On Friday,  10 June 2022, Singapore Press Club celebrated its 50th Anniversary at its annual Press Ball.  The event was held at Orchard Hotel Singapore Grand Ballroom, attended by over 430 members and guests.

The Guest of Honour Josephine Teo, Minister for Communication and Information gave a speech about the media industry thanking the media industry for their thoughtful and accurate media stories for the public during the height of the Covid19 period and she has two words for the local media – “Go forward”. Go forward to innovate with new and better experiences, whether it is for our seniors, working adults or young digital natives. Go forward to experiment with new and better content – through accurate and engaging writing; robust editing; and compelling visuals. Go forward to achieve greater excellence in serving our people – through news stories that not just capture eyeballs or clicks, but lift our minds and unite our hearts. She ended by saying that she “look forward to seeing the Club and your members pen many more chapters in the story of Singapore’s media.”

For the full speech, click here.

Even as the Singapore Press Club celebrates its 50th anniversary, Minister Josephine Teo said that as “the Club looks back on Singapore’s history, and pays tribute in your “Hall of Fame” to those who have made outstanding and lasting contributions to the media industry in Singapore, you will also be presenting the inaugural ‘Rising Stars Awards’ to recognise young media professionals who have excelled in their craft. You will also be presenting the inaugural Sustainability Journalism Award – an area of journalism that will be increasingly important and relevant to the world.”

Singapore Press Club’s President Patrick Daniel gave an opening speech to share the Club’s journey over the 50 years and he said, “To have lasted 50 years is a huge achievement. I’m happy to say we have not just survived; we are alive and well. I must thank past presidents before me, as well as the honorary secretaries who did much of the work, and also the past and present management committees.” 

Patrick also said that he’s “also happy that our membership has grown steadily despite the Covid restrictions. One reason is, we’ve professionalised our secretariat and now have a full-time general manager and an assistant. We also did a rebranding exercise – our first in 50 years! – after we converted from a society to a company limited by guarantee. The club’s main aim remains the same – to serve as an active and purposeful networking organisation. Our purpose is embodied in our slogan, “Connecting Media Professionals”. Going forward, we want to do more and work with partners to cover as wide a range of activities as we can.”

For Patrick Daniel’s full speech, click here

The Club presented the Awards to the winners of the inaugural Singapore Press Club Journalism Awards to young journalists and announced the 50 inductees to  the Singapore Media Industry Hall Of Fame, recognising those above 65 years and posthumously for their more than 25 years of contribution to the Singapore Media Industry. For more details of the winners, click here

or scan this QR code to download the awards winners brochure in PDF.

To our members, corporate partners, sponsors and friends who attended our event, please view this Photo Gallery for the event photos or you can click the below links to see and download more hi-resolution photos you’ll like to download.

Event Photos

Photoboard Photos