WHEN The Star arrived in Kuala Lumpur as a national newspaper in 1976, it quickly became part of the morning routine in the Arumugam household in Bangsar.
There was only one copy each day. Before breakfast was over, sisters Susiela, Kausalia and their younger brother, retired Colonel Vijandran, were already waiting for their turn to read it.
More than five decades later, they are still loyal readers.
As children, they rushed to the comics. As teenagers and young adults, they turned to the sports pages, Tell It To Thelma, the Star Jackpot Crossword Puzzle and the classified advertisements.
Today, they laugh that they sometimes flip to the obituary pages first. Each remembers a different part of the newspaper that stayed with them.
For Susiela, 80, it was Chong Sheau Ching’s “Stories for My Mother”.
“I always looked forward to it. Her writing was gentle, comforting and very relatable. As a mother and now a grandmother of seven, many of her stories reminded me of my own experiences raising a family,” she recalled.
Kausalia, 70, rarely missed Tell It To Thelma, now known as Dear Thelma, a column that has helped readers navigate life’s challenges for four decades after debuting in 1986.
“We grew up in a time when people rarely spoke openly about personal problems.
“Reading about other people’s experiences and the advice they received was comforting. It reminded us that we weren’t alone,” said Kausalia.
For Vijandran, 68, nothing matched the excitement of the Star Jackpot Crossword Puzzle.
“People spent hours trying to solve it. Families discussed the answers together around the dining table.
“Even if you didn’t win, the excitement of trying was half the fun,” he said.
Looking back, the siblings say the newspaper chronicled not only the nation’s story, but their own: “We’ve grown older with The Star. Every stage of our lives has a memory tied to its pages. It’s never been just a newspaper to us. It’s part of our family’s story.”
