ST’s China correspondent, reporter nab top SPH journalism awards
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(From left) The Straits Times' China correspondent Danson Cheong, winner of Journalist of the Year; Story of the Year winner Wong Pei Ting, a correspondent with The Business Times; and Young Journalist of the Year Ng Keng Gene from ST.
ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
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SINGAPORE - Instinct took over when drama arose at a usually highly choreographed Chinese political event, which led to a viral moment for Mr Danson Cheong.
The Straits Times’ China correspondent, who joined the newsroom in 2014, said he sensed something unusual was happening when he spotted an attendant beside former Chinese leader Hu Jintao
Quick thinking led Mr Cheong, 34, to pull out his phone.
He said: “I just started filming, not knowing what would happen next, and when it happened, I was gobsmacked.”
He captured the dramatic removal of Mr Hu from China’s 20th party congress in a 1min 25sec video that he shared on Twitter.
The post has since garnered more than 12 million views, and his keen news sense helped Mr Cheong nab the Journalist of the Year award at SPH Media’s annual English, Malay and Tamil Media Group (EMTM) awards ceremony.
Mr Cheong, who returned to Singapore this month to take on a supervisory role, said: “Working in China as a journalist in the last few years has not been easy because of strict Covid-19 restrictions. This award really would not have been possible without the support of my colleagues at the bureau.”
He added that the China bureau acted as a sounding board for him, and was his family away from home.
His editor Bhagyashree Garekar said: “His dogged objectivity doled out in measured and calm tones has additional value in the sphere of public service journalism.”
Mr Ng Keng Gene, 27, took home the Young Journalist of the Year award for his work across the topics of housing, religion and conservation.
His editor Royston Sim said Mr Ng has established himself as ST’s resident expert on urban planning and heritage.
Mr Ng, who joined ST in 2020, said of his win: “It takes a village to put a story together. I hope the efforts of those that make our stories look readable and presentable are also recognised.”
He most enjoyed tracking planned urban changes over the course of 2022, and found that stories such as coverage of the forthcoming changes associated with the Jurong Lake District
“This shows the impact that development has on people’s lives, and places they have a connection with... As Singapore continues to change, I hope that ST will be able to capture these periods of transition well,” he said.
The Story of the Year award went to Ms Wong Pei Ting, a correspondent with The Business Times. Her data-driven story on how there was a sharp drop in the quality of accountancy candidates
An off-hand comment during an interview on high attrition rates at accounting firms – that the industry was becoming a dumping ground for students who “could not make it” in other courses – led her to dig for links connecting this claim and accountancy students’ A-level grades.
Her editor Kenneth Lim said the story provided robust and insightful analysis, intuitive visualisations and a range of perspectives, and generated a lot of buzz when it broke.
Ms Wong, who joined BT in 2021, said: “I was really surprised. I didn’t think that a data piece could win an award under this category, which often went to traditional news scoops.”
The awards ceremony returned to its physical form after two years, and it was also the first time judges outside the SPH organisation helped decide the winners.
Dr Natalie Pang, senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore, and Mr Alan John, director of the Asia Journalism Fellowship, cast their votes alongside Mr Wong Wei Kong, EMTM’s editor-in-chief; Ms Lydia Lim, dean of SPH Media Academy; and Ms Tan Leng Tuan, head of audience development at SPH Media’s Chinese Media Group.
Mr Wong said the awards celebrate the spirit of journalism across the newsrooms.
“We hope they will help spur all of us to keep improving our craft and producing content that will be valuable to our audiences,” he said.
Mr Jaime Ho, editor of The Straits Times, said: “We’re extremely proud to recognise Danson and Keng Gene. They have come to exemplify the best of journalism for ST. Dependable and consistent, but always with that sharpness to sniff out an untold or unseen story.
“Even as we celebrate their individual contributions, behind them is a newsroom that supports them and one another. In that spirit, our awards for excellence this year also recognise the ethos of collaboration, which allows ST’s journalists to bring the best and most emotive stories to our audiences.”
Here is the list of winners at the EMTM News Awards 2022:
1. Journalist of the Year
Danson Cheong, The Straits Times
2. Young Journalist of the Year
Ng Keng Gene, The Straits Times
3. Story of the Year
Singapore’s top students target courses in analytics, food science and environment
Awards for Excellence (Finalists for Story of the Year)
1. Sazali Abdul Aziz & Deepanraj Ganesan, The Straits Times
Weed grinder the smoking gun that triggered Schooling’s confession
2. Farid Hamzah, Berita Harian
3. Monolisa GS & Harshitha N Balaji, Tamil Murasu
Cargo Shipments - Months of delay, negligence and tossing
Awards for Excellence
1. Irma Kamarudin, Berita Harian
• Some 300 unclaimed foetuses from Muslim women in first 7 months of this year
• The delicate process of delivering funeral rites for a foetus
• Unclaimed foetuses from Muslim women doubled
2. Shahida Sarhid & Zulaiqah Abdul Rahim, Berita Harian
• He used to watch them, now Taqi is a referee who officiates matches
• Who is a better captain? Ronaldo or Messi?
• Japan, South Korea still mighty; future of Asian football looks bright
• You can no longer mess with Asian teams
• Tight match but Argentina will emerge victorious
3. Harith Mustaffa, Berita Harian
• Tracing S’pore’s efforts to aid the Palestine
• A serendipitous visit to the third Holy site of Islam in Jerusalem
• Pakistan floods: Medical services finding it hard to get into rural areas
4. Paige Lim, The Business Times
• Singapore’s Sun Venture buys remaining 30% stake to take full control of PSGourmet
• Challenging environment could boost M&A activity in Singapore’s F&B space
5. Corinne Kerk, The Business Times
Chuan Park series:
• Chuan Park owners to get $1.16m to $2.53m each; some unhappy with lack of timely updates
• Chuan Park sold for $890m, below reserve price
• Chuan Park en bloc sale dissenters file objection with Strata Titles Board
• Chuan Park owners headed for mediation over en bloc sale; Senior Counsel appointed
• Strata Titles Board stops Chuan Park’s $890m en bloc sale
• Chuan Park $890m en bloc sale remains in limbo for now
6. Sharanya Pillai, The Business Times
• Debate over CPF for gig workers masks real problem of fair wages
• Tech stocks that rely on gig workers must address the social aspect of ESG
• Recession risk raises urgency to grant gig workers CPF and full benefits
• Mandatory CPF, job stigma keep food delivery riders up at night: Study
7. Shawn Lee Miller, Tham Yuen-C , Jamie Koh, Alexis Gabrielle
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8. Charlene Chua, Akshita Nanda, Rebecca Pazos, Alyssa Mungcal, Anton Dzeviatau, Aileen Teo, Bhavya Rawat, Billy Ker, Charlotte Tan, Hillary Tan, Jamie Koh, Jordan Lee, Philip Cheong, Ong Wee Jin, Rachael Lee Renee Poh, Roman Sverdan, Ryan Tan
An Interactive: Living Inside & Outside with Dementia
9. Kevin Lim, The Straits Times
Chief photojournalist Kevin Lim was on the rooftop of The Float at Marina Bay when he captured this photo of a Red Lion appearing to “land” on the moon during the National Day Parade 2022.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
10. Vicneswary Subramaniam, Tamil Murasu
Ukraine crisis: Singapore youth who crossed thousands of kilometres to help
11. Mathangi Elangovan, Tamil Murasu
Showering love on domestic pets
12. Anandan Vishnu Vardni, Tamil Murasu
