SPH was formed on Aug 4, 1984 through a merger of three organisations - the Straits Times Press group, the Singapore News and Publications Limited and Times Publishing Berhad which was later de-merged from SPH in 1988. The merger brought together the English, Malay and Chinese newspapers under one roof. SPH later also bought Tamil Murasu Pte Ltd. --ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
SINGAPORE Press Holdings (SPH) unveiled its new corporate logo on Monday at an event to mark the start of its 25th anniversary celebrations.
Guest-of-Honour President S R Nathan, together with SPH chairman Tony Tan, unveiled the new logo at SPH's headquarters at News Centre in Toa Payoh North. President Nathan was Executive Chairman of The Straits Times Press from 1982 to 1988 and an SPH Director from 1984 to 1988.
Gathered at the launch were SPH directors, staff and invited guests, including Minister Lee Boon Yang and Senior Minister of State Lui Tuck Yew for the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.
SPH was formed on Aug 4, 1984 through a merger of three organisations - the Straits Times Press group, the Singapore News and Publications Limited and Times Publishing Berhad which was later de-merged from SPH in 1988. The merger brought together the English, Malay and Chinese newspapers under one roof. SPH later also bought Tamil Murasu Pte Ltd.
The SPH logo at the time of the merger was the stylised initials of SPH put together to form a graphic of the web and rollers of a newspaper printing press.
Explaining the need for a logo change, Dr Tan, SPH Chairman, said: "With SPH moving beyond print, we think it is time to rebrand ourselves to better represent our current portfolio and future direction. While print remains our core business, we also have a wide spectrum of other businesses to complement each other and serve everyone.
"The new logo's design portrays SPH's initiative in engaging and connecting with all our stakeholders. Its colours and typeface reinforces SPH's stature as a leading media organisation - confident, authoritative, yet approachable."
Commenting on the company's 25th anniversary, SPH's CEO Alan Chan said: 'SPH has come a long way and weathered all kinds of storms in the past 25 years. We began planning our logo change two years ago to coincide with our 25th anniversary, reflecting the importance of this milestone to SPH.'
To mark the milestone, a special anniversary logo has also been created. Strong colours represent the rich content and reflect the dynamic landscape of the media business. Visually bold yet elegant, the SPH 25th Anniversary logo is being used on all its corporate products throughout 2009. A webcast of the launch of the new corporate logo can now be viewed via a link on the corporate website at www.sph.com.sg.
Paragon shopping mall, owned by Orchard 290, a subsidiary of SPH, will celebrate the SPH's 25th anniversary by providing shoppers with a musical experience. Paragon has lined up a series of free weekend concerts in April and May. There will also be $25,000 worth of shopping vouchers to be won. Readers can look out for more details in April in SPH's flagship papers,The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao.
