India’s Only Mandarin News Paper: Seong Pow, the only Chinese newspaper published in India for 5 decades, has closed. This newspaper coming out of Kolkata was printed in Mandarin language. Mandarin is the main and official language of China. This newspaper was started by Lee Yun Chin in 1969. According to the report, its last version came out in March 2020.
When there was a lockdown in the country due to the Corona epidemic, the office of this newspaper was also locked which could never open again. The population of Chinese people lives in the Tangra area of ​​Kolkata. This newspaper was brought out for them. After the Corona epidemic in 2020, the editor of the newspaper Koo Sai Chang decided to stop its publication. He died in the same year. His death proved to be the final nail in the coffin of the newspaper’s closure.
The newspaper was of four pages
In this four-page newspaper, various topics related to the Chinese community living in India were covered. It used to print around 200 copies every day before it was shut down during the Covid lockdown.
Mandarin Work Force Shortage
The lack of people who know Mandarin in India is most responsible for the newspaper’s declining position in reaching this position. Chen Yao Hua, president of the Chinese Association of India, said the lack of Mandarin educated work force is most responsible for the closure of the paper. He told that he is not able to find such people who would be able to continue the publication of this newspaper. The Chinese population is decreasing in the Tangra area where the newspaper’s office is located.
He told that some of the youth in Tangra cannot read or write Mandarin properly. This made it impossible to continue the publication of Siong Pow.
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