PRESS-SING GOOD TIME

GOOD EXPERIENCE...Ferried all the way to the NST plant in 3 buses courtesy of Subang Parade, more than 100 residents went along on a school holiday trip to learn how a newspaper is printed.

Families enjoy trip to NST to learn how newspapers are printed

By Uma Param and family 

In collaboration with SJ Echo, Subang Parade and The New Straits Times Press  (Malaysia) Berhad  (NSTP), we, the lucky few who signed for the free School Holiday Special field trip to NSTP printing plant were indeed in for a great experience.  The trip initially planned for 40 children and 40 adults in two buses sponsored by Subang Parade management ballooned to 3 buses due to the unprecedented interest shown by the folks in Subang Jaya.  We were excited because we also wanted to see how our very own community newspaper SJ Echo comes to fruition.

We congregated at Subang Parade Information Counter just before 2.30PM, boarded the bus and started our journey at about 3PM and reached the NSTP printing plant in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam in approximately 20 minutes.  We were ushered into a hall for our briefing.  Safety precaution briefing was conducted and the most important thing we had to remember and follow strictly was not to touch anything because of the many sophisticated machines which were in constant motion inside the printing plant.  The Plant Manager then welcomed us, following which the Technical Support Manager briefed us via power point presentation on NSTP’s printing plant operation and an overview of the same.

We learnt that NSTP was first published in 1845 and so has been in existence for a good 164 years. There are 4 printing plants in Malaysia altogether namely Balai Berita Shah Alam for central region, Sabah and Sarawak, Balai Berita Senai for southern region, Balai Berita Ajil for eastern region and Balai Berita Prai for the northern region. 43.29% of NSTP is owned by Media Prima which also owns 100% of TV3 and 80% of 8TV.   The printing press is fully automated using German technology.   Almost all operations are computerised. The Shah Alam printing plant also undertakes contract printing which is how SJ Echo comes about.  We were duly impressed to know that SJ Echo being a community paper is printed by NSTP...all 20,000 copies.  Bravo! They also do contract printing for The Malay Mail.  Our large group was divided into three groups so that everyone would get a chance to see the running of this printing plant at close range.  

The first room we were ushered into assailed us with a strong odor. Here we were introduced to modern publishing whereby the news page is transferred from the computer to aluminum plates via thermal technology.  This is known as CTP – Computer to Plate technique. Thermal technology gives excellent clarity and colour.  These thermal plates were for colour as well as for black printing.  Black is denoted by the letter “K” on the edge of the plates.  The secondary colours used are C = Cyan, M = Magenta and Y = Yellow; CMYK for short.  They use subtractive colour mixing application method whereby primary colours are achieved by subtracting the opposite colours.  It was exhilarating to hold and behold these thermal plates which contained the next day’s news in our very own hands with the supervisor’s permission.  It made for excellent photography opportunity.  When I was a teenager, I was introduced to the arduous and time consuming typesetting method of preparing a plate for printing and in the present day my teenage daughters get to see the swift CTP technique.  I have to marvel at the rapid advance in technology in the short span of 32 years!  Remarkable!

These thermal plates were stacked accurately before they were mounted on the printing cylinders (after the bending process which makes it pliable).  Care must be taken during this process so that there are no misalignments. Any mistake here will result in blurry images and discoloured edges.  The accurate alignment is achieved by the technicians who work in the “quiet room” via special computerised machines and computer.  We were amazed to see the newsprint reels; they looked like humongous giant toilet rolls!  We were informed that they weigh about one and half tons each!  They were moved to the printing machines by automation.   When we were there for the visit the machines were printing 50,300 copies per hour but according to the supervisor the machine has the capacity to print 80,000 copies per hour.  The four storey-high German machines were indeed a riveting sight.  These machines emitted a variety of sound – humming, clicking, clacking etc.  & etc. On the whole, we were surprised that it was not too overly noisy. From the start to the printing, cutting, folding, freshly minted newspaper travelling along the special tracks to the stacking machines were indeed an awesome sights.  Each stack of papers had the newsvendor name and address printed before being bundled for delivery. 

This printing plant in Shah Alam churns out New Straits Times, New Sunday Times, Berita Harian, Berita Minggu, Harian Metro and Metro Ahad.  Not only were we given the grand tour of the whole place but we were then treated to tea, coffee, bean buns and curry puffs.  What an excellent way to end this excellent educational trip.  We had a leisurely tea while reading our gratis NST paper!   That was not the end of our surprises.  The Plant Manager then gave away gifts to all the children who came and 40 lucky adults.  They were expecting 40 adults and 40 children but they were gracious enough to play host to a group of 100 or so eager visitors. Kudos to Mr. Teoh and his very able gang of assistants for arranging such an enlightening experience for us, Subang Parade for providing the transportation and of course NSTP for the electrifying tour of their printing plant.  This trip was made more splendid by the fact that we could participate as a family. Sharing experiences like this leads to bonding and unity within the family as a unit and within the community as a whole.