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Straits Times
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
The Straits Times Weekly Bestsellers July 12
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox (From left) Commonwealth by Theophilus Kwek, Ink And Influence: An OB Markers Sequel by Cheong Yip Seng and The Day I Forgot My Flag by Neil Johnson and illustrated by Vincent Lee. Fiction: Commonwealth by Theophilus Kwek. PHOTO: CARCANET 1. (2) The Passengers On The Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa; translated by Allison Markin Powell 2. (3) Strange Houses by Uketsu; translated by Jim Rion 3. (1) The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei 4. (-) Commonwealth by Theophilus Kwek 5. (-) Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell 6. (-) The Convenience Store By The Sea by Sonoko Machida; translated by Bruno Navasky 7. (-) I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman 8. (-) Madonna In A Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali 9. (-) Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 10. (-) The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki; translated by Jesse Kirkwood Non-fiction: Ink And Influence: An OB Markers Sequel by Cheong Yip Seng. PHOTO: WORLD SCIENTIFIC 1. (1) Elevate Your Assets, Elevate Your Wealth by Kelvin Fong 2. (2) Why Palestine? Reflections From Singapore by Walid Jumblatt Abdullah 3. (-) Stop Buying Financial Policies by Jake Lim W.L. 4. (-) Ink And Influence: An OB Markers Sequel by Cheong Yip Seng 5. (6) The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins 6. (-) A Different Kind Of Power by Jacinda Ardern 7. (7) The Psychology Of Money by Morgan Housel 8. (-) The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskar 9. (-) Atomic Habits by James Clear 10. (8) Prisoners Of Geography by Tim Marshall Children's: The Day I Forgot My Flag by Neil Johnson and illustrated by Vincent Lee. PHOTO: EPIGRAM BOOKS 1. (-) The Day I Forgot My Flag by Neil Johnson, illustrated by Vincent Lee 2. (1) How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell 3. (2) National Geographic Kids Almanac 2026 by National Geographic Kids 4. (7) Never Thought I'd End Up Here by Ann Liang 5. (4) The World's Worst Superheroes by David Walliams 6. (-) Pokemon Super Duper Extra Deluxe Essential Handbook by Scholastic Inc. 7. (6) Big Jim Begins (Dog Man 13) by Dav Pilkey 8. (-) Powerless by Lauren Roberts 9. (-) Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi 10. (-) Fearless by Lauren Roberts
Straits Times
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Book review: OB Markers sequel Ink And Influence makes catch-22 proposal for The Straits Times
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Cheong Yip Seng practically pioneered the genre of the newsman memoir in Singapore with his OB Markers: My Straits Times Story (2012). By Cheong Yip Seng Non-fiction/World Scientific Publishing/Paperback/348 pages/$39.24 As sequels go, few have generated as much frisson as this in the Singapore journo-sphere.
South China Morning Post
03-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
New memoir reveals Lee Kuan Yew's approach to China diplomacy: ‘he wasn't like the West'
Singapore 's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew recognised early on that China demanded respect and equality in diplomacy – a posture that earned him Beijing's enduring trust, according to veteran newspaper editor Cheong Yip Seng. In his newly released memoir Ink and Influence: An OB Markers Sequel, Cheong reflects on Lee's deft handling of China relations, drawn from personal experience covering his landmark 1976 visit to Beijing and later working closely with him as editor-in-chief of Singapore newspaper The Straits Times from 1987 to 2006. Ink and Influence outlines Cheong's four-decade-long career in journalism and his interactions with political leaders while at The Straits Times before he served as Singapore's non-resident ambassador to Chile. Cheong then offers his thoughts on the way forward for the Singaporean media outlet. Speaking to This Week in Asia during the book's launch on Wednesday, Cheong said that although Singapore was more developed than China in those days, Lee held the Chinese in high regard. 'He wasn't like the West, for example, who would demonise. He could see where are the strengths of the Chinese, where are the weaknesses, and be honest. But more importantly, [there was] a lot of mutual respect,' Cheong said. Singapore's veteran newspaper editor Cheong Yip Seng during the launch of his latest book 'Ink and Influence: An OB Markers Sequel' at the Central Public Library on Wednesday. Photo: Nicole Cheah Cheong, 82, recounted an anecdote published by the Chinese in 2018 when China honoured 10 foreigners with the China Reform Friendship medal to mark the 40th anniversary of the country's opening up. The write-up for Lee, who was one of 10, recalled a 1978 visit by Deng Xiaoping to Singapore when Lee asked to have a spittoon and ashtray placed in the Istana next to Deng, after Lee recalled Deng smoked and he had seen a spittoon in the Great Hall of the People on his previous visit to China.
