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Veteran S’porean journalist Seah Chiang Nee dies

SINGAPORE — A veteran journalist who reported on the Vietnam War, the late Seah Chiang Nee was a workaholic whose experience on reporting from the frontlines shaped his work ethic, said former colleagues and friends.

Mr Seah was also one of the world’s longest-surviving heart transplant patients. Photo: AFP

Mr Seah was also one of the world’s longest-surviving heart transplant patients. Photo: AFP

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SINGAPORE — A veteran journalist who reported on the Vietnam War, the late Seah Chiang Nee was a workaholic whose experience on reporting from the frontlines shaped his work ethic, said former colleagues and friends.

When major news broke, Mr Seah, as editor-in-chief of the Singapore Monitor, would lose track of the time he spent in the office.

“He’d work until the paper goes to bed and be back in office the next day before the first staff walked in. He’d be seen seven days a week in the office to rally the staff,” said Mr Suresh Nair, 62, a former journalist who worked for Mr Seah at the Singapore Monitor in 1981.

Mr Seah, also one of the world’s longest-surviving heart transplant patients, died on Sunday at the Singapore General Hospital. He was 76.

Beginning his career as a Reuters correspondent in 1960, Mr Seah covered the Vietnam War for the agency, before going on to work with several newspapers, including The Straits Times and the Hong Kong Standard.

Another former journalist who worked for him, Ms Margaret Thomas, 65, recalled how Mr Seah used to regale younger journalists with tales of his work during the war.

In 1982, when Ms Thomas worked at the Singapore Monitor, she experienced firsthand Mr Seah’s passion for war reporting.

“Early one morning, I got a call from him, about a military flare-up at the Cambodian border. He sounded very excited, and sent myself and a photographer to cover a potential conflict at the border,” said Ms Thomas.

In 1985, he was the first South-east Asian to undergo a heart transplant, receiving the heart of a 17-year-old Australian in a five-and-a-half hour operation.

Former TODAY editor-in-chief Mano Sabnani called Mr Seah an “independent thinker”.

“He had his own opinions, whether people agreed or not. And I take my hat off to his perseverance in writing for so many years. He kept himself active and engaged. His passing is a loss to the journalistic professional world,” he said.

Mr Nair added: “He treated everyone genuinely, whether you were a top journalist, a coffee boy or a librarian. This humility was a key part of him, and he knew how to bring the best out of everyone.”

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