Star Publications bags two golds and a bronze at Asian awards

HONG KONG: Star Publications (M) Bhd proved that Malaysia is the best in digital media in Asia when it won two gold and one bronze medals at the Asian Digital Media Awards 2011.

Its youth platform R.AGE won gold in the social media category beating countries like Singapore and China while the other prestigious gold award was for The Star iPad app in the best in tablet publishing.

The bronze award was for The Star Online TV (www.thestaronline.tv/v/6824) for its online video “Disappearing Underwater Rainforest?” on coral reef preservation.

“The R.AGE team tweets 24/7, even in the wee hours. And that's because we love the direct interaction with our followers. Social media has given us the best platform to report and interact with our youth audience,” said Clove editor Ivy Soon.

The win was tweeted out by R.AGE saying: “Yay! Gold award!!!”

Lee Mee Yook, The Star Online TV senior assistant producer said it was the second year it had won an award.

The awards were presented during a ceremony last night organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-Ifra) held in conjunction with the Digital Media Asia 2011 conference.

Soon, Lee and The Star iPad representative and assistant chief editorial artist Nor Shalina Abdul Samad received the awards.

WAN-Ifra deputy chief executive officer Thomas Jacob said The Star's tablet edition provided readers with a special and innovative experience.

“It just stood out among the entries,” he said.

Commenting on the iPad gold medal, The Star executive director and group chief editor Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai said: “It's a victory for Malaysia and The Star. It's a recognition of our efforts in setting a new benchmark.

“We are proud of the teamwork involved and are certainly proud to be recognised by the industry at the Asian level.”