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Daily Express
16-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Express
Rare Rh17 blood flown from Sarawak to KL saves woman's life
Published on: Friday, May 16, 2025 Published on: Fri, May 16, 2025 Text Size: For illustrative purposes only. KUCHING: A rare unit of Rh17 blood donated by a Sarawakian man was urgently flown to Kuala Lumpur to save the life of a woman with an ectopic pregnancy, Sarawak Tribune reported. Sarawak General Hospital's Blood Bank confirmed on Facebook recently that donor Vencent Voon Sin Thung came forward after the patient was found to share the extremely rare Rh17 blood type. Advertisement The bank explained that Rh17 is seldom found in Malaysia, except among a small number of the Bidayuh ethnic group in Sarawak. It noted that people with rare blood types can only safely receive transfusions from donors with the same blood group, or risk a dangerous acute transfusion reaction. The blood bank thanked Voon for his lifesaving act and urged prayers for the patient's recovery. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
New Straits Times
03-05-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
'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.
New Straits Times
03-05-2025
- General
- New Straits Times
'Ritchie's death a great loss to Sarawak's journalist fraternity'
KUCHING: Former "New Straits Times" (NST) staff correspondent for Sarawak, James Ritchie, died at Sarawak General Hospital here this morning. He was 75. His former classmate at St Thomas Secondary School, Edgar Ong, confirmed that James died at the hospital where he was admitted yesterday for an undisclosed sickness. He said James was in touch with him yesterday, but did not know that the veteran journalist was sick. "He sent me a selfie of himself yesterday at 12.43pm ," Ong, who is a close family friend of James and his wife, Helen, said, referring to a photograph that James had sent to him through WhatsApp. Veteran broadcast journalist Basri Mohamad, who is also Tokoh Wartawan Kenyalang Sarawak 2024, said James was an adventurous journalist who often journeyed deep into the interior to meet the Penan and the Orang Ulu communities to observe their way of life and share their stories. "His passing is a great loss to the journalist fraternity in Sarawak," Basri said, adding that James was passionate about his work, deeply committed, and genuinely cared about the people in the rural heartlands. "It is heartbreaking to hear of his passing. His legacy will live on through the stories he told and the lives he touched," Basri added. Former "New Straits Times" Sarawak bureau chief Joseph Bingkasan said James was writing articles for the former's online portal from 1.55am today, with his last line recorded at 9.41 am. He said during that period, James did not indicate that he was unwell. "He was writing about his family's migration from Europe to Malaya and then Sarawak. "He was starting to write how his family moved to Kuching, then suddenly he stopped writing at 9.41am today," Bingkasan said. He said James wrote the article on his mobile phone and then sent it to him via the WhatsApp application. "Sarawak Tribune" associate editor Rajah Murugayah said James was his mentor in the 1980s. He said that despite James being with NST and himself with the "Borneo Post", James frequently coached him on writing good features. Meanwhile, "Sarawak Tribune" reporter Priscilla Tawie said she saw James alone having his "kolo mee" at a coffee shop at Jalan Song yesterday morning. "I did not expect that he died this morning," she said, adding that he had shown no signs of illness. James was NST Sarawak staff correspondent for many years. He left the company in the late 1990s and became a freelance journalist, concentrating his efforts to writing books. During his time with NST in Kuching, he had won numerous journalism awards. He was named Tokoh Wartawan last year during the national-level Hari Wartawan celebration, which was held in Kuching.
