ST's Asian of the Year pick to be named soon

ST's Asian of the Year pick to be named soon

THE Straits Times is in the final stages of deciding on the winner of its Asian of the Year Award, the newspaper's editor Warren Fernandez said at the ST Global Outlook Forum.

The award recognises the top newsmaker who has had a major impact on Asia in the past year.

The reformist President Thein Sein of Myanmar carried away the inaugural award last year.

Participants at the second ST Global Outlook Forum last Friday were given the chance of naming their choice of winner. The top choices were Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Myanmar's democracy icon and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and President Xi Jinping of China. The winner will be announced later this month, said ST's foreign editor Ravi Velloor.

Mr Velloor noted the frenetic pace of news events, ranging from the haze, the Delhi rape tragedy, and the Malaysian general election, that kept ST journalists on their toes. At one point, the newsroom had 18 people committed to the Malaysian polls, he said, adding that he was gratified to see that large numbers of Malaysians turned to ST a source of credible news on their country.

No newspaper was better-positioned than The Straits Times to bring home the Asian story, Mr Fernandez said, noting that the paper had been covering developments in the region since 1845, and building up its network of bureaus since the 1980s. New correspondents will be appointed soon in the Philippines, India, South Korea and Myanmar, he added.

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