Merican

PenangToday has issued a formal apology to Professor Datuk Ahmad Murad Merican for a reporting error in our recent article on the Penang and Kedah lease debate.

Our article went beyond what he said. We wrote that there were no lease in 1786, when the understanding of a lease was in 1791. We added a description of the Francis Light arrangement as a “gentleman’s pact.” We also added an explanation that the annual honorarium was payment for trade access rather than rent. Professor Datuk Ahmad Murad Merican did not say these words.

We have removed the entire paragraph containing these added statements from the article.

We regret the error and any confusion it caused readers and Professor Datuk Ahmad Murad Merican. We thank him for flagging this and giving us the chance to correct it.