Malay Mail to stop print edition and go fully digital, one third of staff affected

PETALING JAYA: Malay Mail, the oldest newspaper in Malaysia, will cease its print operations on Dec 1 and go fully digital on Dec 2.

This was announced on the paper's online portal earlier this evening, following a town hall meeting for its staff on Thursday (Oct 25).

Malay Mail began publishing on Dec 14, 1896.

Staff affected by Malay Mail's digital pivot this December have been given one week to decide whether they want to leave or stay on and retrain for new roles in the revamped organisation.

The move to a sole digital version of Malaysia's oldest English daily will affect up to one-third, or 55, of the Malay Mail's 165 staff.

This was confirmed by Redberry Sdn Bhd chief operating officer and Malay Mail editor-in-chief Datuk Wong Sai Wan when contacted by The Star this evening.

He explained that the organisation would no longer be just about publishing news.

"Of course I'm very sad – I started life as a print newspaper man.

"When we celebrate the (Malay Mail's) 122nd birthday, that's the last print issue. But it's also a new adventure, and we'll see where it goes," said Wong.

For many years the tabloid-format newspaper was part of NSTP Bhd's newspaper stable but since 2012, the paper has been under the ownership of Redberry Media Group, publishing news on both its online portal and print.