1960

» The Straits Times Press (Malaya) Ltd arranged with Malayan Airways for the carriage of matrices between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The Company then disposed of its own aircraft operations.

» The Straits Times Press (Malaya) Ltd sold its Market Square office.

» The Straits Times Press (Malaya) Ltd, through its newly formed company, Federal Publications Sdn Bhd began publishing Her World magazine in July.

1961

» Subsidiary company, Times Packaging Company Ltd was incorporated for the production of printed consumer packs in a factory site located at Petaling Jaya.

1964

» A.C. Simmons took over as chairman of the The Straits Times Press (Malaya) Ltd in addition to his Managing Director’s post.

1967

» The Straits Times (Malaya) Limited changed its name to The Straits Times (Malaya) Berhad, in line with the new Companies Act, which was passed in 1965 and came into force in Malaysia in 1966.

» The Straits Times Press (Malaya) Berhad moved to Balai Berita, Bangsar

1972

» The Straits Times Press (Malaya) Berhad transferred the Malaysian newspaper business, together with its related assets and liabilities to a wholly-owned subsidiary, The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (NSTP) (previously known as The Caxton (1957) Sdn Bhd). The Straits Times Press (Malaya) Berhad ceased to be the holding company of The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd on October 14, after the Fleet Group Sdn Bhd took over the operations.

» Tan Sri Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Abu Bakar was appointed Chairman of NSTP in December.

» A.C. Simmons retained his post as Managing Director.

1973

» NSTP became a public company and assumed its new name, The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad on 31 January.

» NSTP was listed on the Main Board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) on April 4.

» Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd (BP), NSTP’s subsidiary company was set up on September 5, to publish the group’s magazines. Apart from magazines, BP specialised in books and compilations covering a wide repertoire of topics - from business and management to education and politics.

1974

» On January 18, A.C. Simmons resigned as Managing Director of NSTP.

» Junus Sudin was appointed Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of NSTP.

» Berita Publishing Sendirian Berhad, commenced publishing of Malaysian Business and its sister magazine, Puspaniaga.

» A. Samad Ismail was appointed Managing Editor of the NSTP.

1975

» On August 12, 1975, the Company through its subsidiary company, Berita Publishing Sendirian Berhad acquired 25 % share in Asia Magazine Distributors Limited, incorporated in Hong Kong.

» From September onwards advertisements in the NST Group of publications started using metric measurements.

1976

» Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd acquired publication rights for magazines and annuals from Times Publishing Berhad, Singapore.

» On April 23, a wholly-owned subsidiary, Financial Publications Sdn Bhd was established, with a paid-up capital of RM 250,000. The first local financial newspaper, called Business Times, a 12-page broadsheet was published by Financial Publications Sdn Bhd on October 4.

» In June, NSTP moved into electronic pre-press operations when the Copy Processing System (CPS) was installed.

» In August, Berita Publishing launched Jelita, a woman’s magazine.

» NSTP began using a lorry service, belonging to Enesty Sdn Bhd to transport NSTP newspapers from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan. From Kuantan, an Enesty van carried the papers to Kuala Terengganu.

1977

» Zakuan Mohamed Ariff became the Deputy Managing Director of NSTP on March 1.

» NST Group Editor, Lee Siew Yee was appointed a Director of NSTP on July 28.

1978

» First regional newspaper printing plant set up in Prai to serve the northern region. This printing plant commenced production in June.

» NSTP entered into exchange arrangements with Sinar Harapan and Kompas of Indonesia, the South China Morning Post of Hong Kong and the Bangkok Post.

» Berita Publishing ceased publishing Puspaniaga.

» NSTP acquired 40 % equity in Enesty Sdn Bhd, which was involved in rental of vehicles and travel & tours. Before that it was a principal carrier of NSTP newspapers.

1979

» The first flat bed laserite facsimile transmission system in South East Asia was installed at Balai Berita, Bangsar to allow pages made up at Balai Berita to be transmitted via microwave link to the regional plant. However, it was not commissioned until two years later.

1980

» The establishment of The New Fleetprint-Press (London) Ltd, as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

» The New Straits Times Properties Sdn Bhd was established in September, as an in-house service company to provide the Group with office, godown and storage facilities.

1981

» On May 1, Tan Sri Lee Siew Yee became Editorial Director of NSTP.

» Second regional printing plant was set up in Senai in June to serve the southern region.

» Berita Information Systems Sdn Bhd was incorporated in November, to provide the necessary electronic data processing services for the Group.

» Berita Harian’s Warta Tebrau, a weekly newspaper especially for Johor readers was introduced. Warta Tebrau’s first issue was published on November 26.

