From headlines to precious memories, we unearth moments from our archive that have stood the test of time.
FOR most people, a newspaper tells the day’s stories. For a few, it becomes part of their own. As The Star marks its 55th anniversary, readers look back at the articles, photographs and memories that have stayed with them for decades.
The photo that came home
More than three decades after a photograph captured a fleeting act of kindness between a Cabinet minister and an 11-year-old schoolboy, the image finally found its way home.
For years, Yogentharan Murugiah remembered only fragments of that day.
It was 1994. A Standard Five pupil, school prefect and the sole representative from SJK (T) Mukundan in Bukit Pelandok, Port Dickson, he had been selected to receive a scholarship under the MCA Langkawi Project for outstanding students from underprivileged families.
Then Transport minister and MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik was there to present the awards.
Yogentharan remembered removing his shoes and socks before going on stage. He remembered struggling to put them back on afterwards.
What he never knew was that a photographer from The Star had quietly captured what happened next.
As the young boy crouched beside the hall, fumbling with his socks, Dr Ling happened to walk past. Seeing his difficulty, the minister stopped, bent down and helped him put them on.
The gesture lasted only seconds.
The photograph appeared in The Star’s year-end edition on Dec 31, 1994, quickly becoming the talk of the neighbourhood.
“I remember a neighbour bringing the newspaper to our house and showing my mother the photograph,” recalled Yogentharan, now 43.
“But we never kept a copy. As the years went by, I forgot about it.”
The memory resurfaced unexpectedly this year after Dr Ling’s passing on April 4 at the age of 82.
Today, Yogentharan is married with two children and serves as headmaster of SJK (T) Bandar Springhill in Lukut, Negri Sembilan, where he also teaches Mathematics.
Determined to find the photograph, he contacted The Star’s library with little more than three clues.
“I couldn’t remember the exact date. I only knew it happened in 1994, Brazil had won the World Cup, and Tun Ling had stopped to help me with my shoes or shoelaces after the scholarship presentation.
“That was all I had to go on.”
Time, it turned out, had blurred one small detail.
When the photograph was finally found, it showed Dr Ling helping the young Yogentharan with his socks, not his shoes or shoelaces.
But the kindness itself had remained crystal clear.
The library team eventually tracked down the long forgotten newspaper cutting, tucked among The Star’s year-end photographs.
For Yogentharan, seeing the image again nearly 32 years later was deeply emotional.
“It brought back so many memories,” he said.
“What touched me most was that Dr Ling didn’t have to stop. He didn’t have to help me. But he did.”
Today, the photograph is far more than a newspaper cutting.
It is a reminder of a brief childhood encounter, a tribute to a leader whose passing prompted its rediscovery, and proof that even the smallest acts of kindness can leave a lasting impression.
As an educator, Yogentharan hopes to pass on the same compassion that has stayed with him for more than three decades.
Every piece tells a story
The plastic folders are thick with memories.
Inside are hundreds of newspaper cuttings, carefully collected over two decades by Olympian Annastasia Karen Raj.
They chronicle the highs, heartbreaks and milestones of a sporting career that once captivated the nation.
As she turns the yellowing pages, the headlines trace the journey of a young athlete who rose from the local track to the world’s biggest sporting stage.
At just 20, Annastasia made history as Malaysia’s first female racewalker to qualify for the Olympic Games.
She was also one of just three women in the Malaysian contingent at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, a year after winning gold at the 1995 SEA Games and setting national records.
But for Annastasia, the clippings are about far more than medals.
Each one captures a moment in her life, preserving the sacrifices, setbacks and triumphs that shaped her journey.
“I’ve always had a soft spot for The Star,” the 51-year-old said.
“Growing up in the 1980s, reading the newspaper was part of everyday life.
“There was something special about holding the newspaper, turning its pages and discovering the stories.
“That’s why I’ve kept so many of the cuttings. They remind me of a very important chapter of my life,” she added.
While Annastasia still enjoys the print edition, The Star Online has become her connection to home while living overseas.
“It keeps me updated on what is happening in Malaysia and makes me feel close to home, even when I’m far away,” she said.
One newspaper article published after she retired from athletics remains especially close to her heart.
After retiring from athletics at 26, Annastasia, a mother-of-three who is now head of human resources at a bank in Singapore, faced an uncertain future.
