11 feathers in ST's cap at annual awards

THE Straits Times won 11 awards at Singapore Press Holdings' annual English/Malay/Tamil Media group awards ceremony yesterday.

The newspaper's senior manpower correspondent, Toh Yong Chuan, was the first person in the history of the group's annual awards to score a hat-trick in the same year.

In addition to being named Journalist of the Year, he won Feature of the Year for a piece which saw him step into the shoes of a Singapore taxi driver for 11 days.

He also shared the Story of the Year award with Carolyn Khew, who now reports on science and environment issues, for their story on former China tour guide Yang Yin, who allegedly misappropriated $1.1 million from a wealthy widow.

The Straits Times also won the Feature Picture of the Year prize with photojournalist Kevin Lim's photograph that accompanied the story "She loves me like a rock", which profiled a former drug addict and how his mother's love and devotion made him turn over a new leaf.

The Commentary/Analysis of the Year went to senior health correspondent Salma Khalik for her commentary on how the Singapore Medical Council has a public duty to ensure that errant doctors are not let off too lightly, even as it looks after doctors' interests.

The Straits Times also nabbed several multimedia awards, such as the Best Cross Media Story of the Year for its online special "Ocean's Fury" on the 10th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Photojournalists Alphonsus Chern and Caroline Chia won the Best Video of the Year for their eight-minute feature documentary on the Republic of Singapore Navy combat divers' "Hell Week" training.

The New Paper clinched four awards: Young Journalist of the Year, News Picture of the Year, Illustration of the Year and Layout/Page Design of the Year.

The Business Times took a special award for excellence in enterprise and the Infographic of the Year, while Berita Harian won a special award for excellence in teamwork.

ateng@sph.com.sg

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