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The line riffs on Mark Zuckerberg's famous 2018 US Senate hearing exchange, where 'Senator, I run a company' became a viral meme format. The Straits Times adapted it for their TikTok profile as a self-aware, humorous way to introduce a newspaper founded in 1845 to a generation that gets its news from short-video apps. It signals that one of Asia's oldest English-language dailies is deliberately fluent in internet culture.

The Straits Times was founded on July 15, 1845, making it well over 180 years old as of 2026. It is one of the longest continuously published English-language newspapers in Southeast Asia, covering Singapore through its colonial period, independence in 1965, and its emergence as a global financial hub.

The Straits Times is the English flagship daily of SPH Media, a Singapore media group restructured as a non-profit company limited by guarantee in 2021. That structure gives it a public-interest mandate rather than a purely commercial one, which shapes how it approaches news coverage of Singapore's government and society.

The Straits Times provided in-depth coverage of former Singapore transport minister S. Iswaran's case, which was investigated by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). Widely considered one of the most significant political prosecutions in Singapore in decades, the story drove enormous engagement across the paper's social channels, where #iswaran and #cpib became among its most-used hashtags.

Tan Chuan-Jin was Singapore's Speaker of Parliament when he resigned in 2023 following reports of a personal matter involving a fellow Member of Parliament, making it a major political story in a country where ruling-party conduct draws intense public scrutiny. The Straits Times tracked the story across print and social platforms, and #tanchuanjin became one of the most-used tags on their channels during that period. Stories involving senior People's Action Party figures sit squarely at the centre of the paper's political coverage mandate.

Iman Fandi Ahmad is a Singaporean professional footballer and son of Fandi Ahmad, one of Singapore's most celebrated football icons. The Straits Times filmed him performing the NDP 2026 theme song 'Giants' at the National Stadium — first as a solo performance and then alongside other performers — capturing one of the headline cultural moments of Singapore's National Day Parade.

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau is Singapore's dedicated anti-corruption agency, and it entered widespread public consciousness through its investigation and prosecution of former minister S. Iswaran. The Straits Times covers CPIB actions as a core part of its governance and accountability beat, which is why #cpib ranks among the most-used hashtags across its social platforms.

A large share of The Straits Times' online following comes from the United States and the United Kingdom, driven by the Singaporean diaspora, expatriates following life in Singapore, and readers interested in Southeast Asian political and business affairs. Singapore's role as a global financial, trade, and diplomatic centre means stories the paper breaks frequently carry relevance well beyond the island.

Yes, The Straits Times produces National Day Parade content every year across YouTube and its social platforms, including performances, parade footage, and key national moments. Their NDP 2026 coverage featured the national anthem at the National Stadium and Iman Fandi performing the theme song 'Giants,' clips that circulated widely across social media.

Yes, The Straits Times carries commercial partnerships alongside its editorial content on YouTube. Citibank was a confirmed sponsor on the channel in late 2025, reflecting the paper's appeal to financial sector advertisers given its credibility and a predominantly adult, professional audience skewing heavily male and aged 35 and above.