A. SAMAD Ismail, A. Samad Said, Adibah Amin, A. Kadir Jasin, Ahmad Sebi Abu Bakar, Ahmad Nazri Adullah and Ahmad Rejal Arbee — to name a few of the outstanding editors of 60-year-old Berita Harian.
Last month, BH celebrated its 60 years of public service. In its formative years, the newspaper was regarded as a carbon copy of the then Straits Times.
But over the years, with dedication and a high standard of journalistic pursuit, the newspaper has transformed itself into an intellectual product with its own personality and style.
BH’s journey continues, taking on new adventures and breaking new ground.
To date, 11 BH journalists have won the coveted Kajai Award, an award conferred by the Malaysian Press Institute on the best in the profession.
I served the newspaper for almost four years in the late 1980s. One of the newspaper’s strongest appeals is its community service and engagement, some of which were ground- breaking.
Take its Puisi Riong, for instance. We had National Laureate Tan Sri Dr Usman Awang gracing one of its poetry reading sessions, endorsing BH’s support for Malay literature.
Its Anugerah Bintang Popular has stood the test of time with its fan-based award to vote for the nation’s top performers in the performing arts. The BH education programme at schools has no equal to this day, actually.
As for me personally, my direct involvement with national fishing competition GP Joran, which was started by then assistant group editor Haniff Hadi, gave a lot of satisfaction.
This was followed by tourism promotion Boat on the Road fishing competition at Tasik Kenyir, also another first for BH and the nation.
BH moves on to the digital era. Its present crop of journalists and photographers has to prove its mettle and maintain the newspaper’s past achievements. All the best, my dear colleagues!
The writer is chairman of Yayasan Salam Malaysia