New Sarawak Tribune

Overview and history

Originally formed by teachers in 1945, the Sarawak Tribune was the second English-language daily in Sarawak and was, prior to its suspension, the state's oldest and largest operating state daily, with over 400 employees throughout the state and 70 editorial staff in Kuching. The daily was regarded as a legacy of British colonial Sarawak. Its sister paper was the state Malay-language daily, Utusan Sarawak. Formerly, its other sister paper was the state Mandarin daily, Chinese Daily News, now known as United Daily. It was last owned by Sarawak Press Sdn Bhd.

2006 Muhammad cartoons controversy

During the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, the daily reprinted a collection of the cartoons on page 17 of the 4 February 2006 edition to illustrate a story on the topic titled "Cartoon No Big Impact Here". The publication drew flak from the Malaysian government, which consisted predominantly of Muslim politicians. As a result, Lester Melanyi, an editor of the newspaper, resigned from his post for allowing the reprinting of the cartoon.

Company advisor Senator Datuk Idris Buang announced that the daily would choose to suspend itself. The paper was officially suspended on 9 February 2006. The group editor, Toman Mamora, resigned soon after. The daily's indefinite suspension has been generally described as a loss.

2025 Anas al-Sharif headline controversy

In August 2025, the daily attracted controversy when an article was published by the newspaper with the headlines, "Militant Using Press Cover Eliminated." It turned out that the person referred to as a “militant” was actually Anas Al-Sharif, a journalist from Al Jazeera who was killed in Gaza along with four other journalists by Israeli forces on 10 August. Upon realizing the error, the newspaper issued an immediate apology. In its statement, the daily expressed regret to Anas Al-Sharif's family, colleagues, and the media community. It also reaffirmed its opposition to the killing and suppression of journalists anywhere in the world.

In response, National Trust Party condemned the headline and accused the newspaper of spreading lies about al-Sharif. The political party also requested the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to take action against the tribune.

Successor

A new tabloid, the Eastern Times, is said to have replaced the Sarawak Tribune. Its printing license was approved on 1 March, and began publication on 26 March 2006.

The Eastern Times is owned by Total Progressive Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of a real-estate developing corporation and government-linked company, Naim Cendera Holdings . The company was renamed Eastern Times News Sdn Bhd in May 2006.

References

References

1. Tien, Tony. (6 February 2006). "Sarawak Tribune mungkin dikenakan tindakan".
2. Kuppusamy, Baradan. (7 February 2006). "Editor quits for publishing 'oversight'".
3. Puah, Pauline. (10 February 2006). "Tribune deserved it: Suhakams Hamdan".
4. Thien, Tony. (10 February 2006). "Tribune group editor quits".
5. Bahrom, Shahril. (14 August 2025). "Sarawak Tribune Mistakes Al-Jazeera Journalist For Militant, Apologises For "Barbaric" Headline".
6. (13 August 2025). "S'wak media apologises over snafu on slain Al Jazeera reporter".
7. (15 August 2025). "Pemuda Amanah desak Sarawak Tribune ditutup".