SPH's Han named managing editor; Fernandez to return

In his new role, Han will assist Patrick Daniel, editor-in-chief of the division, to strengthen and raise standards of all its print and digital products. He will also help oversee Straits Times Press, SPH's book publishing subsidiary.

Commenting on his new role, Han said, “I was fortunate to have a wonderful team at ST. As long as we continue to invest in the newsroom and build on this talent, I believe ST will continue to do well. These are indeed challenging times in the media industry and I hope to help SPH meet the challenges ahead in my new role.”

While maintaining quality is a critical challenge, Daniel noted that Han’s long experience editing the ST would help ensure that the newsrooms are up to this challenge.

Lee Boon Yang, SPH director and chairman-designate, meanwhile said the newspaper has done better, under Han’s readership, than its counterparts overseas in retaining its readership.

Meanwhile, Fernandez worked in SPH for almost 20 years, before joining Shell as global manager, future energy project, and concurrently regional manager (Asia Pacific) for communications strategy in 2008. He has served in many roles such as political correspondent, news editor, political editor, foreign editor and deputy editor.

“Singaporeans today are increasingly well-educated, well-read and well-travelled.  They have many options to choose from for their news and views, and more ways of getting these, when and wherever they want them. How to cater to the changing needs of this increasingly sophisticated audience will be one of ST’s biggest challenges. ST has the talent and experience to meet this challenge, and I will work with my colleagues to ensure that it remains Singaporeans’ paper of choice for a long time to come,” he added.