Lat Pau, Singapore’s first Chinese daily, is launched

Singapore’s earliest English-language newspaper was first published on 1 January 1824.^[1] On 9 December 1881, a notice was put up in The Singapore Daily News announcing: “A Chinese newspaper called the Lat Pau Kuan, or Chinese Daily News, will be published from to-morrow under the editorship of Mr T. Chong Eng.”^[2] This was also the first Chinese daily newspaper in Nanyang, or Southeast Asia.^[3]

Lat Pau (叻報) was started by See Ewe Lay, a Peranakan (Straits Chinese) from Malaya. The name of the paper was derived from the Hokkien and Cantonese words for selat, which means “straits” in Malay.^[4] The daily paper was circulated locally and also mailed to some readers in the Dutch East Indies.^[5] It did not enjoy an extensive circulation, and by the end of 1890 it only had a circulation of 200 compared to its English contemporary, The Free Press, which was circulating at 400 copies.^[6]

The eight-page paper followed the style of Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong and Shanghai. It contained general local and foreign news comprising reproductions of feature articles from newspapers in Hong Kong, Shanghai and other major cities in China, translated articles from the local English press as well as news reported by staff.^[7] Imperial edicts and Peking gazettes were also regular features of Lat Pau.^[8] As the first Chinese daily in the region, it also carried all notices issued by the Straits Settlements and Dutch governments.^[9] It only enjoyed an increase of sales to 550 copies in 1900 when China was undergoing rapid changes and many were eager to receive news on  the country.^[10]

Despite poor sales, Lat Pau managed to stay afloat with revenue from advertisements, as well as its function as a printing company — printing English documents and notices — and bookseller.^[11] Its lead writer, Yeh Chi-Yun, previously a reporter with Hong Kong’s Chung Ngoi San Po, worked with Lat Pau for 40 years.^[12] After the death of Yeh, his successors were unable to live up to his standards. Furthermore, the younger See family members who managed the paper following See’s death were English-educated and had difficulties communicating with the Chinese-educated staff. Lat Pau also faced competition from emerging influential papers such as Nanyang Siang Pau (1923) and Sin Chew Jit Poh (1929).^[13] Additionally, its printing arm ran into trouble when the Singapore municipality sought printing services from other printers.^[14] As a result of financial difficulties, the Lat Pau Press was liquidated and ceased operations on 31 March 1932.^[15]

References
1. Makepeace, W., Brooke, G. E., & Braddell, R. S. J. (Eds.). (1991). One hundred years of Singapore (Vol. 2, pp. 278–281). Singapore: Oxford University Press. Call no.: RSING 959.57 ONE.
2. Notice [Microfilm: NL 5240]. (1881, December 9). Singapore Daily News, p. 2.
3. Chen, M. H. (1967). The early Chinese newspapers of Singapore, 1881–1912 (p. 24). Singapore: University of Malaya Press. Call no.: RSING 079.5702 CHE.
4. Chen, 1967, p. 24.
5. Turnbull, C. M. (1995). Dateline Singapore: 150 years of the Straits Times (p. 51). Singapore: Times Editions for Singapore Press Holdings. Call no.: RSING 079.5957 TUR.
6. Chen, 1967, p. 40.
7. Tan, Y. S., & Soh, Y. P. (1994). The development of Singapore’s modern media industry (p. 9). Singapore: Times Academic Press. Call no.: RSING 338.4730223 TAN.
8. Chen, 1967, p. 34.
9. Chen, 1967, p. 39.
10. Chen, 1967, p. 40.
11. Chen, 1967, p. 41.
12. Chen, 1967, p. 31.
13. Tan & Soh, 1994, p. 9.
14. Chen, 1967, p. 41.
15. Sequel to closing of Lat Pau. (1933, May 17). The Straits Times, p. 5. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.