<<December 9 – 11, 2003

The Straits Times Media Club organised acamp for 100 “student editors” from 32

member schools. The activities included aninterview with Acting Education Minister

Tharman Shanmugaratnam and talks on broadcast journalism from ST editors and senior journalists.

<<January 7, 2004

Lianhe Zaobao launched the Popcornpages, as part of its effort to attract youngreaders. The pages, which are published

every Wednesday, have been well received,with 30,000 copies of Zaobao being sold

to schools weekly.

>>October 1, 2003

ST School Pocket Money Fund launched itsfourth fund-raising drive to support thegrowing number of needy students, whohave gone up from 7,200 to 11,000 thisyear. Despite the weak economy, $3.5

million was raised.

>>October 14 – 15, 2003

For the first time, over 300 letter writers ofThe Straits Times Forum pages were invitedto a “Thank You” gathering at SPH News

Centre for their contribution. It was anopportunity for them to meet ST editorsand exchanged views. They also toured

the newsroom, TV news studio andInformation Resource Centre andexchange. ST plans to hold this

event annually.

>>January 11, 2004

MediaWork’s Ren Ci Charity Show,organised for the second year, raised $7

million for Ren Ci Hospital. The livecharity show with MediaWorks artistes

performing daredevil feats pulled in some1.25 million viewers.

>>January 16, 2004

SPH raised cover prices of nine of itsnewspapers, in the first price adjustmentsince 1995. The increase for The Straits

Times, Sunday Times, The New Paper, TheNew Paper on Sunday, Berita Harian,

Berita Minggu, Lianhe Zaobao, LianheWanbao and Shin Min Daily News, was in

two stages – 16 January 2004 fornewsstand copies and 1 February 2004 for

subscription copies.

<<March 18, 2004

Shin Min Daily News celebrated its 37thbirthday with a revamp. The new look

Chinese evening daily comes with 16 extracolour pages, a new, bolder and more

vibrant layout and more varied content.

<<March 5, 2004

Member of Parliament Halimah Yacob was named Woman of the Year 2003 and

Dr Wong Ting Hway, Young WomanAchiever, at the annual event organised by

Her World magazine.

S I G N I F I C A N T

E V E N T S

<<November 7, 2003

C.A.T.S. (Classified AdvertisementsTelephone Sales) of Marketing Division

clinched the Call Centre of the Year (under 50 seats) title in the Call CentreCouncil of Singapore Awards, whichrecognise organisations with excellent

customer service, high level of productivity,operational efficiency and profitability.

<<December, 2003

Lianhe Zaobao set up its Chongqingbureau, the fourth bureau in China. It isthe first foreign news bureau to open in

Chongqing.

<<September 6, 2003

Lianhe Zaobao celebrated its 80thanniversary at Suntec Singapore Ballroom

with then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew asthe Guest of Honour. More than 800 guests

including ministers, business, communityleaders and diplomats attended the gala event.

>>September 28, 2003

Relaunch of The Sunday Times. The eye-catching, more lively and vibrant Sundayedition was an instant hit with readers,

especially the younger ones, boosting theweekly sales by more than 8,000 copies.

>>January 9, 2004

SPH Magazines held its premier beautyevent of the year, Her World Beauty

Awards 2003, for the third year running, at the Grand Hyatt Singapore. The

highlight of the event was the Her WorldBeauty Awards, which honour the best in

the local beauty industry.

>>January 10 – 15, 2004

The annual River Hongbao to celebrate the Lunar New Year was launched at the

Marina Promenade by NationalDevelopment Minister Mah Bow Tan.

The event is jointly organised by ChineseNewspapers Division (CND) and promotes

Chinese culture and traditions.

<<February, 2004

You Weekly, a Chinese entertainmentweekly, launched Yummy Guide 2004.

Some 50,000 copies of the food guide werequickly snapped up.

<<February 14, 2004

Organised by CND, the biennial ChineseCultural Festival featured a record numberof activities – 220 over six weeks – rangingfrom Chinese opera, exhibitions, dance to

films which draw on Chinese heritage.

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>>May 23, 2004

Singapore’s biggest mass sports event, TheNew Paper Big Walk, drew some 70,000participants. The annual event, into its14th year, was organised by The New

Paper, Singapore Amateur AthleticAssociation and Singapore

Sports Council.

<<June 6, 2004

Singapore Promising Brand Awards 2004,organised by Lianhe Zaobao and ASME,recognise small and medium enterprises in

Singapore that have shown outstandingperformance in communicating

their brands.

>>May 2, 2004

A New Business Unit was set up by CNDto complement Marketing division toleverage on the influence and brand of

Chinese newspapers and reach out to advertisers.

<<June 10, 2004

Lianhe Zaobao revamped its sports pagesjust before the start of the Olympics Gamesin Athens. The new design is eye-catching,

with vivid pictures and illustrations.

>>July 6, 2004

SPH Magazines launched Shape Singapore,the local version of the top US health and

fitness magazine for woman.

>>August 4, 2004

Veteran of social service, Haji Abu BakarMaidin was named the Berita Harian

Achiever of the Year 2004. The event wasorganised by Berita Harian and presented

by McDonald’s.

<<August 29, 2004

A total of 68 schools participated in BeYourself Day, organised by The New Paper.

Students dressed creatively to schools toexpress their personalities and made

donations to the President’s Challenge2004. The event, launched in 2002, raised

$140,000 this year.

<<September 1, 2004

The Business Times was relaunched with abrand new look, featuring a refreshing bluemasthead, and offering movers and shakersa meatier content, with a minimum of 32pages on weekdays and speciality pages.Shipping Times has been integrated into

the main paper.

<<May 28, 2004

The 19th World Book Fair, was held at theSuntec Singapore Ballroom. More than

702,000 people attended the annual fair.

<<June, 2004

Lianhe Zaobao launched its Indonesianedition, which is printed and distributed by

the International Daily News in Jakarta,under licence by SPH. Under this

agreement, 5,000 copies of Zaobao areprinted daily, boosting the presence of theSPH Chinese flagship daily in the region.

>>March 8, 2004

Streats launched its second edition. About20,000 copies of the noon edition were

distributed at selected MRT stations, foodjunctions and shopping malls in the

CBD area.

>>March 25, 2004

Singapore Business Awards 2003, organisedby The Business Times and DHL, named

Ron Sim, Founder and CEO of OSIMInternational, Businessman of the Year; LeeHsien Yang, President & CEO of SingTel,Outstanding Chief Executive of the Year;

and gave Hyflux Limited the Enterprise Award.

>>July, 2004

SPH opened its first China business officein Shanghai. Registered as New Beginnings

Management Consultancy (Shanghai) Co Ltd, the office explores business

opportunities and developments in China.

>>July 5, 2004

SPH launched the SPH Ink Awards tohonour excellence in print advertisements

published in SPH newspapers andmagazines. This annual award culminates

at an industry-wide gala event wherewinners will be announced.

<<August 28, 2004

ZPop zbNOW Concert, organised byzbNOW, raised over $180,000 for the

annual President’s Challenge 2004. Over15,000 attended Singapore’s biggest

outdoor concert at the Padang and wereentertained by local and foreign artistesfrom Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong

and Malaysia.

<<August 29, 2004

Zaobao Sunday was revamped to attractyounger readers. It has a new masthead,the design is sleek, brighter with more

colour visuals and there are more featuresfor leisurely reading for the whole family.

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