KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach - 26 October 2018 - Malay Mail --the oldest English newspaper in Malaysia -- will change its business model andgo 100% digital on 2^nd December when it stops its print operationson 1^st December 2018 which is also its 122^nd birthday.

Its Editor-in-ChiefDatuk Wong Sai Wan made the announcement to the 165 staff in a town hallmeeting at its Petaling Jaya headquarters on Thursday.

"It is a change ofbusiness direction. We are going into the full gamut of the digital businessfrom content to marketing.

"The old way of doingthe newspaper business of advertising subsidising the circulation, editorialand printing costs is no longer viable," said Wong.

Malay Mail now operatesa very successful news portal with unique visitors totalling some 4.3 millionof which 80 per cent of the traffic coming from mobile. Its monthly socialmedia reach is 5.1 million with 13 million-page engagements.

Wong said such hightraffic volume has encourage the management to abandon the traditional print andexpand its digital reach.

He said the companywill ramp up its digital plans through new acquisitions of portals, blog-sitesand social media sites.

Malay Mail will nolonger restrict itself to hard breaking news and stick to its motto of "Newsthat you can use." Malay Mail and its new sites will be more in touch with itsreaders as well as its clients.

"We want to be relevantand useful to all our stakeholders -- readers and clients," Wong added.

He also said a third ofpresent staff may be outplaced, though nothing has been finalised.

The media industryworldwide has been shifting rapidly in recent years and embracing digitaltechnology as the way people communicate and consume news evolves.