KOTA KINABALU: The Overseas Chinese Daily News (OCDN) marks its 90th anniversary today (Sunday) which continued to come out without fail, except during the war years.
It was founded on March 1, 1936, in Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu). “This makes it one of the oldest Chinese newspapers in Malaysia,” said Universiti Malaya History Professor Datuk Dr Danny Wong.
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He said it was started by a certain Lee to inform the Chinese community about developments in China at the time.
According to Danny, another edition bearing the same name surfaced in Sandakan under a certain Chong which took a critical stand about the Japanese aggression and for which the Japanese exacted revenge by putting him to death during the war.
As the first Chinese newspaper in what was then British North Borneo, the OCDN became a leading publication under Tan Sri Yeh Pao Tzu in 1949, covering local and international news.
Yeh, a Fudan University journalism graduate, took over as publisher and editor in 1949. Following his death in 1987, his wife Lim York Sham became chairwoman, and his son, Datuk Clement Yeh, took over as publisher.
Known for impartial, up-to-date reporting, it became one of the most influential Chinese papers in the region, covering diverse topics, including local, international, financial and entertainment news.
The paper is considered a cornerstone of Chinese journalism in Sabah, with its development reflecting the history of the region's newspaper industry.
It is published by Sabah Publishing House. Yeh later also put out the State’s first local English newspaper, Sabah Times in 1952 together with Tun Fuad Stephens, GS Kler and Chong Pak Nam. Stephens was the first local Editor while Datuk Mohd Fauzi Patel was the first Reporter. This made Yeh, a pioneer of both the Chinese and English Press in Sabah.
Pic shows Clement flanked by Anthony Yeh (GM) and Dexter Yeh (Deputy GM) at right and OCDN Editor Liau Sin Foh together with staff.
