Tribute to the country's oldest news magazine...

Mastika, the monthly magazine published by the Utusan Group, celebrates its 65th anniversary today. Surely this is no ordinary feat for a local post-World War II publication, which hit the street long before the country's independence in 1957. The fact that it could survive all these years is enough to command respect. Of course, the company had to generate new ideas from time to time to keep Mastika going. The magazine was printed in Jawi when it was introduced on June 1, 1941. The Utusan Melayu editor at that time Abdul Rahim Kajai, regarded as the father of Malay journalism, and the company's managing editor Yusoff Ishak, who later became the first president of Singapore were instrumental in the birth of the magazine. From Jawi, Mastika started to use Rumi, the romanised script in 1967, the year Utusan Malaysia made its debut. At one time, the magazine circulation was so low that the company contemplated of ending its publication. But after much soul-searching among its editors, they decided to improvised the content so as to capture the readers attention. Thus, the new-look Mastika emerged in September 1995 with stories about ghosts and supernaturals. The public simply love the stuff they were reading and in a matter of months, Mastika managed to sell 20,000 copies. Its rise was phenomenal, notching 150,000 copies a month within one year, making it the fastest growing magazine in the country's history. Its current circulation is about 300,000 copies a month, the highest-selling magazine in Malaysia.