'Rest well, dear friend': Journalists mourn loss of James Ritchie
KUALA LUMPUR: Tributes poured in following the passing of veteran journalist James Alexander Ritchie, who was widely known for his passion for storytelling and his deep love for Sarawak and its people.
Former Sarawak Tribune editor Francis Siah remembered Ritchie as both a colleague and a close friend who shared his love of football.
"Besides being colleagues in the news world where we shared many happy memories together in our career, James and I also shared a love for football.
"In the 80s, we set up the Press Invitational Tournament in Sarawak where we competed for the Datuk Edward Jeli Challenge Cup.
"It was quite a successful project and we had several years of fun football together, including a friendly match at Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur with a KL Press team," he told the New Straits Times.
Siah added that he and Ritchie were also active in the Kuching Press Club, where they served as president and secretary respectively.
"I believe our main goal at that time was to get a team of journalists to work in camaraderie to take Sarawak journalism to another level.
"Forty years ago, there were only a small group of journalists in Sarawak," he said.
"Rest well now, my dear friend. Thank you for the many years of friendship and happy memories."
Former NST group editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jasin described Ritchie as "a good friend, a colleague, and a fine storyteller."
"He loved Sarawak, where his policeman father once served. He was passionate about Sarawak and its people," he said in a Facebook comment.
"He was a friend and chronicler of Bruno Manser," he added, referring to the Swiss environmental activist who campaigned for indigenous rights in Sarawak.
Ritchie died earlier today at the age of 75 due to illness at Sarawak General Hospital.
Former Sarawak speaker Datuk Seri Jacob Robert Ridu confirmed the matter, The Borneo Post reported.
Ritchie began his career as a cadet journalist with The Straits Times in Kuala Lumpur at the age of 23, steadily rising through the ranks of the profession, particularly in Sarawak.
Among the positions he held were: journalist for the New Straits Times in Sarawak (1981), Public Relations Officer at the Sarawak Chief Minister's Department (1998), and media consultant for Sarawak Digest (2022).
He also served as a special writer for the Sarawak Tribune in 2022, editorial adviser and executive director at Eastern Times (2006), and executive director at the New Sarawak Tribune (2010).
His outstanding contributions to writing and journalism earned him numerous accolades, including the Shell Kenyalang Gold Award, AZAM Press Award, and the Ang Lai Soon Gold Award.
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