About Sameway Magazine

Sameway Magazine

Sameway Magazine (同路人, Tónglùrén — "Fellow Travellers") is a Chinese-language fortnightly tabloid newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia, serving the Chinese-Australian community across the country. First published as a magazine in September 2004, it is a free community publication — distributed in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide — dedicated to helping new immigrants settle into Australian life.

Overview

Sameway Magazine is a fortnightly tabloid-format newspaper published in Melbourne, in Traditional Chinese with some articles and the editorial in English. It is printed in three editions — Melbourne, Sydney/Brisbane, and Adelaide — with an insert published under the name Sameway Magazine Leisure. As of 31 March 2012, the newspaper had an audited circulation of 17,000 each week, audited by the Circulations Audit Board.

The paper's self-description captures its mission: a free, high-quality fortnightly distributed Australia-wide, serving the community for 21 years, committed to providing practical community information to help new immigrants integrate more smoothly into mainstream Australian society.

History

Sameway Magazine was first published as a magazine in September 2004 — a publication of the Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre Inc. Since inception, Raymond Chow has been the editor — and publisher/chief editor — guiding the paper from its magazine origins to its current tabloid-newspaper format.

The format has evolved with the times: from glossy magazine cover and features to newsprint, with the tabloid size altered as printing contractors changed. The Sydney/Brisbane and Adelaide editions commenced with issue #100, extending the Melbourne paper's reach to the Chinese communities of the other capitals. In 2012, the publisher changed from the Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre Inc to Creative Every Day.

The head office has moved with the community it serves: from former premises in Kingsway, Glen Waverley — the heart of Melbourne's Chinese south-east — to a new office complex at Suite 7, 1F 2-8 Burwood Highway, Burwood East, and in 2015 to 67 Mahoneys Road, Forest Hill. The paper's listed headquarters are at Nunawading, Victoria — the eastern suburbs where Melbourne's Chinese community is concentrated.

The magazine has been available online from issue #271, carrying the ISSN 1839-7921 for its digital edition alongside the print ISSN 1839-7913.

In 2019 the paper changed from a weekly to a fortnightly publication, and late that year the head office moved once more — to 1f/1 Walkers Rd, Nunawading, Victoria 3131, the eastern-suburbs address listed as its headquarters. The longevity of Raymond Chow's editorship is independently corroborated: a Trans World Radio Australia board listing, archived in April 2013, names Chow in connection with the paper — evidence of the same editor guiding the title from its first issue into its second decade. A 2019 Fair Work Commission decision, Yin Leung v Creative Every Day Pty Ltd, confirms the publisher's corporate identity as Creative Every Day Pty Ltd.

Content

Sameway Magazine's content is the community-service journalism of the ethnic press:

• Settlement information: the practical guidance for new immigrants — the visas, the schools, the health system, the services — helping readers navigate Australian life.
• Community news: the Chinese-Australian community's news — the associations, the cultural events, and the community's achievements across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide.
• Inspiration: each issue carrying an inspiring story and a feature on integrating into mainstream society — the paper's signature.
• Family and health: the coverage of family life, health, and wellbeing for the immigrant reader.
• Leisure: the Sameway Magazine Leisure insert — the lifestyle, culture, and entertainment pages.
• Faith: the Christian perspective of its founding publisher, the Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre — the paper's spiritual dimension.

The majority of the magazine is in Traditional Chinese, with some articles and the editorial in English — serving both the Chinese-reading community and the bridge to the English-speaking mainstream.

The Masthead and the Team

Issue #354, dated October 2013, gives a snapshot of the operation behind the fortnightly. Raymond Chow is listed as publisher and chief editor, with Ralph Yan as deputy chief editor and Christiana Zhu as senior editor. Gary Wu serves as marketing director with Sandy Law as marketing assistant; Bella Leung is art director and Kin Li senior designer, supported by editors and designers Wendy Wen, Lili Liang and YItao Zhao; Patrick Wu handles IT and the website; and the advertising team is led by sales manager Andy Lau with Sam Yu, Tony Zhang and Portia Wong. The masthead carries the working details — telephone (03) 9888 7199, fax (03) 9888 7299, mobile 0401 697 791, email info@sameway.com.au — and the distribution statement (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, audited at 17,000 copies), alongside the copyright notice reserving all editorial content and images to the magazine. The paper also notes that its circulation records are submitted to the Circulations Audit Board for independent audit — the community fortnightly holding itself to the mainstream press's standard of accountability.

Coverage and Audience

Sameway Magazine publishes three editions — Melbourne, Sydney/Brisbane, and Adelaide — for the Chinese-Australian community across the country. Its Melbourne edition serves Victoria's Chinese readers: the Glen Waverley and Box Hill families, the eastern-suburbs communities where the paper's offices have always been located.

The paper's audience is the Chinese-Australian immigrant — particularly the new arrival: the reader who needs the practical information for settling in, the inspiring stories of those who made the journey, and the community connection that eases the transition into Australian life. The free distribution — 17,000 audited copies — puts the paper in the hands of the readers who need it most.

The Chinese-Australian Press in Context

Sameway sits in one of the oldest diaspora press traditions in Australia. The Ballarat Chinese Advertiser of 1856 was the world's earliest bilingual English–Chinese newspaper, and since the 1980s Chinese-language papers in Australia have entered a prosperous period — one academic survey counts 27 Chinese papers in the country, with Australian Chinese newspapers occupying the second position in the global overseas-Chinese newspaper market. The survey notes that in Sydney alone five Chinese dailies are published, against three mainstream English dailies — an illustration of the scale of the ethnic press to which Sameway belongs. The paper's bibliographic footprint is modest but formal: print ISSN 1839-7913, digital ISSN 1839-7921, OCLC number 435778508 — and a supplement, Driveway Magazine, published alongside the fortnightly. The full Chinese name, 同路人 (Tónglùrén — "Fellow Travellers"), sets the tone: the paper that walks the same road as the new immigrant, in print, online and on the mobile phone.

Ownership

Sameway Magazine was a publication of the Rejoice Chinese Christian Communication Centre Inc from its founding in 2004 until 2012, when the publisher changed to Creative Every Day. Since inception, Raymond Chow has been the editor — the publisher and chief editor guiding the paper through two decades of community service.

Digital Presence

Sameway Magazine operates online at sameway.com.au — its official website, a Chinese-language site browsable on mobile phones, carrying the fortnightly's community journalism to readers across Australia. The magazine has been available online from issue #271, with hundreds of issues archived — the 21-year record of the paper's community service, in print and on screen. The digital issues carry their own ISSN (1839-7921), keeping the online archive within the paper's formal bibliographic record.

For Chinese Australia, Sameway Magazine is the fellow traveller — the free fortnightly that walks with the new immigrant: the practical guide, the inspiring story, and the community connection, from Melbourne to Sydney, Brisbane, and Adelaide.