Straits Times journalists win four Singapore Press Club awards
(From left) ST's senior correspondent Stephanie Yeo, correspondent Ang Qing, digital graphics journalist Charlene Chua and tech editor Irene Tham with their Singapore Press Club awards.
SINGAPORE - When a bank customer urgently applied for a 'kill switch' to freeze all his funds but still lost $3,000 in unauthorised transfers, Straits Times tech editor Irene Tham wanted to know what went wrong.
She started digging into how the bank customer's funds later got transferred to an unknown overseas account, and found there was a key issue: There is no uniform definition of a kill switch in Singapore.
She wrote a
commentary on Dec 16, 2024 that shone a light on the little-known issue, and argued for a review of Giro top-ups for e-wallets.
On July 16, Ms Tham, 51, was one of four winners from the national broadsheet to receive a Singapore Press Club award.
She bagged the inaugural IBM-Singapore Press Club Tech Journalism award for her work.
Ms Tham, who has been a journalist for more than 20 years, said: 'A common misconception people have about tech reporters is that we play with cool gadgets.
'Tech journalism exists at the intersection of multiple disciplines, requiring the promises and perils of new developments to be contextualised and explained for everyone.'
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Straits Times editor Jaime Ho said: 'Each award, each instance of recognition for our work is never taken for granted. We are encouraged, and will take these awards as encouragement to do even better.'
Another winner from The Straits Times newsroom was senior correspondent Stephanie Yeo, 55, who took home the inaugural Abbott-Singapore Press Club Health Journalism award for her reports, such as '
Is Singapore ready for the menopause wave from a super ageing society? ' published on Jan 13, 2024.
The Singapore Press Club, in a statement, said: 'It raised issues that have been under-reported - half of Singapore women in their reproductive years have poor sexual function, and how many women aren't aware of problems caused by menopause.
'These are topics few Asian women would be comfortable discussing, and are seldom aired in public.'
Ms Yeo said: 'Women's health has always been underserved and under-resourced, but more experts, entrepreneur and advocates are now working hard to change that.'
Straits Times correspondent Ang Qing, 28, won the CDL-Singapore Press Club Sustainability Journalism award.
She also helped conceptualise and host the
award-winning podcast Green Trails , which was named best podcast at the World Association of News Publishers' Digital Media Awards Asia this year.
Ms Ang, whose reporting focuses on environmental issues, said: 'These stories are often untold, not because they aren't important but because it takes effort to get inaccessible sources to provide information.
'They also involve people or things that lack the power to have their voices heard.'
Straits Times digital graphics journalist Charlene Chua, 27, took home The Rising Stars - Young Digital Journalist award.
The Singapore Press Club said: 'Whether she is visualising
how TikTok affects body image or mapping
100 years of the Causeway , Charlene builds stories that feel alive on screen.'
Veteran journalist and former Straits Times deputy editor Alan John, 71, was among 10 journalists who were inducted into the Singapore Media Industry Hall of Fame.
Mr John said: 'To tell great stories, you have to work hard, do the legwork, meet real people and live with the critics out there. It's what I still say to the young writers and editors I train.'
Straits Times senior columnist Vikram Khanna, 69, and former Straits Times features and news editor Lulin Reutens were also inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony where Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo was the guest of honour.
The annual awards - launched to mark the Singapore Press Clubs' 50th anniversary in 2022 - are given out to recognise journalists and professionals in the industry who have done impactful and excellent work.
Each award comes with a two-night hotel stay for two, with breakfast, worth $1,000, at any property under the Millennium Hotels and Resorts banner.
Other winners at the ceremony, held at the Pan-Pacific Hotel, included Nikkei Asia's Singapore correspondent Dylan Loh, and Mediacorp producer Charmaine Tan.
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