 Singapore first issue in 1929 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Media Chinese International Limited (main owner) Sin Chew Media Corporation Berhad Sin Poh (Star News) Amalgamated (Until 1982) |
| Founder | Aw Boon Haw |
| Publisher | Media Chinese International |
| Editor | Kuik Cheng Kang |
| Founded | 15 January 1929; 97 years ago (1929-01-15) inSingapore,Straits Settlements |
| Political alignment | Malaysian Chinese Association (Barisan Nasional) |
| Language | Chinese |
| City | Petaling Jaya |
| Country | Malaysia |
| Circulation | 340,584 (West Malaysia) 52,711 (Sarawak) 12,102 (night edition) 55,291 (e-paper) [a] |
| Website | www |
Sin Chew Daily (Chinese:星洲日報), formerly known asSin Chew Jit Poh (Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Seng-chiu Ji̍t-pò), is a Chinese-language newspaper inMalaysia. According to report from the Audit Bureau of Circulation for the period ending 31 December 2011,Sin Chew Daily has an average daily circulation of almost 500,000 copies and also the largest-selling Chinese-language newspaper outsideGreater China. It is only on Sundays that the circulation of theMalaysian Malay newspapers exceeds that ofSin Chew Daily.[4]
Sin Chew Daily is owned by Sin Chew Media Corporation Berhad, a subsidiary ofMedia Chinese International Limited. It is a member of theAsia News Network. It is circulated throughout Malaysia and neighboring countries, in Southern Thailand, Brunei andIndonesia. It is also published and printed inIndonesia[5] and Cambodia,[6] under different mastheads.
Sin Chew Daily has 53 news bureaus and six printing plants in Peninsular and East Malaysia.
Sin Chew Daily was founded on 15 January 1929, byAw Boon Par andAw Boon Haw, founder of theTiger Balm inSingapore, which was then a part of theStraits Settlements. The newspaper formed a part of the Star Amalgamated Newspaper formed by these two philanthropists.[7][8] The newspaper was suspended between 1942 and 1945 during theJapanese occupation of Malaya andSingapore.[9]
AKuala Lumpur office was established in 1950. Even after thesecession of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965,Sin Chew Daily initially still operated with its headquarters in Singapore under the management of descendant of the Aw brothers. In order to expedite the printing process, in 1966,Sin Chew Daily built a new plant located at its present head office premises inPetaling Jaya.[10] With the setting up of this new plant, other departments such as the news desk, editorial, production and circulation were started.
After separation, the Petaling Jaya operation increasingly became independent from the head office in Singapore. Following the directives from the Malaysian government on restraining foreigners from controlling the press, the Aw family transferred their ownership ofSin Chew Daily to Lim Kheng Kim in 1982.[10] TheSingaporean version eventually merged withNanyang Siang Pau not long after to formLianhe Zaobao andLianhe Wanbao, the latter of which would also merge again withShin Min Daily News in 2021.[11]
In 1987,Sin Chew Daily sank into deep financial trouble, and a receiver was appointed over the company. On 27 October 1987, the publication licence ofSin Chew Daily was suspended underOperasi Lalang, one of the most drastic clampdowns on civil dissent launched by the government. Tiong Hiew King, an entrepreneur from Sarawak, acquiredSin Chew Daily in 1988. After five months 11 days,Sin Chew Daily resumed publication on 8 April 1988.
In the early 1990s,Sin Chew Daily emerged as the best-selling Chinese newspaper, beatingNanyang Siang Pau, the leading Chinese newspaper then.[12]
On 29 January 2007, the merger of Sin Chew Media Corporation, Hong Kong Ming Pao Enterprise Corporation and Nanyang Press Holdings was announced.[9]
On 30 April 2008, the newly formed Media Chinese International Limited (MCIL) unprecedentedly listed on both Bursa Malaysia and Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
After the merger, MCIL is now the largest Chinese newspaper group outside mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.[13]
On 27 June 2009, MCIL clinched the National Mergers and Acquisitions Award 2009 for The Most Innovative Deal of the Year.[14]
Freedom House regardsSin Chew Daily as "fairly pro-Beijing" and said the newspaper published an article repeating state media narratives.Sin Chew has also published content critical of China, including information compiled from foreign sources.[15]
Steven Gan's independent news siteMalaysiakini began with a 20 November 1999 story criticizing the practices ofSin Chew Jit Poh. The newspaper had doctored a photograph of Malaysia's ruling party to removeAnwar Ibrahim, who had been imprisoned for corruption. According toBBC News, theMalaysiakini report led to "worldwide infamy" forSin Chew Jit Poh, and the newspaper later issued a public apology.[16]
On 4 December 2009,Sin Chew Daily has apologised to the Federation of Hainan Association Malaysia president Foo Sae Heng for misquoting him in a news article published.[17]
On 14 May 2018,Sin Chew Daily offered an apology to PKR'sRafizi Ramli over a report claiming he coveted the post of finance minister.Sin Chew Daily posted an explanation on its website admitting an error in its May 13 report claiming Rafizi "advised" PKR presidentWan Azizah Wan Ismail to snub a Pakatan Harapan (PH) meeting on Cabinet posts after he was purportedly overlooked for the finance portfolio.[18]
On 15 April 2025, in anticipation ofPresident of ChinaXi Jinping'sstate visit to Malaysia,Sin Chew Daily published an illustration of thenational flags of China andMalaysia on its front page. The Malaysian flag lacked the crescent representingIslam, Malaysia's official religion, drawing public criticism. TheKing of Malaysia,Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor, also rebuked the error through a post onFacebook as "unacceptable".Sin Chew Daily has since apologised for the error, rectified it on the newspaper's digital copies, and suspended both chief editor Chan Aun Kuang and deputy chief sub-editor Tsai Shwu San, who were cooperating with theHome Ministry in investigations.[19]
As part of an effort to encourage the Chinese community to develop a love for its culture and language,Sin Chew Daily has instigated a host of cultural events, one of its highlights being the Hua Zong Literature Award (花縱文學獎), established in 1991.
The inaugural literary award was named as the Sin Chew Daily Literature Awards. Renowned Singapore artistTan Swie Hian created the bronze sculpture "Hua Zong" as a prize for the award winner. Thus the literary award was renamed "Hua Zong" or Floral Trail Literation Awards. Hua (花, huā) means flower, but it also has similar pronunciation to Huá (華) meaning Chinese, this new adopted name bears the significance of connecting worldwide Chinese through literature.[citation needed]
The award has helped foster Chinese literature in Malaysia; a number of Malaysian Chinese writers such asTei Chiew-Siah and Li Zishu who have made a mark in the literary world has received the Award.[20][21] The award recognizes excellence in various categories, including fiction, prose and poetry.[22] It also awards aninternational prize biennially to writers worldwide who write in the Chinese language; recipients includeWang Anyi,Yan Lianke,Yu Kwang-chung andPai Hsien-yung.[23][24]