Having devoted her youth to sport, she had no tertiary education and little idea what would come next.
A feature by journalist Wani Muthiah changed that.
“The article changed my life,” Annastasia recalled.
“After it was published, I started receiving calls from people who had read my story.
“Several institutions offered me scholarships because they believed I deserved the opportunity to continue my education,” said Annastasia, who eventually accepted a local private university’s offer of full scholarship.
“It opened doors when I wasn’t sure what my future would look like,” she said. “Without that opportunity, my life might have taken a very different path.”
Today, the folders remain safely tucked away, their pages fading with age but never in meaning.
They are more than a scrapbook of an athlete’s career.
They are a record of a remarkable journey, and a reminder that sometimes a story in The Star does more than capture a moment.
Sometimes, it changes a life.
Rescuers at heart
While some people grew up reading The Star, Mirrsha and Resha Ganthan grew up in its pages.
Readers first met the sisters in 2002, when Mirrsha was five and Resha was three.
Walking home from kindergarten in Kuala Lumpur, Mirrsha heard faint cries coming from a cardboard box by the roadside. Inside were eight newborn kittens, their eyes barely open and with little chance of surviving.
The sisters begged their mother to take them home. She said yes.
Two days later, they found another litter.
Soon, the Ganthan family was caring for 16 abandoned kittens.
Finding homes for them became just as urgent as keeping them alive.
Unable to care for so many kittens over the long term, their parents turned to The Star. They hoped the newspaper’s wide readership would help find adopters while encouraging people to rescue rather than buy pets.
The response was overwhelming.
The article not only helped every kitten find a home, but also marked the beginning of the sisters’ lifelong rescue journey.
Over the years, Mirrsha and Resha rehomed more than 40 cats, rescued abandoned puppies and nursed injured birds back to health. One kitten, Ducky, never left. She became part of the family.
Eight years later, The Star featured the sisters again. The little girls who had once appealed for homes for rescued kittens, had grown into dedicated young animal rescuers, earning the title Animal Whisperers among family and friends.
“Our parents hoped the stories would encourage people to adopt instead of buying pets, while helping us find homes for the kittens,” Mirrsha recalled.
“We never imagined we’d appear in The Star twice. Those memories will always stay with us. The newspaper helped us find homes for the kittens and even today, although we’re living overseas, we still read The Star online. It keeps us connected to what’s happening back home,” she added.
Today, Mirrsha, 29, is a science writer and Resha, 27, is a doctor. Both now live in New York, but their love for animals has never faded. They continue to share their homes with beloved cats and care for rescued animals whenever they can.
Still friends after Amsterdam
In 2014, Mah Soon Sin, Kimberly Lau and Jerry Siau won a Heineken contest that took them to Amsterdam for simulated astronaut training, a G-force ride and a zero gravity flight.
They returned home with something they never expected – a lifelong friendship.
StarMetro travelled with them, documenting the adventure in a feature published in June that year.
The trip lasted only a few days, but the friendship it created has endured for more than a decade.
Today, Mah, 41, is a lawyer based in Shanghai; Lau, 46, is an entrepreneur in Puchong, Selangor; and Siau, 45, is a car salesman in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
Marriage, careers and distance have changed their lives, but not their bond.
The trio still keep in touch through WhatsApp, Facebook and occasional catch-ups.
“Heineken, friendship and of course, zero gravity,” Mah said with a laugh.
For Lau, the experience remains one of the highlights of her life.
“I was very lucky to win. It gave me a once-in-a-lifetime experience I’ll never forget.”
The three also treasure the StarMetro feature that captured the beginning of their friendship. Lau even had her copy laminated.
“Whenever I look at that newspaper article, I don’t just remember Amsterdam,” she said. “I remember where our friendship began.”
“Most people keep travel photos,” Mah rejoined.
“We kept a newspaper cutting because that’s where our story was told,” he said.
More than a decade later, they still read The Star online to keep up with the news.
Every now and then, the laminated newspaper cutting resurfaces in their conversations, reminding them not just of a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, but of the friendship that has endured long after the journey ended.
The thrills of zero gravity lasted only moments.
The friendship, and the memories preserved in The Star, have lasted a lifetime.
