The Malay Mail will temporarily cease publication from tomorrow, promising to return in January next year as a morning paid daily.

From next year, readers would have to pay a cover price of RM1 for the paper, which is currently a free evening daily targeting the Klang Valley.

“We are forming strategic partnerships with content providers both local and abroad, as well as with high-profile, articulate and respected columnists who will help fill a void that some feel is missing in the mainstream media,” said its news editor Terence Fernandez in the paper’s editorial today.

Malay Mail would also launch a new website when the paper resumes publication. In the interim, readers can continue to get news from The Malay Mail website www.mmail.com.my .

 “We intend to come back stronger than ever in January 2012 and we trust that our readers, advertisers and business partners will be very pleased with the final product,” said its CEO Phillip Karuppiah in a statement.

The Malay Mail began publication in 1896, making it one of the oldest surviving papers in the country. It became a free evening daily on May 5, 2008.

It was once a part of the Umno-linked Media Prima Bhd, but is now owned by Redberry Sdn Bhd, which also runs Bernama TV and The Malaysian Reserve .