“We are saddened to inform you that veteran journalist Mr James Ritchie, who is also family to me, has gone to be with the Lord. He passed away peacefully at SGH today. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” Ridu said in a short statement to the media here quoted by Bernama.
Ritchie, a prolific writer of articles and columns and a stream of books, had been writing a piece this morning about his family’s migration from Europe to Malaya and Sarawak, according to former colleague Joseph Joswan Bingkasan.
“He was writing articles for my portal from 1.55am today…his last line was at 9.41am. He was writing the article on his mobile phone…he didn’t indicate he was unwell,” Bingkasan said in a message to former colleagues of the New Straits Times. “He died doing what he loved most….a journalist till his last breath.”
Ritchie is survived by his wife Helen, daughter Rebekah and granddaughter Heleray born on Easter Sunday.
He began his career with the New Straits Times in 1973 as a reporter on the crime desk and served with illustrious colleagues such as Mohd Nor Khalid (more well-known as cartoonist Lat) and Najib Rahman, son of an assassinated inspector-general of police, and covered major crime stories such as the siege of the AIA building by Red Army terrorists, and the hunt for crime lord Botak Chin.
He was later posted to Kuching, where his father John had been head of the Sarawak police. James became head of the NST bureau, and later was involved with the Sarawak Tribune, Eastern Times and New Sarawak Tribune.
He also wrote a string of books on Sarawak history, native culture and people such as Bruno Manser, the Swiss environmentalist who went missing after championing the case of the nomadic Penan tribe.
Last year, he was conferred the national journalists’ day (Hawana) 2024 award in recognition of his decades-long contributions to the field; other awards he won included the Shell Kenyalang Gold Award, the AZAM Press Award, and the Ang Lai Soon Gold Award.
Besides journalism, Ritchie also served as public relations officer at the Sarawak chief minister’s department in 1998 and media consultant for Sarawak Digest in 2022.