Mr Chandra Das appointed new
Chairman of Tamil Murasu Board
SINGAPORE, 29 September 2005 - Mr S. Chandra Das has been
appointed Chairman of the Board of Tamil Murasu Pte Ltd, the fully-owned
subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) that publishes Singapore's
only Tamil daily newspaper.
SPH announced today that Mr Das, 65, takes over from Dr A Vijiaratnam,
84, who stepped down from the Board on 1st August after 10 years
as Chairman of the TM board.
Mr Das, a prominent former Member of Parliament and until recently
Chairman of NTUC Fairprice, has remained an active leader in the
Indian community. He has received numerous awards for his distinguished
service to the community and the labour movement, the most recent
being the NTUC Distinguished Service (Star) Award in 2005. The former
Singapore Trade Representative in USSR and chairman of the Trade
Development Board is currently managing director of his own company,
NUR Investments and Trading Pte Ltd. He also serves on the board
of several listed and privately-held companies, including The Ascott
Group Ltd, Yeo Hiap Seng Ltd, and NM Rothchild & Sons (Singapore)
Pte Ltd.
SPH Chairman Lim Chin Beng said: "Mr Das has wide business,
political and community contacts which will serve Tamil Murasu well.
We especially value his business experience and acumen, and we are
confident that Tamil Murasu will continue to grow and expand into
new areas under his guidance."
On his appointment, Mr Das said: "I look forward to working
with the SPH board and management to make Tamil Murasu a successful
and thriving paper that serves the Tamil-speaking Indian community.
There are also business opportunities for Tamil Murasu in India
which I hope we can exploit."
SPH also expressed its deep gratitude to Dr Vijiaratnam. Mr Lim
said: "Under his guidance, Tamil Murasu was transformed from
a struggling vernacular paper with a dwindling circulation to one
which is profitable. It is now more reader-friendly and widely embraced
by the Indian community, including younger Indians. We appreciate
his contribution and wish him a happy retirement, good health and
happiness."
Tamil Murasu was founded in 1935 by the late G Sarangapany. In
1995, SPH acquired Tamil Murasu with Times Publishing owning a minority
stake, and in March 2004, the daily became wholly-owned by SPH.
To broaden its reach, Tamil Murasu underwent two major revamps in
1999 and, most recently, in April 2005, to beef up its coverage
of local and foreign news, as well as sports and entertainment.
It now gives readers a daily dose of "something for everyone".
Issued by Singapore Press Holdings
Co. Regn. No: 198402868E
For more infomation, please contact:
Audrey Perera
Senior Manager
Corporate Relations
DID: 65-6319 2261
FAX: 65-6319 8150
Email: audreyp@sph.com
About Singapore Press Holdings
Main board listed Singapore Press Holdings Limited is the leading
media company in Singapore, in the print, Internet and broadcasting
platforms. It publishes 13 newspapers in the four official languages
and more than 70 magazine titles. Everyday, 2.78 million individuals,
or 90 per cent of people above 15 years old, read one of the SPH
publications. Its Internet Business Unit manages the online editions
of SPH's major newspapers and magazines, which together enjoy over
300 million pageviews a month. SPH also owns a 20% stake in MediaCorp
TV Holdings Pte Ltd, which operates free-to-air channels 5, 8, U
and TV Mobile, and a 40% stake in MediaCorp Press Pte Ltd, which
publishes free newspaper Today. SPH operates two entertainment radio
channels, UFM 100.3 FM in Chinese and WKRZ 91.3 FM in English, under
a joint venture company, UnionWorks, with NTUC Media, and owns an
80% stake in SPH MediaBoxOffice Pte Ltd, Singapores largest
LED network media company.
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