Setting: Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore
Occasion: Sappi Trading Printers of the Year awards
Date: 23 May 2008

India was the only country with the Midas touch, bagging three gold’s at the Sappi Trading Printers of the Year Awards in Singapore on May 23. Pragati Offset bagged gold in the General Print (Vodafone ‘Moments’ diary) and Printer’s Own Promotion (‘Pragati 2008 wall calendar’) categories. SilverPoint made it a treble for the country with gold in the Catalogues category (‘Nerolac Colour Styles’ catalogue). The entries in the other six categories -- Annual Reports, Books, Brochures, Calendars, Magazines and Packaging & Labels -- did not come up to scratch and no golds were awarded in these. “This is a great moment for India, we have got all the gold medals,” said a proud Narendra Paruchuri, Director, Pragati Offset.

In addition, there were two silver and two bronze awards for India. China bagged one silver and two bronzes, Singapore finished with two silvers, Malaysia had a silver and bronze apiece, Taiwan was happy with a lone bronze and Hong Kong’s tally was two silver and one bronze.

“The printers from Asia have shown the power and excellence of their craftsmanship,” said Wayne Rau, Sappi Trading’s CEO in his speech. He expressed the hope that the gold winners would again do well at the Sappi International Printers of the Year awards in Cape Town in October. Lee Chin Eng, Managing Director, Sappi Singapore (Trading) added, “We are proud to recognise and honour these printers for their excellence in the printed medium.”

The other winners were as follows:

Silver Awards

• Calendars: Pragati Offset Pvt. Ltd, India, for ‘Tarsons 2008 Wall Calendar’.
• Printer's Own Promotion: JAK Printers Private Ltd, India, for ‘We together: You and Me’.
• Annual Reports: Elegance Printing & Book Binding Co Ltd., Hong Kong, for ‘Hong Kong Housing Society 2007 Annual Report’.
• Books: KHL Printing Co. Pte. Ltd, Singapore, for ‘The Victorian House Book’.
• Brochures: Colourscan Co. Pte. Ltd, Singapore, for ‘Paradise Island’.
• Catalogues: C&C Offset Printing Co Ltd, China, for ‘Omega 2008 Collection’.
• General Print: Magnum (Offset) Printing Co Ltd, Hong Kong, for ‘History of Moscow’.
• Packaging and Labels: Flexoprint (M) Sdn Bhd, Malaysia, for ‘May – French Lavender Oil and Almond Butter (soap wrapper)’.

Bronze Awards

• Calendars: Thomson Press (India) Limited, India, for ‘JK Paper Calendar-Wall’.
• Printer's Own Promotion: SilverPoint Press Pvt. Ltd, India, for ‘SSPL Poster Kit-Apple/Mask/Cup Posters’.
• Books: Elegance Printing & Book Binding Co. Ltd., Hong Kong, for ‘Tord Boontje’.
• Brochures: Beijing QL-ART Printing Co Ltd, China, for ‘Pure Passion’.
• Catalogues: Li-Shang Printing Co Ltd, Taiwan, for ‘Levi’s Catalogue’.
• General Print: Leo Paper Products Limited, China, for ‘Meine Kommunion’.
• Magazines: Percetakan Zanders Sdn Bhd, Malaysia, for ‘Real Time’.

The eminent panel of judges, comprising Elaine Pooke (UK), Giuseppe Musmeci (Italy), Hubert Justine (France), Ronald Widdershoven (the Netherlands) and Carlos R Alvarado (Mexico), examined the entries for technical proficiency, overall impact, degree of difficulty involved in the printing process and the quality of the finishing.

The awards for the Australasia, Central America and South America regions were handed out on May 20, May 15 and May 13, respectively. Printers from Australia accounted for all the awards in the Australasia region. As for Central America, Mexico dominated. In the South America region, Brazil and Chile came up trumps.