The origins of Tamil newspapers in Penang

In the news: Dr Torsten Tschacher, in Penang recently with his wife Dr Deepra Dandekar, showing a digital recopy of one of the early Tamil newspapers called 'Penang Gnanacharian Daily News', which he obtained from the National University of Singapore library. -- CHAN BOON KAI/The Star

Penang was the birthplace of a number of Tamil newspapers during the British colonial days, says a German researcher.

LONG before Malaysia’s oldest Tamil newspaper Tamil Nesan was established in 1924, the promotion of Tamil literary work in the country could be traced back to the Straits Settlements in late 19th and early 20th centuries of the British colonial era.