{"id":4135,"date":"2024-07-01T05:54:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T05:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-alumn-nus.pantheonsite.io\/alumnus\/?p=4135"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:07:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:07:56","slug":"a-nose-for-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2024\/07\/01\/a-nose-for-news\/","title":{"rendered":"A Nose For News"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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WHO HE IS<\/h3>\n\n

Mr T Raja Segar is a familiar face in the Indian community in Singapore. He took over as editor of the Tamil Murasu newspaper in April 2024, following stints at the Hindu Endowments Board and the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA).<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Just two weeks into his stint as the editor of\u00a0Tamil Murasu<\/em>, Mr Raja Segar learnt of a major announcement: that Singapore would see its first leadership change in 20 years. The handover from Mr Lee Hsien Loong to Mr Lawrence Wong was only the third such change in prime ministers since Singapore\u2019s independence in 1965. The news got Mr Segar, 62, thinking. \u201cI wanted to make the story come alive for our readers, especially the younger ones, who might have been born after the last leadership transition in 2004,\u201d he said. \u201cWe in the news business today are blessed with the ability to tell stories like never before, thanks to the power of social media and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

With this in mind, he set a clear goal for his team: to bring Prime Minister Lawrence Wong\u2019s inauguration to life for audiences. Judging by the scope of its coverage, they certainly did just that. There were videos that not only captured the formal proceedings at the Istana, but also the groundswell of emotion at Yew Tee, a precinct that PM Wong represents in Parliament.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

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[The need to adapt to digital trends] has lit a fire under us to stay relevant to younger readers. If you\u2019re not going to connect with them, you might as well send the paper to the gallows, because the time will come when no one will read you!<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Mr Segar recalls rushing from the inauguration ceremony to Yew Tee to support his team and hear their views. \u201cWith news, you have to be on the ground,\u201d he explained. \u201cI enjoy going out to meet people and be with my team as they tell their stories.\u201d In the month of April 2024, during the annual Tamil Language Month, he attended over 20 of the 48 events to meet supporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Mr Segar\u2019s affable nature and fondness for meeting people have earned him many valuable connections over the years. These have proven useful in his quest to tell stories in a unique manner. He began widening his network as a Science student at NUS. \u201cI would hop on the University bus and travel to the Arts faculty twice or thrice a week for an Economics class,\u201d he recalled. \u201cAt those classes, I was exposed to students from other faculties, like Business, Arts and even Law. I cherish those friendships till today.\u201d Also useful is the academic foundation he gained from his time at the University. \u201cWe were trained to look at issues from multiple angles, which has come in handy throughout my career,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n\n

These traits are exemplified in\u00a0Tamil Murasu\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0coverage of a recent solar eclipse that was visible in the United States. \u201cWe didn\u2019t just want to do a straightforward story,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo I got in touch with a teacher friend in Dallas and we had a Zoom interview about the activities she had organised for her class. Readers in Singapore could feel like they were watching the eclipse, even though it was taking place thousands of miles away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Like many media outlets, the 88-year-old\u00a0Tamil Murasu<\/em>, Singapore\u2019s oldest and only Tamil newspaper, has had to adapt to digital trends to stay relevant to younger readers. This is a source of excitement, rather than apprehension for Mr Segar. \u201cIt has lit a fire under us to stay relevant to younger readers,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re not going to connect with them, you might as well send the paper to the gallows, because the time will come when no one will read you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The paper has done well on this front. Since the start of 2024, the\u00a0Tamil Murasu<\/em>\u00a0app has been downloaded more than 22,000 times and its social media reach has grown steadily through the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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TAMIL TIMES\"2\"<\/h4>\n

3 facts you may not have known about Tamil, one of Singapore\u2019s four official languages:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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  • Tamil is one of the oldest living languages in the world, with a recorded history that dates back over\u00a02,000<\/strong>\u00a0years.<\/li>\n
  • Approximately\u00a085 million\u00a0<\/strong>speak the language worldwide, with significant communities in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Canada, Fiji and Mauritius.<\/li>\n
  • Tamil Murasu<\/em>\u00a0has its roots in the Tamils Reform Association, an organisation set up in\u00a0
    June 1932<\/strong>\u00a0to raise the socio-economic status of the Tamil-speaking community.\n

    Sources: National Library Board, WION News, The Juggernaut<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n

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    A JOURNEY OF SERVICE<\/h4>\n

    Indeed, people are at the heart of Mr Segar\u2019s long and varied career. This began right from his University days, when he held office in the NUS Indian Cultural Society and Tamil Language Society. \u201cIt\u2019s far from linear,\u201d he said of his career, noting his stints at media outlets, schools, community organisations and even the Ministry of Defence. A common thread that runs through this is service, especially to the Indian community.\u00a0

    While at Mediacorp in the 1990s he was instrumental in the setting up of Vasantham Central and led the team for four years. He has also served as chief executive at two organisations familiar to many Indians: SINDA from 2009 to 2014 and the Hindu Endowments Board from 2017 till earlier this year. His return to media as the editor of\u00a0Tamil Murasu<\/em>\u00a0is the latest chapter.

    \u201cI was very honoured to be appointed editor of\u00a0Tamil Murasu<\/em>, a paper that is very dear to the Tamil community. Many of us grew up with it on our coffee tables at home; we read it, contributed to it and through this, forged a bond with it,\u201d said Mr Segar, recalling the many poems and articles he had published over the years. \u201cThrough our efforts, I hope that\u00a0Tamil Murasu\u00a0<\/em>will remain an important part of the Tamil community, the same way that it has been for many generations before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The new editor of Singapore\u2019s oldest \u2014 and only \u2014 Tamil newspaper, Mr T Raja Segar (Science \u201988) gets candid about his boots-on-the-ground approach and how the media can stay relevant in the digital age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4135"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6664,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135\/revisions\/6664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}