Negotiating OB Markers When Running the Straits Times
Former Straits Times editor-in-chief Cheong Yip Seng tells us how he negotiated OB markers with the government during his tenure (1987–2006), how he balanced the interests of the paper’s stakeholders, and which news story he nearly went to jail for.
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What Cheong Talked About
00:55 – Podcast introduction
01:48 – Why a sequel to OB Markers
03:21 – Differences between the books Ink and Influence and OB Markers
06:24 – Events leading to Cheong's appointment as editor-in-chief
11:33 – Accusations of the Straits Times (ST) as government mouthpiece
17:16 – Impact of social media on traditional news
18:28 – Cheong's near arrest over a leaked story
20:50 – Hardest decisions as editor-in-chief
21:52 – Importance of ST credibility
24:06 – Cheong's principles in negotiating OB markers
27:40 – Criticisms ST faced over its coverage of the 1987 Marxist Conspiracy
29:48 – Cheong’s outlook on ST in the next two decades
33:30 – Why Cheong became a journalist
26:29 – Person who had the greatest intellectual impact on Cheong
About the Guest
Cheong Yip Seng is a veteran journalist. He was editor-in-chief of The Straits Times from 1987 to 2006 and editorial adviser to the South China Morning Post from 2012 to 2020. He has written OB Markers: My Straits Times Story and Ink and Influence: An OB Markers Sequel.
Resources
Cheong Yip Seng, OB Markers: My Straits Times Story (Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2013).
Cheong Yip Seng, Ink and Influence: An OB Markers Sequel (Singapore:
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., 2025).
Credits
This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Cheong Yip Seng for coming on the show.
About the Podcast
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library Singapore.