Lianhe Zaobao celebrates 90 years of heritage and editorial excellence

SINGAPORE - Lianhe Zaobao, the flagship Chinese newspaper of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.

A series of celebration programmes to mark Lianhe Zaobao's 90th anniversary started in January and culminating in a grand gala dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore on Sept 6.

About 500 guests, including Chinese community and business leaders, government officials, professionals and academics, advertisers, columnists and correspondents of Lianhe Zaobao, have been invited to the gala dinner, where President Tony Tan Keng Yam will be the Guest of Honour.

Like its 90th anniversary tagline which says "Enduring Charm" or "历久弥新" in Chinese, the 90-year-old Chinese daily has stood the test of time.

The newspaper has established itself as a strong and trustworthy brand over the years. The team of both veteran and young journalists will draw on the newspaper's 90 years of experience and continue to soar in the era of media convergence.

Some major events which are part of Lianhe Zaobao's 90th anniversary celebrations include:

Plant a Tree for Charity: Lianhe Zaobao will be inviting readers to gather at Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park on Sept 14 to plant 90 trees as part of its annual charity event. Proceeds from the adoption of the 90 trees by readers and staff of Lianhe Zaobao at $200 each will go to the Garden City Fund.

Fun with Books: Lianhe Zaobao launched a year-long volunteer reading programme together with the National Library Board in January called Fun with Books or "翻(Fun)书乐". Editors and journalists of Lianhe Zaobao take turns to read Chinese stories to children aged between four and eight at the Toa Payoh Public Library every Saturday at noon.

Complimentary Health Checks: As part of its efforts to engage with readers, it offered medical screening packages to 90 lucky readers in March and April.

"Our Collective Memories" comics exhibition

"Our Collective Memories" ("我们的另一种集体记忆"漫画展) is a comics exhibition jointly organised by the National Library Board's Singapore Memory Project. The travelling exhibition opened at the National Library in August and is currently at Library@Chinatown in Sept. It will be brought to Woodlands Regional Library in October and SPH News Centre at Toa Payoh North in Nov. This is the first time a local exhibition is organised to showcase works by local comic artists dating back nearly nine decades.

"Impressions of Singapore" photo exhibition

Lianhe Zaobao and Canon jointly present "Impressions of Singapore" (印象新加坡), a travelling photo exhibition that features 90 photographs depicting different facets of Singapore. Of the 90 works on display, 80 were taken by Lianhe Zaobao's team of photojournalists. These photos capture some historic moments from 1954 to the present year. Another 10 were photo entries submitted by members of the public for the "Impressions of Singapore" photo contest. The exhibition was opened at VivoCity in August and then brought to 112 Katong. It is currently at JEM before moving on to Chinatown Point from Sept 22 to 29. In addition, the photos were published in a book which were given out to guests who attended the gala dinner on Sept 6.

Nine Songs, an arts extravaganza

The two-night outdoor arts extravaganza "Nine Songs" (九。歌) on Aug 30 and 31 featuring 40 leading local artists at Fort Canning Park was well-attended, attracting over 3,000 people each night. The audiences were wowed by an assortment of arts performances, from Beijing opera, Chinese pop, percussion music, contemporary dance to crosstalk.

Anniversary Offers

In appreciation of readers' support, Lianhe Zaobao will be publishing a slew of 90th anniversary promotions from September onwards, starting with the special supplement on Sept 6. The privileges include hotel stay, dining offers and concert tickets.