''Nanyang Siang Pau'' () was a newspaper in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
that was founded by philanthropist-entrepreneur
Tan Kah Kee
Tan Kah Kee (; 21 October 1874 – 12 August 1961) was a Chinese businessman, investor, and philanthropist active in Singapore and the Chinese cities of Hong Kong, Shanghai, Xiamen, and Guangzhou.
A prominent figure in the overseas Chinese c ...
on 6 September 1923. It had a circulation across the
Straits Settlement
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...
.
The newspaper was the first in Southeast Asia to use the duplex unitubular printing machine that could produce 30,000 to 40,000 copies of 24-page newspapers in three colours. Tan sold the press to his son-in-law,
Lee Kong Chian
Lee Kong Chian (; 18 October 1893 – 2 June 1967), also known by his alias Lee Geok Kun (), was a prominent Chinese businessman and philanthropist based in Malaya and Singapore between the 1930s and the 1960s. He was the founder of the Lee ...
, in August 1932. In 1937, the paper saw an expansion with an influx of funds with Lee as the chairman. His brother, George Lee Geok Eng, joined as the managing director, and businessman
Tan Lark Sye
Tan Lark Sye (; 1897–1972) was a prominent Chinese businessman and philanthropist based in Singapore.
Early life
Tan was born in a Hoklo peasant family of seven in Jimei of Tong An in Fujian, China. Born into of very limited means, and orph ...
was also on the board of directors. The paper became a morning and evening daily on 20 November 1937. Circulation almost trebled in a year.
The paper was critical of the Kuomintang during China's civil war and attracted a left-leaning readership. However, its readership declined during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
as the editor took a critical stand against the movement. As a result, the editor resigned and the paper started placing more emphasis on Chinese affairs.
On 2 May 1971, three senior staff of the newspaper were arrested, accused of "a deliberate campaign to stir up