KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 ― Newspapers are probably one of the oldest businesses in the world and unsurprisingly they are stuck in their old ways.

We have probably survived longer than we should and have undergone little change as an industry.

The world has changed tremendously since English man John Henny Matthews Robson started the Malay Mail in 1896 but unfortunately the newspaper industry has remained much the same.

Being 120 years old, Malay Mail is the longest surviving newspaper in Malaysia that is still publishing today. Many of our "seniors” are no longer and even many of our "juniors” did not survive this tough and competitive business.

The sun is beginning to set on the Fourth Estate (as some of us like to think that we are the defenders of various causes that are right and just) and it has been the longest of a sunset.

We are still the only business that tells its customers what is good for them and what they should consume but in this inter connected world we cannot persist like this.

Many of us forget that newspapers are primarily a product and like all products to be sold to consumers, it must be attractive and relevant.

Malay Mail, like all other printed newspapers in the world, is now at a crossroads; do we stubbornly go forth and remain in its printed old form or do we evolve and stay relevant as we try to attract younger readers?

So, the choice for us in Malay Mail is obvious if we want to stay in business. We are now a 24/7 operation in order to come up with six publications — five digitally and the flagship printed edition.

Our new products are:

● Malay Mail E-Paper which is our digital replica of the print BUT plus more as on football nights we put in extra pages to bring the latest scores and match reports. If there is any major breaking story the e-paper, which has been around since 2014, will also change and expand. ●  Malay Mail Online (MMO) is our news portal at www.themalaymailonline.com and has been the go to for most people in the morning when they want to find out the latest. It is nothing like our print and that is intentionally so because we want to show its not only the trendy online portals which report EVERYTHING. ● Projek MMO is our first venture into publishing in Malay. Taking the cue from its English sister, the Malay site seeks to publish everything from everybody. Soon we will be expanding this into a full fledged site. Readers can reach this site directly at www.themalaymailonline.com/projek. ● Malay Mail Online Chinese is our venture into Chinese news and features and it is expanding very fast as we seek to capture the imagination of the young Chinese educated Malaysians. The site is reachable at www.themalaymailonline.com/chinese. ● Malay Mail Afternoon E-Paper (MMA) is our effort to bridge our history and the future, as we bring not only the latest and unique news from all over the world with emphasis on sports. It comes out daily at around 2pm to be everyone’s afternoon companion just like what the printed copy was 25 years ago.

The e-Paper and the MMA can be downloaded through our Malay Mail App both of IOS Apps Store and the Android Play Store. For the moment download for both editions is still FREE but not for long.

We at the Malay Mail have always been innovative from the get go.

We published a special mid-day edition of the Fifa World Cup, European Championship, Copa America and the Rio Olympics to capture every single moment of those great sports events. No other newspaper in the world tried this but we did it just for our loyal readers.

As we look back at our 120 years of history, we remember the likes of S.H. Tan and Maurice Khoo for their leadership of this newspaper as editors. They were an institution in their time.

I remember fondly Tan for his column and his frequent mention of the acronym SYT which stands for Sweet Young Thing. If anything he has to take responsibility for my attraction to this profession.

Our current Editor Emeritus Frankie D’Cruz is an institution of this newspaper for he has been with Malay Mail for almost 40 years and he has been instrumental in shaping many revamps of the newspaper.

We will continue to strive to do what is important for the community and stay relevant by reporting news that you can use. You, the readers, can be assured that we will not be afraid to take a stand on issues that affect the community.

We will be opinionated and unashamedly one-sided when it comes to such matters. We will offer no apology for being so because it is for the betterment of our community and nation.

Malay Mail will always be biased in favour of the public interest.