Wishes for ST beyond 180: Odes to its enduring role in the Singapore story

Many Singaporeans have grown up reading The Straits Times and want it to continue featuring in their lives as the broadsheet has stayed relevant, trusted, and close to the ground even after 180 years.

- Wong Pei Ting, Correspondent, and Syarafana Shafeeq

Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said this on July 11, adding that Singaporeans will always need credible news sources that can help them get a good understanding of the world and inform their decision-making.

The difficulty in today's media landscape is that people are inundated with multiple information sources but are unsure how much of the information they can trust, and trust has therefore become a very rare commodity.

That is why the Government continues to support public service media such as ST to ensure Singaporeans have trusted news sources they can turn to, said Mrs. Teo, though these media organizations must then stay relevant and engaging to their audiences.

Mrs. Teo was among the guests at ST's 180th-anniversary gala dinner who shared personal anecdotes of having grown up reading the newspaper.

She recounted fond memories of rushing home after school to read the comics carried in its Life! section and reading the paper cover to cover when she grew older. She also remembered the thrill, as a young Economic Development Board officer, of seeing a ministerial speech she had written get reported on.

"I grew up with The Straits Times, and I'd like to grow old with The Straits Times," she said.

At the gala dinner, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also shared how his consumption of ST had evolved.