THE story of a Singapore couple who conceived a baby via in-vitro fertilisation and who then discovered that its DNA did not match the husband's got the country talking when it ran last November.
Some readers sent in letters and e-mail messages expressing shock and questioning IVF procedures. Others congratulated The Straits Times for breaking the incredible story.
On Tuesday, the report won Straits Times (ST) journalist K. C. Vijayan the coveted Story of the Year award at the Singapore Press Holdings'annual awards for its English and Malay Newspapers Division (EMND).
'It is the coolest award-winning story I've ever written. It also took the shortest time to break,' said Mr Vijayan, 60, the newspaper's legal correspondent who joined the paper in 2000 after he retired as a prison officer.
'It shows that the fight is won long before you enter the ring and the lights come on. This story came from someone I spent lots of time building up trust with,' he added, quoting former boxing great Muhammad Ali.
This was his second Story of the Year award. In 2006, he and fellow journalist Chua Mui Hoong won the award for a story on Mr Andrew Kuan, the former group chief financial officer of JTC Corporation who wanted to challenge incumbent President S R Nathan for the Elected President post.
Mr Vijayan's latest story resulted in the Ministry of Health suspending new IVF procedures at Thomson Fertility Clinic, where the mix-up occurred. The case also led to a review of all 10 fertility clinics here and the matter was raised in Parliament.
On his knack for getting scoops, Mr Vijayan said: 'Good stories fall onto your lap if you have done the long, lonely homework to build up your base of contacts. After that, a story has a life of its own, leading to a string of follow-up stories.'
On Mr Vijayan's win, ST editor Han Fook Kwang said: 'Once in a while, we get a story that becomes a talking point for days if not weeks, which results in some policy change, or which seems so improbable you think it can happen only in fiction.
'This story was all of the above, and if there was anybody in the newsroom who could have broken the story, it was Vijayan.'
The Straits Times won seven of the 14 awards on Tuesday. The others included Feature of the Year, by Ms Huang Lijie, 27, and Mr Wong Kim Hoh, 49, for their Saturday Special Report on the Singaporeans who patronise the two casinos here.
The report was a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the gamblers, and gave a clearer idea of just how many Singaporeans visited the casinos - much more than previously reported estimates.
The Headline of the Year - IPOh-oh... - was won by ST's Jomar Kho Indanan, 44, a clever twist on the lacklustre IPO market.
ST's Lee Chee Chew, 47, won Layout/Page Design of the Year for a classy, minimalist Life! cover on the year's best offerings in town, and Feature Picture of the Year went to the paper's Mr Samuel He, 27, who took an arresting photo of a mother and her autistic son.
Two ST reporters also won special awards - Mr Terrence Voon, 32, for his World Cup stories, and Mr John Lui, 46, for his Being There column in Life!
The other awards went to The New Paper, the Business Times and the Malay-language daily Berita Harian.
The Journalist of the Year title went to Mr Lee Hup Kheng, 47, the infographics and design chief at The New Paper (TNP). It marked the first time an infographics journalist has won the title since it was launched in 2009.
Miss Jamie Lee, 26, of the Business Times (BT) was named Young Journalist of the Year.
Speaking at the awards ceremony held at SPH's auditorium, EMND editor-in-chief Patrick Daniel lauded the various newsrooms for producing a great crop of work and noted that the annual awards celebrate excellent work.
He said 2010 was a good year for SPH newspapers, which benefited from Singapore's stunning 14.5 per cent gross domestic product growth. This was seen in advertising volume and the thickness of its newspapers, he said.
Last year, SPH's newspaper and magazine revenues grew 9.2 per cent to reach $974 million for the financial year ended Aug 31 - a remarkable shift from a poor 2009 when the economic crisis saw advertisers cut back on budgets.
'That's massive... we could not have hoped for a faster turnaround,' said Mr Daniel.
But with the advent of new media, a huge challenge will be for print media to stay relevant in the digital age. To adapt, SPH will soon launch new iPad and iPhone products, he said, adding that online products were also undergoing a revamp.
ST will integrate its various products like Stomp and Razor under an enhanced st.com site, and also launch a product that taps the popularity of social media. BT, TNP and Berita Harian will follow suit.
Mr Han said the challenge was to continue to maintain the quality given the competitive environment. 'Readers' expectations are much higher these days because there are so many sources for stories,' he said. 'It's the quality of the work that will differentiate us from our competitors.'