On the same day The Star front-paged a photograph of Muslims praying to welcome the month of Ramadhan below an unrelated headline on a Malaysian terrorist leader, two other local dailies - Utusan Malaysia and the New Straits Times - featured a similar combination of texts and images.

However, only The Star courted flak.

Political groups from both sides of the divide condemned the MCA-owned daily for being insensitive, while the Home Ministry summoned its top editors for an explanation and slapped the publication with a show-cause letter...