Lee Huay Leng: Helping different language communities understand the society we all share

As someone who takes great pride in Singapore’s multilingualism and multiculturalism, I have long cherished a hope — one that goes back to my younger days.

I have always hoped that Singaporeans from different language communities would have more opportunities to read one another’s writings directly. To understand how others see the world, how they approach issues, and what matters most to them.

Our diversity is one of Singapore’s most precious assets. But like any asset, it needs to be nurtured and sustained. And the most fundamental way to do that is through connection and mutual understanding.

Over the years, Lianhe Zaobao (LHZB) has made some modest efforts in this direction.

In the past, members of the older Chinese-educated generation were involved in translating Malay literature. Building on that tradition, we also introduced local Malay-language novels to readers through the literary pages of LHZB’s lifestyle section.

But such initiatives depended heavily on individual effort. And when practical considerations, particularly costs and resources, came into play, many worthwhile projects proved difficult to sustain.

Last year, I visited some of our media counterparts in South Korea. During one of our meetings, my hosts told me that they had begun using artificial intelligence to translate their newspaper content into English, Chinese and Japanese. From what I could see, they were translating only a relatively small selection of articles from their print editions. Nevertheless, what I saw left a deep impression on me.

It opened my eyes to new possibilities.

When I returned to Singapore, I shared some of our ideas for the future with Yeng Kit, our then-CEO and now Executive Chairman. Among them was the possibility of using AI for translation, supplemented by human editing. Yeng Kit was immediately supportive. In fact, he saw an even bigger opportunity. He believed that all four major newspapers published by SPH Media in Singapore’s official languages could adopt this approach, extending the reach of each publication.

And while we were still exploring the possibilities, The Business Times had already taken the initiative to launch a beta version of its Chinese-language edition. For a long time, SPH’s approach to publishing newspapers in different languages had been shaped by a particular mindset. Expanding into another language was often seen as a potential threat to the readership of a sister publication. Hiring a dedicated translation team would also be costly.

But the world has changed.

In the international media industry, multilingual publishing is hardly a revolutionary idea. What has changed is the technology — and with it, the economics of translation and content production. Technology has transformed what is possible. We must be prepared to transform the way we think as well. Consider this: the overlap in content between LHZB and The Straits Times is only about 30%.

That means each publication has a substantial body of reporting, analysis and commentary that readers of the other may never encounter.

From the broader perspective of SPH Media, translation is therefore not simply about redistributing the same content. It is about making a much wider range of information, ideas and perspectives accessible to more people.

And as a public service media organisation, that is an important part of our mission. This is why I was particularly excited when Yeng Kit decided to move ahead with AI translation across our four major newspapers.

Of course, we recognise that different language communities have different concerns. Some have welcomed the initiative. Others worry that making content available in English might affect the readership of mother-tongue newspapers. These concerns are understandable, and we take them seriously.

At LHZB, we have been expanding our video production and continuing to invest in student publications, because we believe strongly in encouraging younger generations to engage with Chinese-language media.

But we also believe that English translations can help younger audiences discover and appreciate LHZB’s journalism — including those who may not yet be comfortable reading complex articles in Chinese.

We see this not as a replacement for Chinese-language journalism, but as another way of bringing its value to a wider audience. And we believe it is an opportunity worth exploring. At the group level, Yeng Kit decided to take an open and gradual approach, allowing each publication to experiment at a pace and in a manner suited to its own circumstances.

LHZB and our sister publication, The Straits Times, decided to take the lead, although we have adopted different models. The Straits Times is using SEA-LION, a large language model developed in Singapore to automate the translation of its content. Its Chinese-language edition went live on a trial basis at the end of last month.

LHZB has taken a somewhat different approach. We started with a very small team working on ThinkChina.sg. Over the past few months, the team tested various translation systems. This included using one AI model to evaluate another.

We now use frontier AI models to translate a curated selection of digital articles, including exclusive news reports and commentaries. These articles are first translated by AI, and then reviewed, edited and polished by our colleagues. On the surface, machine translation may sound straightforward.

