For more than 40 years, Times House was the home of Singapore’s English- and Malay-language press, including The Straits Times, The Business Times, Berita Harian and the now-defunct New Nation.

Once Upon a Times House offers a glimpse of the people who worked there, what they did and how they did it. The book will be launched by the Rice Company Limited (TRCL) on Jun 23.

The collection of stories from veteran editors and journalists span the last few decades, TRCL said when it announced the book launch on Friday (Jun 16).

The team behind the book hopes the stories will inspire young journalists and showcase Singapore’s history of journalism and leading newspapers’ transformative years to the wider community. The book also includes archival photographs of Singapore’s history.

Clement Mesenas, editor of Once Upon a Times House, said: “We wanted to show the younger generation that journalism needed guts and grit to get the good and real stories, not just telling manicured stories decided in advance.”

Copies of the book will be distributed free to all secondary schools and institutes of higher learning, said Colin Goh, chief executive of TRCL. 

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The launch of Once Upon a Times House will take place at 10 Square in Orchard Central, where attendees can meet contributors of the book. Autographed copies will be sold on site for S$100 each. Proceeds from the sale will go towards the Business Times Budding Artists Fund, which provides resources and opportunities to financially disadvantaged youth in the arts.

TRCL is a non-profit organisation that similarly aims to offer creative opportunities to underserved communities.