A former employee of Tabloid Newspapers, Sylvia Dhayalan, was bestowed with the prestigious Ammen Awards at a ceremony held on Friday, 15 April at the historic Shri Mariammen Temple Hall, in Mount Edgecombe. Dhayalan scooped the award in the category Excellence in Media and was honoured for her hard work in the community. Taresh Harreeparshad also received the Excellence in Media award. The Ammen Awards recognizes ordinary people for doing extraordinary work to uplift the community.
Programme Director, Maya Jagjivan Kalicharan said that Dhayalan is an astute, passionate, courageous, open minded, investigative journalist who wrote for The Phoenix Tabloid, a community newspaper. Dhayalan earned her journalism degree at Bangalore University, in India. As part of her training she was a contributing journalist to Deccan Herald in India. To debunk the myth that Africa is a dark continent, Dhayalan wrote and presented research papers that showcased the beauty of Africa and South Africa to the world. Her papers covered topics such as Debunking Africa’s Dark Continent Myth and African Women in Leadership. “Dhayalan is a multi-talented journalist with a vast array of technical and management skills and a people’s-orientated person,” said Kalicharan.
During her acceptance speech Dhayalan said that Journalism is not just a career, it is a calling as journalists are expected to be available when a story breaks. “Journalists are social activists who shed a spotlight on issues that affect the community. They affect change in a positive and meaningful way,“ said Dhayalan Dhayalan dedicated her award to her (Amma) mother who passed away recently. She said: “My mother was the shining example whose sacrifices enabled me to study abroad. Her leadership taught me that hard work pays off.” Dhayalan thanked the Ammen Awards committee for going beyond religion, gender and caste to recognise hard work and talent. She paid tribute to the community who took her into their confidence and shared their stories of heartbreak and hope which needed to be told. She also thanked the community leaders for their support and guidance that enabled her to uplift and inspire others through the power of story-telling.
She thanked her family for their unending support and Tabloid Newspapers for providing the opportunity to fulfill her passion of writing. She also thanked God for the strength and wisdom that enables her to be one of the best journalists in the field. The Managing Editor of Tabloid Newspapers, Mohammed Ismail, congratulated Sylvia Dayalan on receiving her prestigious award. “We are delighted that Sylvia was recognised for her contribution in media. As a journalist she did well in promoting Africa while working for the Deccan herald in India and while at Tabloid Newspapers she did extremely well in bringing to fore core issues that affected communities. “Sylvia tackled stories that directly affected the people at different levels in our vast distribution area. At one stage she was even being threatened, but she stood strong to her commitment as a journalist. We thank Sylvia for her contributions made to our brand, and for the greater good of journalism,” said Ismail.
Note: Dhayalan is currently working for the South African Government in the Western Cape and she is also a member of the Southern African Freelancers Association (SAFREA).
