Malaysia's oldest newspaper to cease publication on Aug 21

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s oldest Malay-language newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, and its sister tabloid Kosmo will stop publishing on Wednesday (Aug 21), according to company sources.

Utusan Melayu Bhd sources told the Malaysian Insight today the decision to shut down the Malay-language dailies will be conveyed to its staff by its executive chairman, Abd Aziz Sheikh Fadzir, on Tuesday.

A company source said the publications have been losing an average of RM3 million (S$1 million) a month.

“Tuesday will be our last working day. The final publication of both papers will be Wednesday,” a source told The Malaysian Insight on Monday.

Utusan has been plunged into financial crisis since last year and had failed to meet salary payments from June this year.

It is also having difficulty paying 800 staff who had left it under a voluntary separation scheme — a move management believed would help the company stay afloat.

On Monday afternoon, the papers’ staff had picketed over the delay in payment of their salaries.

Utusan Malaysia was first published as Utusan Melayu in 1939. It was founded by Yusof Ishak, who went on to become Singapore's first president.

In 1959, it relocated its headquarters from Cecil Street in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. 

The paper has long been a mouthpiece for Umno, leading the charge in shaping the Malay community’s opinion to favour its leadership’s perspective on issues.

The paper’s National Union of Journalists branch leader, Mohd Taufek Razak, said today during its picket that shutting down Utusan would be “a slap to the face” of the Malay community, which has seen the newspaper be “their voice” for 80 years.

Mr Taufek said he hoped Umno will intervene to help Utusan staff, given that the newspaper had served as the party’s official mouthpiece for so long.

Last February, Umno sold 31.6 per cent  of its shares to Opulence Asia Sdn Bhd, a company owned by Aziz, making him the biggest shareholder in Utusan.

In July, tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary increased his stake in the company to 19.72 per cent, making him the second largest shareholder through his company, Nilam Setar Sdn Bhd.

Despite the sale of shares, Umno still has 18.1 per cent equity in the company. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT