Singapore Press : Tamil Murasu to launch supplement for Tamil preschoolers

Singapore, 19 April 2017- Tamil Murasu, Singapore Press Holdings' Tamil daily, is launching a new fortnightly supplement for preschoolers.

Titled Balar Murasu, the 12-page children's supplement will feature local content in the form of thematic stories, pictures and games, which will introduce simple Tamil words and their equivalent words in English. The activities will be presented in an interactive manner which allows the child to explore the world around him/her while learning basic Tamil language. The supplement will also contain tips for teachers and parents on how to encourage and engage a child in Tamil conversations.

The introduction of Balar Murasu will provide educators and parents with an alternative local Tamil language resource in educating young preschoolers. At present, teachers and parents rely heavily on Tamil language resources from India and Malaysia; existing preschool resources are not based on the Singapore context and do not offer bilingual content. Furthermore, the supplement will have various sections tailored according to the needs of children from different age groups, so as to reach out to all children under the age of seven.

Rajendran Jawharilal, editor of Tamil Murasu, said: 'At Tamil Murasu, we believe nurturing bilingualism starts from young. We will tap on our rich resources and continue working closely with educators to curate and improve content for preschoolers. We certainly hope that teachers, parents and even grandparents will find Balar Murasu useful in teaching preschoolers basic written and spoken Tamil in a fun and interactive way.'

With the introduction of Balar Murasu, Tamil Murasu will now be able to promote and nurture the Tamil language among children and youths of all ages. Currently, Tamil Murasu has Maanavar Murasu (a 12-page weekly supplement for primary school students) and Illyar Murasu (a weekly page dedicated to the higher level students).

Issued by Singapore Press Holdings Ltd
Co. Regn. No. 198402868E

For more information, please contact:

Ms Sumathi
Secretary to Editor, Tamil Murasu
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd
DID: 6319 4009
Email: ssumathi@sph.com.sg

Ms Chua Pei Ling
Corporate Communications & CSR Senior Executive
Singapore Press Holdings Ltd
DID: 6319 1895
Email: plchua@sph.com.sg

About Tamil Murasu

Tamil Murasu was founded in 1935 by the late G Sarangapany. In 1996, SPH acquired Tamil Murasu with Times Publishing owning a minority stake, and in March 2004, the daily became wholly-owned by SPH. To broaden its reach, Tamil Murasu underwent two major revamps - one in 1999 and another in 2005, to beef up its coverage of local and foreign news, as well as sports and entertainment. With an average daily circulation of 18,000 copies on weekdays and 26,000 on weekends, Tamil Murasu now gives readers a daily dose of 'something for everyone'.
About Singapore Press Holdings Ltd

Incorporated in 1984, main board-listed Singapore Press Holdings Ltd (SPH) is Asia's leading media organisation, engaging minds and enriching lives across multiple languages and platforms.

Media The English/Malay/Tamil Media group comprises the print and digital operations of The Straits Times, The Business Times, The New Paper, Berita Harian, My Paper (English section) and two student publications IN and Little Red Dot. It also consists of Tamil Murasu Ltd, which publishes Tamil Murasu and tabla!; book publishing arm Straits Times Press; SPH Data Services, which licenses the use of the Straits Times Index, in partnership with the Singapore Exchange and FTSE Ltd; financial data company ShareInvestor; and the two English stations of SPH Radio - Kiss92 and ONE FM 91.3.

The Chinese Media group publishes three Chinese newspapers - Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News; the digital editions of Lianhe Zaobao and Lianhe Wanbao, four student weeklies - zbCOMMA, Thumbs Up, Thumbs Up Junior and Thumbs Up Little Junior, ZBBZ Newsgazine and My Paper (Chinese section). It also operates SPH Radio's Chinese radio station, UFM100.3, and Focus Publishing, which produces a range of books and magazines including U-Weekly.

SPH's other new media initiatives include AsiaOne, Stomp, zaobao.sg, omy.sg and SPH Razor. On an average day, 2.8 million* individuals or 68 per cent of people above 15 years old, read one of SPH's news publications in print copies or one of our digital platforms.(* Nielsen Media Index 2015, Monday-Sunday, read any SPH newspapers in print or digital format)

SPH Magazines, SPH's wholly-owned subsidiary, publishes and produces more than 100 magazine titles and has various online sites, like hardwarezone.com, herworldplus.com and luxuryinsider.com in Singapore and the region, covering a broad range of interests from lifestyle to information technology. It has also invested in digital newsstand Magzter.

SPH also provides out-of-home (OOH) advertising options where it manages large format screens and static billboards at key locations in the Central Business District, Orchard Road, City Fringe as well as major heartland hubs.

SPH Buzz is a modern retail convenience chain with a network of stores around the island.

SPH has a 20 per cent stake in MediaCorp TV Holdings Pte Ltd, which operates free-to-air channels 5, 8 and U, and a 40 per cent stake in MediaCorp Press Limited, which publishes the free newspaper, Today.

PropertiesSPH REIT is a Singapore-based REIT established to invest in a portfolio of income-producing real estate primarily for retail purposes. SPH REIT comprises Paragon, a premier upscale retail mall and medical suite/office property in Orchard Road and The Clementi Mall, a mid-market suburban mall in the centre of Clementi town.

The Seletar Mall, located in Sengkang, is SPH's latest retail development. This property is a potential asset to be injected into SPH REIT. SPH's wholly-owned subsidiary, Times Development Pte Ltd, also developed a 43-storey upmarket residential condominium, Sky@eleven, at Thomson Road.

Other Businesses

Online Classified
SPH's online classifieds include the leading online marketplace for jobs (STJobs, FastJobs), property (STProperty), cars (STCars) and general classifieds (STClassifieds,Trezo), sgCarMart and StreetSine.

SPH's regional joint venture online classified business has a number of leading online classified sites in the region.

Events and ExhibitionsSphere Exhibits, Sphere Conferences, Exhibits Inc and Bizlink Exhibition Services organise innovative consumer and trade events and exhibitions as well as large scale conferences in Singapore and the region.

EducationSPH has a 22 per cent stake in preschool and enrichment provider MindChamps.

For more information, please visit www.sph.com.sg.