But as we discovered, the devil is in the details.

For example, we need to ensure that the Chinese and English names of public figures are rendered accurately and consistently. There is also the issue of quotations. Sometimes, a public figure makes a statement in English. LHZB translates that statement into Chinese for its reporting. When the same article is subsequently translated back into English, we want, wherever possible, to restore the original wording — particularly for important statements.

Otherwise, the English version may end up being a translation of a translation, rather than an accurate reflection of what was originally said. Getting these details right requires considerable effort.

Our AI translation system is still a work in progress, and there is much room for refinement. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous dedication and hard work of our team in bringing us to this point. 

And I am confident that, with their commitment and the continued advancement of technology, we will keep getting better.

Improvement is a process, not something that happens overnight. There will inevitably be mistakes along the way. AI may occasionally produce errors, or even hallucinations.

When that happens, I hope our readers will be patient and understanding. Please be assured that we take accuracy seriously, that we will learn from our mistakes, and that we are committed to improving continuously. So I ask you to give us a little time.

Once our English edition is firmly established and operating smoothly, we hope to take the next step — introducing Malay and Tamil editions as well. Meanwhile, our sister publications in other languages are also exploring how best to move forward.

There is, however, one point I want to emphasise.

This initiative is about making our journalism more accessible through translation. It does not change who we are. At its core, LHZB remains a Chinese-language media organisation. Our editorial identity, our journalistic traditions and our commitment to Chinese-language journalism remain unchanged. The journalists we recruit will still be expected to report and write in Chinese.

What we are doing is opening another window through which more people can engage with our work. As a public service media organisation, we are acutely aware that we operate under intense public scrutiny. In such an environment, some might ask: why invite more scrutiny by translating our content into other languages? Indeed, I have told my colleagues that we should be prepared for even more criticism in the days ahead.

But I believe we should look at this from another perspective. It is precisely because we are a public service media organisation that we should take this step. When technology has reached a stage where multilingual access is increasingly practical, we have a responsibility to make good use of it.

We should make it easier for Singaporeans from different communities to understand one another. We should also help international audiences gain a deeper and more nuanced appreciation of the diversity of Singaporean society. To me, this is not simply a technological initiative.

It is part of how SPH Media can fulfil its responsibility to the society we serve. We know that opening our journalism to new audiences also means opening ourselves to new questions, new interpretations and, inevitably, new criticism. We will accept that criticism with humility and sincerity.

But I sincerely hope that this initiative will not become another source of division or hostility in our society. Instead, I hope it will encourage something that is increasingly important, yet sometimes increasingly difficult — the willingness to encounter perspectives different from our own, and to understand the experiences and reasoning behind them.

We do not have to agree with every opinion we read. But surely, we can make the effort to understand why others think the way they do. That, to me, is the true value of this initiative.

Through LHZB’s English edition, we hope more people will gain an insight into how a Chinese-language media organisation sees itself, the community it serves, Singapore, our region and the wider world.

And as other publications embark on similar journeys, we hope readers will have more opportunities to discover how different language communities understand the same society, sometimes through very different lenses. These differences should not divide us. They should enrich us. 

Technology can help us cross language barriers. But only human curiosity and empathy can bridge the distance between communities. A truly multicultural society is not one in which different communities simply live alongside one another. It is one in which people are willing to listen, to learn from one another, and to deepen their mutual understanding.

We hope that by opening up these different perspectives, we can contribute, in our own modest way, to a society that understands itself better. We are taking a new step. There will be challenges, and there will be lessons to learn.

But we believe it is a step worth taking.

And as we embark on this journey, we ask for your encouragement, your patience and your support. Finally, I would like to extend our sincere appreciation to President Tharman for gracing this special occasion with your presence.

The writer is editor-in-chief of SPH Media's Chinese Media Group.

This is the speech she delivered at the launch of the Lianhe Zaobao English Edition website on 5 November.