{{Short description|Historic Tamil-language newspaper in Singapore}} {{Use British English|date=September 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = Singai Nesan | logo = | image = Singainesan.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Cover of first issue of ''Singai Nesan'', 27 June 1887 | type = Weekly | format = | owners = | founder = | publisher = | editor = S.K. Makadoom Saiboo | president = | chief_editor = | associate_editor = | managing_editor = | news_editor = | campus_editor = | campus_chief = | opinion_editor = | photo_editor = | staff_writers = | founded = {{start date|df=yes|1887|06|27}} | political_position = | language = Tamil language | ceased_publication = 1890 | relaunched = | headquarters = Singapore | circulation = | sister_newspapers = | ISSN = | oclc = | website = | free = }} '''''Singai Nesan''''' ({{langx|ta|சிங்கை நேசன்}}, English: Singapore Friend, also transliterated as ''Cinkai Necan'') was a Tamil language weekly newspaper published from Singapore from 1887 to 1890.<ref name="b">Amrith, Sunil S. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8eWwAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA166 Crossing the Bay of Bengal: The Furies of Nature and the Fortunes of Migrants]''. 2013. pp. 166–167</ref><ref name="i">Feener, R. Michael, and Terenjit Sevea. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=2MyHnPaox9MC&pg=PA60 Islamic Connections: Muslim Societies in South and Southeast Asia]''. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009. p. 60</ref><ref>Lim, Patricia Pui Huen. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lvMjPCHSJ2cC&pg=PA190 Newspapers Published in the Malaysian Area, with a Union List of Local Holdings]''. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1970. p. 190</ref><ref name="s2">Heng, Derek Thiam Soon, and Syed Muhd. Khairudin Aljunied. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NYczRd6N5CwC&pg=PA74 Singapore in Global History]''. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2011. pp. 24, 74</ref><ref>National Library of Singapore. ''[https://archive.today/20130930014158/http://www.nl.sg/NLWEB.portal?_cn_nodePath=NL/OtherCollections/LKCRL/SingaporePagesSpecialMaterial/Microfilm&_nfpb=true&_cn_bookLevel=1&_cn_bookTitle1=LKCRL+Collections+Singapore+Pages&_pageLabel=NL_CMSPage4&collectionCode=SingaporePages&_cn_pageTitle=SingaporePagesSpecialMaterial Lee Kong Chian Reference Library]''</ref><ref>Sinha, Vineeta. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=RQsHzNQDp38C&pg=PA63 Religion-State Encounters in Hindu Domains: From the Straits Settlements to Singapore]''. Dordrecht [etc.]: Springer, 2011. p. 63</ref> The newspaper also carried material in English and Malay.<ref name="b"/> It is the oldest Tamil newspaper in Singapore of which a substantial number of issues has been saved in archives.<ref name="i"/> The issues of ''Singai Nesan'' contains historical material on the religious life of Hindu and Muslim communities of Singapore.<ref>Sinha, Vineeta. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=RQsHzNQDp38C&pg=PA84 Religion-State Encounters in Hindu Domains: From the Straits Settlements to Singapore]''. Dordrecht [etc.]: Springer, 2011. p. 84</ref> S.K. Makadoom Saiboo was the editor of ''Singai Nesan''.<ref>Thumboo, Edwin. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=RcRlAAAAMAAJ The Fiction of Singapore]''. Singapore: Mentor Printers, n.d. p. 618</ref><ref name="asean">Abdul Hakim Hj Mohd Yassin, Haji. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=7lVkAAAAMAAJ Traditional Literature of ASEAN]''. [Quezon City]: ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information, 2000. p. 209</ref>
The first issue of the newspaper was published on 27 June 1887, in commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.<ref name="b"/><ref name="asean"/><ref>Lane, John. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jclWRnYf2-0C&pg=PA38 A Right Royal Feast: Menus from Royal Weddings and History's Greatest Banquets]''. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 2011. p. 38</ref> The inaugural issue carried editorial articles in Tamil and English in honour of the Queen.<ref name="asean"/> The issue also carried a small editorial in Tamil in tribute to the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II.<ref name="b"/>
''Singai Nesan'' had the majority of its subscribers in Singapore, but subscribers were also found in Batu Pahat, Klang, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Siam, Porto-Novo, Sibolga, Padang, Medan, Langkat, Saigon and Melaka.<ref name="i"/> The majority of subscribers were Muslims, but the readership also included Hindus and Christians.<ref>Heng, Derek Thiam Soon, and Syed Muhd. Khairudin Aljunied. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NYczRd6N5CwC&pg=PA88 Singapore in Global History]''. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2011. pp. 87–88</ref> It was published by Denodaya Press, which printed both Malay and Tamil literature.<ref name="b"/><ref name="i"/>
Large chunks of the material printed in ''Singai Nesan'' were borrowed from the English-language press and the Reuters agency.<ref name="b"/> Whilst it provided the Colombo-based newspapers ''Muslim Nesan'' and ''Sarvajana Nesan'' with article material from South-East Asia, the newspaper copied material from them on Middle Eastern affairs.<ref name="s3">Heng, Derek Thiam Soon, and Syed Muhd. Khairudin Aljunied. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NYczRd6N5CwC&pg=PA82 Singapore in Global History]''. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2011. p. 82</ref>
==References== {{Portal|Singapore|Journalism}} {{reflist}}
Category:Newspapers established in 1887 Category:Publications disestablished in 1890 Category:Tamil-language newspapers Category:Defunct newspapers published in Singapore Category:Defunct weekly newspapers