Last year, senior correspondent Joyce Lim got a tip-off that an industrial building in Alexandra Road had an illegal ninth floor built in.

A secret door, hidden behind a display shelf, leads to the level spanning more than 5,000 sq ft.

But to prove it, she had to find evidence. "It was a real challenge to collect evidence such as the building's strata plan and track down people who knew about the hidden floor," she recalled. She did, and in the end, the story was published.

The impact of the story - it prompted a discussion in Parliament on the inspection regime in place to ensure that buildings are structurally safe - and other reports helped Ms Lim become Journalist of the Year at Singapore Press Holdings' annual journalism awards for its English/ Malay/ Tamil Media Group yesterday.

The awards were hosted by Straits Times multimedia correspondent Hairianto Diman and broadcast to the group's journalists, most of whom are working from home in line with safe distancing measures.

Described by ST enterprise editor Li Xueying as "tenacious, driven and creative", Ms Lim, 45, said: "I am truly honoured. For me, journalism is a privilege as it allows me to report the challenges faced by people in Singapore who may not have a platform to do so. And when my stories lead to some kind of change to make things better for them, it makes all the hard work worthwhile."

This is the second time she has won the award. She had previously won in 2014.

The award for Young Journalist of the Year went to ST journalist Tee Zhuo, 26. Mr Tee, who was on the digital and political reporting teams last year, had the opportunity to work on commentaries and interactive projects, and counts Insight packages and Opinion Of The Day - a column for young journalists - among his more significant work.

"I think the most important function of journalism is to shed light on issues and marginalised groups that would otherwise not have a voice," he said, adding that he was grateful for the support of his editors, colleagues and batch mates.

ST executive editor Sumiko Tan said Ms Lim was a natural choice for the nomination as a versatile journalist who was good at sniffing out scoops. She added that Mr Tee was also a unanimous choice among the editors, as one who took Web specials and breaking news reporting to a new level, and was writing good commentaries.

ST senior health correspondent Salma Khalik, 65, won Story of the Year for her commentary "The puzzling case of SMC's judgment on a doctor who was fined $100,000", which sparked a rethink and eventually a review of how medical complaints against doctors are tackled.

It was the second year in a row that she won the award, and her fourth time winning it in her four-decade career in journalism. She said: "I am glad that a commentary won. It underlines the importance of nurturing beat reporters so they have a good grasp of their beats and their comments can result in changes for the better."

Each of the three winners will get $2,000 and a potential study or work trip to hone their craft.

The awards event also showcased the best work by journalists in The Straits Times, The Business Times, The New Paper, Berita Harian, Tamil Murasu and tabla! last year.

Fifteen awards for Excellence in Journalism were given out, including to Ms Lim for her story on the illegal floor. Each winner or group gets a $1,000 cash prize.

The other nominees for Young Journalist of the Year were The Business Times' Sharanya Pillai, Berita Harian's Nur Humaira Sajat and The New Paper's Cheow Sue-Ann.

Ms Nur Humaira won an Excellence in Journalism award for her story on food delivery rider Sumaiyah Ghazali, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk.

A video of Ms Sumaiyah on her daily delivery rounds gained over one million views on Facebook, and was picked up by several social media outlets in the region.

The New Paper's David Sun, who won Young Journalist of the Year in 2018, was the other nominee for Journalist of the Year. He too won an Excellence in Journalism award for several scoops, including one on passwords for sale on the dark web.

The New Paper news editor Andre Yeo said Mr Sun's skill does not lie in just finding stories, but also in digging for more information.

Also recognised for his work was Tamil Murasu journalist S. Vengadeshwaran, who was nominated for Story of the Year and won an Excellence in Journalism award for his stories "Free meals in Little India" and "Three Singaporean sisters married to three Indian brothers".

Winners of excellence in journalism awards

1. Claire Huang, Elizabeth Law, Chong Jun Liang, Trixia Carungcong, Spe Chen, Lee Pei
Jie, Chee Wei Xian, Lim Yaohui, Philip Cheong, Rodolfo Pazos, Tin May Linn & Jamie Koh
for their cross media stories & video: