NewspaperSG: From Press to Screen

The Straits Times, 10 August 1965. (From NewspaperSG)

If you dread spending hours sitting in a dimly lit room watching a stream of microfilmed newspapers flutter by on a projector screen, you may well become a fan of NewspaperSG (https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/).

A collaboration by the National Library Board (NLB) and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), the service facilitates more productive research. Where in the past, library patrons had to plough through reams of microfilmed newspapers, now a simple keyword search allows browsing of the digital archive of Singapore and Malayan newspapers published from 1831 to 2006. At present, 23 newspaper titles are available.

Research shows that users are now more likely than ever to turn to search engines when looking for information. To address this issue, newspaper content has been search engine-optimised with the permission of the respective publishers, and this has been received with enthusiasm by netizens.

Since its official launch in January 2010, NewspaperSG has proved to be tremendously popular – more than 8 million digital pages have been accessed by a total of 1.2 million visitors. Patrons can search 14.8 million articles in these digitised newspapers, from both NLB libraries and in the comfort of their own homes.

With the addition of Malay-language daily Berita Harian and Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao to NewspaperSG’s stable of archived news publications, users who had voiced hopes that plans to include digitised copies of newspapers in other languages now see their wish come true. Another proposed development is to incorporate newspaper content from other NLB-subscribed databases with NewspaperSG to form a single seamless service.

One of the significant time-savers that NewspaperSG offers is a citation-saving feature. Conveniently located at the top of the webpage, it allows users to save and email citations for future reference. For a truly rich Web 2.0 experience, NewspaperSG is integrated with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to encourage knowledge-sharing.

The recent addition of vernacular-language newspapers, user-friendly features such as multilingual user interfaces, translated search terms and search keyword recommendations further enhance users’ experience of this comprehensive digital archive.

Beritan Harian

Berita Harian is the only Malay newspaper published in Singapore today. First published in 1957 in Kuala Lumpur and distributed in Malaya as a rival newspaper to the Utusan Melayu, the edition known to Singaporeans today came into being in 1965. This new Berita Harian focused on news reports and discussions of issues specific to Singapore. An online version, cyBerita, was made available in 1996. Today, the paper is published by the SPH and is independent of Malaysia’s Berita Harian.

Berita Harian provides a platform for the Malay community in Singapore to voice their views and has been “a source of Malay leadership” – a number of its former journalists and editors such as Mohamad Maidin Packer, Hawazi Daipi and Zainul Abideen Rasheed have moved on to political careers.

Berita Harian, 31 Disember 1976. (From NewspaperSG)

Berita Harian merupakan satu-satunya akhbar yang diterbitkan dalam bahasa Melayu di Singapura pada masa ini. Mula diterbitkan pada tahun 1957 di Kuala Lumpur, ia diedarkan ke seluruh Malaya sebagai pesaing kepada akhbar Utusan Melayu. Selepas 1965, edisi Singapura mula diterbitkan untuk melaporkan dan membincangkan isu-isu berkenaan Singapura. Versi dalam talian, Cyberita, diterbitkan sejak 1996. Kini Berita Harian yang diterbitkan di Singapura sudah tiada kaitan dengan Berita Harian yang diterbitkan di Malaysia selepas Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) ditubuhkan dan mengambil alih usaha penerbitannya.

Berita Harian yang bertindak sebagai wadah untuk masyarakat Melayu menyuarakan pandangan mereka telah menjadi sumber melahirkan pemimpin Melayu. Antara wartawan dan penyunting Berita Harian yang kemudiannya berkecimpung dalam arena politik termasuk Encik Mohamad Maidin Packer, Hawazi Daipi dan Zainul Abideen Rasheed.

Lianhe Zaobao 联合早报

With 200,000 copies published daily by the SPH, Lianhe Zaobao is the leading Chinese newspaper in Singapore. The paper is also distributed in mainland China, Hong Kong and Brunei. The result of a merger between Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh, the paper originated as the Nanyang Sin-Chew Lianhe Zaobao (or Lianhe Zaobao, for short). The former two newspapers were the earliest published in Singapore, in 1923 and 1929 respectively.

In its lifetime, Lianhe Zaobao has set a number of firsts. In 1991, it became the first Chinese newspaper in the world to implement fully computerised output typesetting and an industry wide sensation in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Study groups of delegates visited the Singapore offices of Lianhe Zaobao to study this new production method from journalist input to layout. In 1993, Lianhe Zaobao became the first foreign newspaper to be available in mainland China, on the newsstands of five-star hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and in other major cities. In 1995, Lianhe Zaobao launched the world’s first Chinese e-newspaper, zaobao.com, which allowed for the online proliferation of its content. It the beginning, zaobao. com received about 10,000 hits daily. This number has since increased by more than a hundred times to 5 million today. Entering the era of web2.0, SPH launched its bilingual online platform omy. Targeting young people between the ages of 18 and 35, this platform introduced the use of vodcasts and podcasts as new ways of presenting news. As part of the SPH stable, Lianhe Zaobao continues to provide strong content backing for omy’s news and entertainment information.

《 联合早报》, 1983年3月16日. (From NewspaperSG)

《联合早报》是目前新加坡的主要华文日报，由新加坡报业 控股公司出版。它每日的发行量约为20万份，除了在新加坡 发行之外，也在中国大陆、香港特别行政区和文莱等地少量 发行。它的前身是1923年创刊的《南洋商报》和1929年创刊的《星洲日报》。1983年， 这两家历史悠久的报章合并， 成立新加坡新闻与出版有限公司，并共同在1983年3月16日 出版了《南洋•星洲联合早报》 ，简称《联合早报》。

《联合早报》创下许多个“第 一”。1991年，它成为世界 上第一家真正全面电脑化的华文报，从记者输入文稿到编 辑排出大版，完全通过电脑操作；这在当时引起中国大陆、 香港和台湾报业同业的兴趣， 纷纷组团前来考察。1993年， 它又获准在中国登陆，可在北京、上海、广州等几个大城市 的五星级酒店公开售卖，成为 第一家获准在中国大陆发行的 海外华文报。1995年开启电子 版联合早报网（zaobao.com)，通过网络将《联合早报》的内容迅速传送到全球各角落，成为东南亚第一家进入互联网时代的华文报，也是全球最早上网华文报之一。联合早报 网的点击率从每天1万，到今天每天近500万的页览量，增加了数百倍。进入Web2.0时 代，新加坡报业控股推出以18岁到35岁为主要对象的双语移动与在线平台omy（online mobile for the young，www. omy.sg），不但提供丰富的新闻与娱乐资讯，更跨越文字，以视频（vodcast）和音频 （podcast）呈现新闻。作为报业控股旗下的华文报章，《联 合早报》为omy在新闻.

About the Authors
Michelle Ng, Librarian, Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, National Library.

Ng Hui Ling, Associate Librarian, Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, National Library.

Mazelan Anuar, Senior Librarian, Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, National Library.