James Alexander Ritchie (left) was at ease with anyone during his lifetime…from the common man to royalty as can be seen from this picture taken with the Sultan and Sultanah of Pahang.
by Yong Soo Heong
James Alexander Ritchie’s sudden demise on May 3, 2025 was a great loss to the journalism fraternity and the many people who knew him well as he was still actively writing and planning events until his last day.
Born in Penang 75 years ago, his father, John, was the police officer who escorted Communist Party of Malaya head Chin Peng in and out of the forest in Baling for the 1956 peace talks with Tunku Abdul Rahman, the country’s first prime minister.
James first worked with the New Straits Times and later had stints with other newspapers in Sarawak. Last year, he received the Hari Wartawan Nasional (HAWANA) award from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
James’s book “Journey into the Central Highlands of Borneo – The Kelabit Leap of Faith” was one of the books chosen by the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for presentation to Anwar at the annual Hadiah Kewartawanan Malaysia (HKM) dinner in June 2024.
James was more than a newspaper journalist. He ventured further afield to write in-depth books about Sarawakian leaders and cultural matters for his immersive approach often went beyond normal reportage as he explored the historical, spiritual, and social underpinnings of Bornean life as well.
A hallmark of his writing was that he often contextualised the subject matter within broader narratives to make for more interesting reading. He had a strong affinity for personality-driven stories, particularly about tribal leaders, warriors, and community elders whom he presented them not as exotic subjects, but as dignified figures navigating modernity and tradition.
Those who knew him will miss his special skills, colourful personality and huge reserves of energy to always help younger journalists under his tutelage as James was a highly respected journalist who exuded warmth and great knowledge to everyone he knew.
The many who knew James only had good words to say of the colourful man. Like Mohsin Abdullah, ex-BERNAMA, who said: “A big name in journalism. A good man.”
Gerald Raja (ex-NST/BERNAMA) reminisced: “When my batch joined NST as cadet journalists in 1980, James Ritchie came across as a leader who stood up for our rights as we were babes in the woods as greenhorn reporters. He would also grab his hockey stick and confront news editors who unfairly gave him a hard time.
“But he had a heart of gold. Whenever James walked pass our desk in NST KL, we would all look at him in awe. He had that journalistic masterstroke in his stride, each of us secretly wanting to emulate him one day. I daresay he was a legend in his own time.”
For Dr T. Selva, ex-The Star, he had this to say: “James Ritchie was my mentor in journalism and a friendly rival and colleague during our time in Sarawak in 1985. He will be remembered for his fearless reporting and steadfast commitment to the Penan community, whose cause he championed with great integrity. His loss is a profound one. I join many others in mourning a remarkable journalist and human being.”
Francis Siah, ex-Sarawak Tribune, recalled: ”Besides being colleagues in the news world where we shared many happy memories together in our career, James Richie and I also shared a love for football.
“In the 1980’s, we set up the Press Invitational Tournament on 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.
“James and I were also active in the Kuching Press Club where we were president and secretary respectively. I believe our main goal at that time was to help get a team of journalists to work in camaraderie in order to take Sarawak journalism to another level. Forty years ago, there were only a small group of journalists in Sarawak.”
James was always lending a helping hand whenever journalists-turned-public relations consultants from Peninsula Malaysia visited Sarawak. One of them was Tan Jooi Long (ex-BERNAMA), his schoolmate from Sultan Abdul Hamid College in Alor Setar who had this to say: “He was one year my junior in school. In the late 1990s when I visited Kuching almost every week to meet my PR clients, James would pick me up at the airport, and we would enjoy kolok mee opposite the Kuching Hilton.”
Another newsman-turned PR consultant was Sivaraman Sabapathy (ex-Berita Harian) who said: “When I was in PR doing work for Samling and Cahya Mata Sarawak, James Ritchie was a great help and teacher.”
Datuk A. Kadir Jasin (ex-BERNAMA/NST) remembers him well: “When I was editor of the New Straits Times (1988-2001), James was my “wild man” of Sarawak. Every now and then, he would make phone calls or came personally to Balai Berita to ask me to allow him to go on another jungle adventure that would last days and even weeks.
“One such adventure was his relentless pursuit of the Swiss environmental campaigner, Bruno Manser. He would go on to write many reports for the paper and published books about these jungle adventures.
“The wildest I ever got to sampling James’ wild man living was following him on a trip to the border town of Tebedu in 1991. Along the way we visited the village of the late Parti Kebangsaan Sarawak (SNAP) MP, Dr Patau Rubis, where we rode on a bamboo raft to join the villagers in a riverside picnic. It was followed by durian feast at Rubis’ family home.
“Onward, we stopped at the bustling Serian market and another smaller town, which according to James was famous for bird’s nest. At a Chinese coffee shop, whose owner was James’ friend, we sampled bird’s nest drink. In the back portion of the wooden building was James’ pet honey bear.
“James loved his adoptive Borneo state, where his late father, John George Ritchie was the first Malaysian Commissioner of Police in Sarawak. James was more of a storyteller than an off-the-mill reporter. Oftentimes he would excessively overwrite his reports that they looked more like novelettes. The task of convincing James that the paper could only publish three takes at the most fell on the late Zainon Ahmad aka Pak Non.
“Simply put, there’s no other person who could tell the story of James Alexander Ritchie better than he himself. I would be missing his trademark greeting “Hati mesti baik tuan”. Goodbye friend.”
An avid golfer during his younger days, he golfed with royalty, senior ministers and golf professionals on some of the finest golf courses in the country.
And he was reputed to have a strong love for the environment and nature. Word has it that he rescued a young orang utan meant for the cooking pot. The lucky primate was later handed over to the Semenggoh Nature Reserve on the outskirts of Kuching. That Orang Utan was later named James.
Rest In Peace, James. Your reputation will live on forever.
WE