KUALA LUMPUR – The Star’s first woman group chief editor, Datuk Ng Poh Tip, died today at her home in Subang Jaya. She was 81.
She broke the glass ceiling when she was appointed to helm the English daily in January 1993, making her the first woman to lead a local newspaper.
Her appointment also marked a big shift in The Star, and she was often credited for the paper’s exponential growth to become a market leader.
On the newsroom floor, Ng was easily recognisable as she stood out among her peers with her glasses and short straight hair with a neat fringe.
Under her leadership, The Star became part of the Asia News Network (ANN), which was formed in 1999 during the Asian-German Editors Forum in Manila.
ANN is a network of Asian daily newspapers that share editorial content with each other, including news stories, feature articles, editorials and personality profiles.
When she retired in 2003, Ng was appointed as The Star’s group editorial and education adviser as well as the executive director of the Asian Centre for Media Studies at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Later, she took on the role of editorial adviser to the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong.
Apart from her accolades in journalism, Ng was an active alumni of the oldest girls’ school in Southeast Asia – Penang’s Convent Light Street. She had been leading the alumni organisation since 2002 and spent her time fundraising for the school.
She attended the school from 1951 to 1961, and was chosen as head prefect in 1961.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with honours, majoring in history, from Universiti Malaya in 1967, and a master’s in political studies from Canada’s University of Guelph in 1971.
Ng, whose husband died 10 years ago, has no children.
In an interview during one of the alumni’s anniversary events, she said she only picked up English in school as she came from a Cantonese-speaking family in Penang.
A classmate would help to translate the English lessons to Hokkien, Penang’s predominant dialect at the time, but Ng could not understand that either.
Later, she attended St Xavier’s Institution for her sixth form, which was across the road from Convent Light Street. The school produced many stars in the publishing industry, including The Star’s founding editor KS Choong and others who became Ng’s colleagues over the years.
The memorial service is held today and tomorrow at the Nirvana Centre at 16, Jalan Dewan Bahasa, Bukit Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur. The prayer ceremony will be held between 8pm and 10.30pm over the weekend.
The cortege will leave for the Nirvana Shah Alam crematorium on Monday, 11.30am. – May 25, 2024