15-07-2025
#NST180years: The conscience of Malaysian sport
FOR 180 years, the New Straits Times has not only reported on Malaysia's sporting triumphs, but also helped shape its national conversation.
As a watchdog, it has held sporting bodies accountable, given athletes a platform and ensured that the true story of Malaysian sport is told.
The NST was there to capture the glory of Malaya's Thomas Cup win in the very first tournament in 1949, and it did the same in 2022, when Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik won the country' first badminton world title.
It followed Datuk Lee Chong Wei's Olympic heartbreaks, Pandelela Rinong's breakthrough bronze and Cheong Jun Hoong's world title win.
It gave prominence to Datuk Nicol David's eight world squash titles and her record 108 months as world No.1.
On the football front, NST honoured legends like Datuk Mokhtar Dahari, Datuk Ghani Minhat, Datuk Soh Chin Ann and Datuk Santokh Singh, while covering the national team's qualification for the 1972 and 1980 Olympics.
The NST was there for the 2010 Asean Football Federation Cup victory and Amri Yahyah's brace against Manchester United in 2009 — never missing a beat.
And it also asked tough questions on athlete treatment, selection controversies and sports governance.
Issues of mismanagement were highlighted not out of malice, but to serve the long-term good of Malaysian sport.
Backed by respected editors like Norman Siebel and Datuk Lazarus Rokk, and journalists such as the late Jugjet Singh and Dan Guen Chin, the NST has stood firm in reporting the truth, celebrating the best and exposing the rest.
As it turns 180 today, NST remains more than a newspaper, it's the conscience of Malaysian sport.