1982

» Zakuan Mohamed Ariff became the Managing Director of NSTP on January 1.

» Tan Sri Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Abu Bakar resigned as Chairman of NSTP on September 1.

» The Paper That Cares - The Malay Mail - won the best colour reproduction award among medium circulation newspapers in the Asian, African and Oceania regions. The competition was organised by Kodak.

» Warta Tebrau stopped its production. The last issue was published on September 30.

1984

» Abdullah Mohamed Yusof was appointed NSTP Chairman in January.

» The establishment of Viewdata Unit of the New Straits Times within the Editorial Department. This unit represents the nucleus of the Company’s first electronic ‘newspaper’ system Beriteks and its subsequent activities in the area of electronic information storage and retrieval.

» NSTP started book wholesaling and retailing business with the setting up of Berita Distributors Sdn Bhd and Berita Book Centre Sdn Bhd as wholly-owned subsidiaries.

» The NST Scholarship Fund was established to provide scholarships to deserving Malaysian citizens. The Fund started with a RM 2 million contribution from NSTP.

» In April, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd was commissioned to publish Investors’ Digest magazine, a monthly publication of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE).

» Mohd Desa Pachi became the NSTP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on December 18.

1985

» Beriteks system was launched on January 1.

»Newspaper in Education (NIE) was launched on January 6 by Minister of Education Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

» NSTP acquired 70 % shares in Shin Min Daily News (M) Sdn Bhd – the third largest Chinese language newspaper in Malaysia in June.

» On June 19, Editorial operations were re-structured by language under New Straits Times Sdn Bhd (NSTSB) and Berita Harian Sdn Bhd (BHSB).

» Berita Harian’s Akhbar Dalam Darjah (ADD) was launched on June 29.

» NSTP acquired 70 % equity interest in Merican and Sons (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

1986

» P.C. Shivadas became Group Editor of the New Straits Times Sdn Bhd (NSTSB).

» In July, Faber Merlin (M) Berhad acquired the NSTP shares from Fleet Group and became a substantial shareholder of NSTP. It later ceased to be a substantial shareholder of NSTP in November, when it sold its 3.44 million NSTP shares to institutional investors in London.

» Beriteks Sdn Bhd was incorporated in September.

» The northern edition of the New Straits Times was launched on November 4.

» Pitisan Sdn Bhd was set up as an investment arm of NSTP.

1987

» In February 9, 100 % subsidiary of Fleet Group, Fleet Management Services Sdn Bhd sold 16.65 million NSTP shares or 24.2 % to foreign institutional investors.

» In April, NSTP and Shin Min Daily News together with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports organised the China National Acrobatic Troupe show at Stadium Negara from April 4 to April 15 for the first time in Malaysia. The China National Acrobatic Troupe was a 55-member troupe that had won several international accolades in the past decade.

» Regional printing plant was opened in Dungun on the 1st of May.

» On August 11, the southern edition of the New Straits Times was launched, followed by the eastern edition on October 17.

» Subsidiary company, Pitisan Sdn Bhd acquired 20 % stake in Bank of Commerce from Fleet Group Sdn Bhd and 6,500 shares in American Malaysian Insurance Sdn Bhd.

» The New Straits Times Press (NSTP) Pre-entry Editorial Training Scheme (PETS) was introduced to find, train and hire potential journalists.

1988

» On January 18, Shin Min Daily News made history by being the first Chinese daily to be published in a tabloid format.

» Tan Sri General (Rtd) Mohd Ghazali Che Mat was appointed Chairman of NSTP in February.

» On April 15, Nik Ibrahim Kamil became NSTP’s Chief Operating Officer.

» The Company obtained approval for Employees Share Option Scheme (ESOS).

» In June, NSTP for the first time brought the magic of David Copperfield live into Malaysia when the Company together with the Ministry of Welfare Services organised the David Copperfield 13 shows at the Dewan Merdeka in the Putra World Trade Centre from June 22 to 26.

» An Editorial Research Department was set up to provide background and analytical information on issues and events in the news, both local and foreign.

» Beriteks secured the agency rights to sell advertisement time for a European satellite television station, Super Channel and a teletext service, Supertext.

» The NSTP Group of Companies adopted ‘Bagimu Bagiku” as its corporate song. The song was aired on television highlighting the Group’s involvement in the various aspects of Malaysian society and its development.

» NSTP launched the Maxima Subscriber Privilege Card in November, as a social and community service to bring consumers and commercial institutions closer together.

1989

» The printing and distribution process for Shin Min Daily News was rationalised and consolidated. The regional printing of the paper was terminated and its printing was centralised in Kuala Lumpur on a 4-unit Uniman 2/2 press installed in February 1989.

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