South China Morning Post
03-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
How Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew treated China with respect: ‘he wasn't like the West'
Singapore 's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew recognised early on that China demanded respect and equality in diplomacy – a posture that earned him Beijing's enduring trust, according to veteran newspaper editor Cheong Yip Seng. In his newly released memoir Ink and Influence: An OB Markers Sequel, Cheong reflects on Lee's deft handling of China relations, drawn from personal experience covering his landmark 1976 visit to Beijing and later working closely with him as editor-in-chief of Singapore newspaper The Straits Times from 1987 to 2006. Ink and Influence outlines Cheong's four-decade-long career in journalism and his interactions with political leaders while at The Straits Times before he served as Singapore's non-resident ambassador to Chile. Cheong then offers his thoughts on the way forward for the Singaporean media outlet. Speaking to This Week in Asia during the book's launch on Wednesday, Cheong said that although Singapore was more developed than China in those days, Lee held the Chinese in high regard. 'He wasn't like the West, for example, who would demonise. He could see where are the strengths of the Chinese, where are the weaknesses, and be honest. But more importantly, [there was] a lot of mutual respect,' Cheong said. Singapore's veteran newspaper editor Cheong Yip Seng during the launch of his latest book 'Ink and Influence: An OB Markers Sequel' at the Central Public Library on Wednesday. Photo: Nicole Cheah Cheong, 82, recounted an anecdote published by the Chinese in 2018 when China honoured 10 foreigners with the China Reform Friendship medal to mark the 40th anniversary of the country's opening up. The write-up for Lee, who was one of 10, recalled a 1978 visit by Deng Xiaoping to Singapore when Lee asked to have a spittoon and ashtray placed in the Istana next to Deng, after Lee recalled Deng smoked and he had seen a spittoon in the Great Hall of the People on his previous visit to China.
CNA
02-07-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Singapore's Straits Times should become global paper as alternative to ‘biased' Western media: Ex-chief editor
SINGAPORE: The 'bias' and 'hypocrisy' of Western media presents an opportunity for Singapore's national broadsheet The Straits Times (ST) to 'fill a niche in the market', said its former editor-in-chief Cheong Yip Seng. In a new book titled Ink and Influence: An OB Markers Sequel, the media veteran said the nearly 180-year-old newspaper should hence aspire to cater to global, 'upmarket' and English-speaking audiences, with a focus on geopolitical coverage. This would mean stopping coverage of local and municipal matters, which other outlets are already handling, he argued. Mr Cheong, who helmed the national broadsheet from 1987 to 2006, launched his book at the National Library Building on Wednesday (Jul 2). It is a follow-up to OB Markers: My Straits Times Story which was published in 2012, covering over four decades as a journalist in Singapore. The idea for an upmarket, global newspaper for Singapore is not new, according to Mr Cheong in his latest book. The 82-year-old said Singapore's first Foreign Minister S Rajaratnam first mooted the idea in the late 1960s, before former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong made the same suggestion years later. 'At one of our regular lunches, (Mr Goh) noted that the ST was 'schizophrenic',' said Mr Cheong. 'Its local pages were more like a popular, mass-market product. Not so the section that delivered regional and foreign news, which was upmarket and widely read by regional leaders.' WESTERN "DOUBLE STANDARDS" Mr Cheong wrote that while the Western, English-language media dominates the global market today, its 'weakness' lies in what he said was its 'bias' and 'blatant hypocrisy'. He cited coverage of wars in Ukraine and Palestine as an example. 'For a long time, many countries, including Singapore, would witness a US-led crusade for human rights. But when Palestinians are being starved and slaughtered in Gaza, the Western human rights crusaders were found wanting,' he said. 'The US persisted in supporting Israel, with words and weapons. They did call for a more humane approach in fighting the war, to protect innocent Palestinian lives. But they were mere words.' 'Double standards' were also in play with regards to Hong Kong, wrote Mr Cheong. When anti-China protesters stormed and vandalised the Hong Kong Legislative Council Complex in 2019, then-US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi approvingly called it 'a beautiful sight', he said. 'If she had been consistent, she should have also reacted the same way when an American mob stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.' Against this backdrop, a non-Western perspective is a much-needed service in an era of dangerous geopolitics, said Mr Cheong. WORTHY OF A GLOBAL CITY Having a global Singapore newspaper would also match the country's world-class standing in other areas such as finance and aviation, said the former editor-in-chief. Mr Cheong noted that Singaporeans already feature prominently on the world stage with some undertaking global responsibilities, pointing to ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh and diplomat Rena Lee among others. The Singapore perspective has also been amplified due to social media, with thought leaders like former Cabinet minister George Yeo and veteran diplomats Bilahari Kausikan and Kishore Mahbubani sought after on the international conference circuit. 'Singapore may be a little red dot on the world map, but it has a financial centre, port, airport, airline, and commodities trading hub that are all world-class,' noted Mr Cheong. 'Why not add to the list a global Singapore newspaper to match? It is a niche waiting to be filled and it would be worthy of the global city that Singapore has become.' He wrote that there is also a Singapore angle to many foreign stories. For instance, when Houthi militants - reacting to the Israel-Hamas war - attacked ships in the Red Sea, supply lines were disrupted and ports like Singapore's had to deal with congestion, he explained. 'Such examples convince me that Singapore would not lose much if the new-look ST dumps coverage of municipal matters, community affairs, local crimes and lifestyles. Others are already doing the job,' he said, noting that the broadsheet was not the top-read news site in Singapore anyway. While there would be some loss of local eyeballs in such a strategy, it would be balanced out by the gaining of an influential global readership, said Mr Cheong. 'With the heartlands no longer being its main market, the ST can fill its news space more productively with a more robust examination of the country's policy choices,' he said. 'Singapore, at this stage of its development, needs and deserves such a paper. It would upgrade Singapore to become a major news hub and strengthen the country's competitive edge.'
