Three Straits Times journalists win Singapore Press Club awards

SINGAPORE – It was a chance conversation with a durian seller that got Straits Times journalist Cherie Lok wondering: What would you want to eat in your final days?

The seller had told Lok, who reports on food and culture, that customers have called him in the middle of the night to procure boxes of Mao Shan Wang for their dying loved ones.

“It made me wonder what else people craved at the end of life,” she said. “So I reached out to several hospices and asked if they could shed some light on this topic.”

Lok’s empathetic story on how last meals bring comfort to the dying won the 28-year-old the Citi-Singapore Press Club Rising Stars – Young Journalist Award at the Singapore Press Club Awards on July 15.

She was among three journalists from the ST newsroom who were recognised for their craft and the impact of their work at the annual awards held at the Pan Pacific Singapore hotel.

The Singapore Press Club said in a statement: “Her piece on last meals for the dying used food as a window into how Singaporeans face death with dignity, family and a bowl of something familiar.”

Lok, who has been a journalist since 2021, said of her win: “Lifestyle journalism sometimes gets dismissed as inconsequential fluff, so it’s heartening to see the Press Club recognise stories from the Life section.

“It’s also really humbling to be picked from a pool of fantastic young journalists; I’m so in awe of my peers across the industry and the important stories they tell.”

Another young winner was ST’s digital graphics correspondent Stephanie Adeline, who took home the Citi-Singapore Press Club Rising Stars – Young Digital Journalist Award.

The 27-year-old’s visual story – Inside The Confusing World Of Women’s Clothing Sizes – came about after she found herself frustrated while shopping for clothes.

To show readers how it could feel like a guessing game, she surveyed 105 women, compared size guides of eight popular brands and created 3D-printed sizing models.

The project, which Adeline described as her favourite to date, also involved interviews with fashion designers and product developers to explain how the numbers on the size charts are determined.

She recalled how the team also had to steam each piece of clothing before the photo shoot.

The result was an interactive story that was “original, rigorously researched and genuinely useful”, said the Singapore Press Club.

Adeline, who joined ST in 2020, said: “I think this recognition reflects how journalism is evolving and how visual storytelling is increasingly being valued.”

She added: “I’m proud that I was brave enough to pursue ambitious ideas, even when they seemed a little lofty at first.”

Senior correspondent Joyce Teo, who has been with ST since 2004, received the IHH Healthcare-Singapore Press Club Health and Wellness Journalism Award.

She worked on a year-long series that aimed to encourage mental health conversations, raise awareness and ease the associated stigma.

Her interviews with the father of an 11-year-old who took his own life, as well as a psychiatrist, offered depth to the story without sensationalising a tragic incident, said the Singapore Press Club.

“I wanted to look at suicide in young children because they seem to be a forgotten group or, worse, a group that we would rather ignore because it is too painful to acknowledge the death of someone barely starting out in life,” said Teo, 54.

“Talking about mental health and suicide is important because these conversations help to lessen the stigma and encourage people to seek help early,” she added.

ST editor Jaime Ho said: “It is an extra-special recognition for the newsroom when our peers and industry colleagues recognise the value and quality of our journalism.

“I am especially encouraged this year by the spotlight on our younger journalists Cherie and Stephanie. Together with Joyce, the entire newsroom will continue to aspire to do even better.”

Former ST associate editor Janadas Devan, former ST deputy editor Paul Jacob and former ST senior health correspondent Salma Khalik were among the seven industry veterans inducted into the Singapore Media Industry Hall of Fame.

The Singapore Press Club said it received a record 77 nominations across all the categories – Rising Stars, Specialist Journalism Awards and Hall of Fame.

The inaugural ContactsBook.Asia-Singapore Press Club Best Corporate Communications Leader Award went to Debra Soon, who is group head of brand, communications, marketing and experience at financial services company Singlife.

Soon is a former CNA journalist and senior executive.

Other winners from SPH Media are Business Times senior correspondent Ben Paul, who won the CLA Global TS-Singapore Press Club Finance Journalism Award, as well as Lianhe Zaobao journalist Chua Wei Qian, who bagged the CDL-Singapore Press Club Sustainability Journalism Award.

Launched in 2022 to mark the Singapore Press Club’s 50th anniversary, the awards are given to journalists and media-related professionals whose works have shown excellence and impact.

The winners received a trophy and a certificate from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah, who was the guest of honour.

They will also each get a two-night stay for two, with breakfast, at a hotel of their choice owned by Millennium Hotels and Resorts, worth $1,000.

Fostering trust in the age of AI

In her opening address, Indranee said fostering trust is one of the three aspects of the media that is critical in today’s environment.

New technologies, including artificial intelligence, have made it easier than ever to create and spread convincing falsehoods, which can lead to an erosion of public confidence, said Indranee, who is also Second Minister for Finance and for National Development.

At the same time, audiences are now consuming information differently and also have shorter attention spans, she added.

But amid this backdrop, local media outlets continue to enjoy relatively high levels of public trust, which has been built over time through a strong sense of responsibility to the public, she said.

“At a time when truth can be elusive and trust is fragile, your role in helping people to make sense of events and discern fact from fiction is indispensable,” she said.

Journalists also play a role in nation-building, said Indranee, adding that the media has explained what was at stake during critical events in Singapore – from the early years after independence to the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Even as misinformation spread rapidly during the pandemic, Singapore still recorded high levels of trust in local media outlets, which helped to debunk falsehoods and provide clarity, she said.

As she rounded off her speech, Indranee also acknowledged the expertise and knowledge of journalists, especially in today’s digital age and with the rise of AI.

“Despite these tools, journalism and communications remain, at their core, a craft. And human beings remain solidly at the centre of that,” she said.

She added that no algorithm can substitute for the years spent understanding a beat, building sources and learning how an industry or a policy works.

“So let technology be your tool, and not your master,” she said.