Woes of a modern-day newspaper vendor

Rising costs and falling print subscriptions exacerbated by Covid-l9 hurt livelihoods

- Mark Cheong

At 4am every day, while most people are deep in slumber, 64-yearold Rathnakumar Chokkalingam is at the height of his work day, zooming around on his motorcycle and walking briskly in the Beach Road area trying his best, weather permitting, to keep to a tight schedule of delivering newspapers to subscribers' doorsteps.

Mr Kumar, as he is called, is one of 390 newspaper vendors distributing SPH Media's six news broadsheets who are now grappling with problems with their livelihood: Their operating costs are rising due to factors such as skyhigh prices of fuel and certificates of entitlement, while newspaper subscriptions and circulation are declining as digital media claims an ever greater share of the market.

"In the 1990s, I could afford to hire four part-timers and drive a van, distributing around 1,800 copies of the papers a day," said Mr Kumar, who has seen the boom and decline of print sales during his 42 years as a second-generation newspaper vendor.