A supreme singer and a comic book fan/reviewer died this week. One, from India, is known internationally; the other is known to former colleagues and those who read his writings.

I’m talking about SP Balasubramanyam who had sung more than 40,000 songs and gained a place in the Guinness Book of records and the hearts of millions, and Daniel Chan, who gained a place in the hearts of Malaysian comic book lovers and colleagues at the New Straits Times.

First, let me talk about Daniel the comic book columnist.

When I got married, I received gifts from relatives and friends, but over the years I’ve forgotten what gifts were given to me and by whom – except for one.

This was a gift from fellow comic book lover Daniel. He did not attend my wedding in Penang but couriered two comic books as a gift.

I still have the gift, but he is gone.

Daniel, a bachelor who lived alone, died last week. He was 66.

Daniel started off at the Malay Mail and later moved to the NST. He was, for years, well known in the entertainment scene for his regular movie and comics columns.

I came to know Daniel because he used to write a weekly comics column in the New Straits Times called Comicscene. I was then working in the Penang bureau of the NST.

I would say that although there were comic book readers before he started Comicscene, interest in comic books really took off after he started his weekly column.

Author Kee Thuan Chye, who was then his editor, says in a Facebook post: “I have fond memories of our working together at New Straits Times for which he created and maintained tirelessly for many years the ground-breaking column Comicscene.

“As his editor, I had numerous jousts with him over the lengthiness of his column pieces which were, to him, precious products of his labour of love.”

Kee adds: “He was passionate about comics and obsessive-compulsive about his work as an entertainment journalist.”

I don’t doubt that, because during our infrequent chats on the phone, Daniel and I only talked about comics. I met him much later, when I was in Kuala Lumpur for a bureau chiefs meeting.

If there was a particular comic book that he thought I should read, he’d inform me. When I told him about the paucity of comic book shops in Penang, he directed me to comics specialty store The Mind Shop in Kuala Lumpur. For several years, I ordered my comics from it.

After we retired from NST, I met him only once and I had to ask him if he was still reading comics. He said he had cut down tremendously as they had become too expensive. By then, I too was highly selective about what I bought due to the high price of comic books.

If I were asked to name a person who had probably contributed the most to interest in English language comic books shooting up in Malaysia, I’d have to point to Daniel. Of course there were others, but Daniel was on the comics scene first.

Leaving comics aside, Daniel was gentle and kind, something that other staff of the NST who worked with him can vouch for. In fact, after his death, many of them said wonderful things about Daniel in the WhatsApp chat group. Invariably, the word “kind” was there.

SPB – giant among singers

Another person who has been described by those who knew him as “kind” was SP Balasubramanyam, the singing legend of India.

SPB, as he was popularly known, died on Sept 25. He was 74. SPB tested positive for Covid-19 after performing at a show on Aug 5 and was admitted to hospital. He recovered but died soon after, bringing tears to millions of music lovers.

I never met SPB, even though he had been to Malaysia to give performances. In fact he had been scheduled to perform in Kuala Lumpur on March 14 with music maestro Illayaraja but the show had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the imposition of the movement control order in Malaysia.

I have seen him on both the big and small screens, including as a judge on singing shows.

Everyone who knew him has described him as a kind, humble and witty person. He always came across as an exceptionally humble man. I’d seen how he interacted with respect towards aspiring singers and “nobodies”.

Here was a giant of India’s entertainment industry and he was not averse to touching the feet of others out of respect.

I saw a video clip where he gives a pleasant surprise to a blind fan in Malaysia, by coming behind him and singing one of his songs before chatting with him.

SPB sang more than 40,000 songs in numerous languages of India. Starting his movie playback singing career in 1966 in the Telugu film industry, he quickly won admirers in other languages and went on to sing in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and other languages.

SPB is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having made the most number of song recordings in the world, in the male category.

There was something special, some say magical about his voice. Those who know more about music than I do say he had an incredible vocal range and perfect voice control.

Although I like most of his songs, the ones that really touched me include Sangeetha Jaathi Mullai from the Tamil film Kaadhal Oviyam, Ilaya Nilaa from Payanangal Mudivathillai and Sundari Kannal Oru Sethi from Thalapathy.

The virtuoso once recorded 21 songs in Kannada in 12 hours and on another occasion, 19 songs in Tamil in a day.

He also acted in several films, including as the lead. But he is best known for his voice and how he elicited mesmerising sounds from his vocal cords.

The music world, especially the Indian music world, has lost a leading light.

But this is where the magic comes in: SPB may have left the world physically, but his songs will live on for decades to come because they are so beautifully rendered. SPB lives on in his songs.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.