Han moves Strait up

New managing editor Han Fook Kwang

INCOMING Singapore Press Holdings chairman Lee Boon Yang has given his flagship Straits Times a shake-up.

After nine years as Straits Times editor, Han Fook Kwang, will move to the new role of English and Malay Newspapers managing editor next year.

Former Times deputy editor Warren Fernandez will return to the paper as Mr Han’s replacement on February 15.

Mr Lee thanked Mr Han for steering the Times through nearly a decade of fast-changing technology and changing reader habits.

“Under your editorship, the paper remained the leading news publication despite the onslaught of online social media,” he said.

“All newspapers here and abroad are facing declining readership owing to changes in media consumption habits especially among the young. The Straits Times has done better than many of its counterparts overseas in retaining its readership.

“You have done very well during these difficult years.”

Mr Han said he was confident his company would succeed during “[these] challenging times in the media industry” if it continued to invest in its newsrooms and build journalistic talent.

Mr Han will report to English and Malay Newspapers editor-in-chief Patrick Daniel.

Mr Daniel said his successor had taken on “a tough job – not just keeping The Straits Times going for the next generation but ensuring that it thrives”.

Mr Fernandez has served SPH in a variety of correspondent and editor roles, including deputy editor of the Times.

He left the company in 2008 to join Shell.