My paper now truly bilingual

Singapore - SPH's freesheet, my paper, relaunched today with separate English and Chinese language sections.

"The English section is targeted at busy working adults who want a diet of news on the go and opinion pieces from both journalists and the public," Yeow Kai Chai, my paper editor for the English section and former deputy editor of Straits Times' Life! Section, said.

The Chinese section will continue to be headed by its editor Goh Sin Teck and separate editorial teams will be maintained. The freesheet wishes to reach out to bilingual readers between 20 and 40 years old.

"My paper aims to attract more readers who do not read Chinese newspapers, so the new design is more like an English newspaper to help readers adjust better to reading a bilingual publication," Goh said.

Instead merely translating of stories, content from each section is unique and will be presented in one language only. Its daily circulation has also closed to doubled from 180,000 to 300,000 copies and will be distributed on weekdays at MRT stations, bus interchanges, office buildings and selected residential areas.

For ads, there is no restriction too on the language that the copy has to be in which means advertisers can choose to have both languages on an ad if they desire to.

To highlight its assimilation of both Western and Eastern worldviews, my paper gave out goodie bags bundled with latte and Tau Sar pastries this morning. It will continue with the giveaways in the next few days and tour with local musicians that perform using instruments from both genres.