The Penang Newspapers and Book Sellers Association celebrated its 52nd anniversary dinner at the SRRI AKS Grand Hall at the Choo Plaza along Loring Abu Siti in Georgetown last night.
Lending presence was Penang Chief Minister YAB Chow Kon Yeow, Deputy Chief Minister 11, Prof Dr P Ramasamy, Deputy Education Minister, YB Lim Hui Ying and Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Daniel Gooi who also impressed the audience for his two lines of salutations in Tamil.
Welcoming the VIP guests was association president M. Murugesu and his committee.
Representatives from the various newspaper organisations were also present at the event. Also present were vendor association representatives from Ipoh and Alor Setar.
“I take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Labour Day celebration and congratulate the association on its 52nd anniversary dinner.
“I also take note of the readers’ preference to read online articles other than the hard copy newspapers.
“The major publishers must also consider a different business model to move forward with online advertising and publishing. In the meantime, we will also consider the appeal of the vendor association for assistance,” said Chow.
He also announced an allocation of RM5,000 towards the association welfare activities. This amount was on top of another RM5,000 commitment by YB Daniel Gooi towards the association.
“Our association also takes care of the welfare of its members and also further education of their children.
“I wish to thank the Chief Minister for the contribution of RM500 each for their members during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Murugesu in his speech.
The evening also saw a series of dance of song performances to entertain the audience.
