KUALA LUMPUR: Award-winning veteran journalist Daniel Chan, a mainstay of entertainment reporting, has died at 66.
He died at his home in Petaling Jaya.
His death was confirmed by a family member to the New Straits Times yesterday.
Chan, a bachelor, leaves four siblings.
He began his career with The Malay Mail afternoon tabloid as a reporter, and later joined the New Straits Times.
He was known for his coverage of the entertainment scene and penned The Malay Mail's Oscar Gold column, a regular feature during the Academy Award season.
As entertainment editor of The Malay Mail, he became a four-time winner of the Entertainment Journalism of the Year category at the Malaysian Press Institute Awards.
After leaving The Malay Mail and the NST, he assumed the role of senior copy editor with The Edge.
He was well known for Comicscene, his long-running weekly column in the NST, which reviewed Marvel, DC and independent comic book titles.
Melanie Proctor, a former NST entertainment editor, said she and Chan shared the television beat as reporters.
She recalled Chan's passion for comic books.
"Daniel was so into comics that under former NST entertainment editor Kee Thuan Chye, he initiated Comicscene, a full-page weekly column.
"He had tonnes to write about and had friendly arguments with Kee about getting more space to write."
She described Chan as a gentleman who was meticulous, passionate and dedicated to his craft. "He needed to know everything about those he interviewed.
"Those who knew him well would recall that his interviews always started with the year they were born."
Saleha Ali, a former NST Women's desk and Life & Times editor, said one would be hard-pressed to find a more dedicated journalist than Chan, whom she worked with from 1981 until she left the NST in 2006.
"He loved researching his work and was passionate about the Oscars, of which he knew every fact at his fingertips.
"As a friend, he was humble, sweet and dedicated to his work. I am saddened by his passing."
Former NST news editor Badrolhisham Bidin shared a story of how he tested Chan's patience when they were at The Malay Mail.
"He was such a lovable and patient guy, so one day I decided to prank him.
"He was the assistant news editor at the time and had assigned me to an event.
"I tried to rile him up by saying 'no'. But he never even raised his voice despite me insisting that I wouldn't go," he said, adding that Chan maintained his cool until he agreed to go to the event.
Haliza Ahmad, a former NST Entertainment assistant editor, said Chan was passionate about his work, which led to The Malay Mail entertainment team bagging the MPI Award on a regular basis.
She said working under Chan helped her win an award for a behind-the-scenes series on Astro's coverage of the Commonwealth Games and celebrities in the business.
She described him as a humble, soft-spoken and hardworking boss. "He was all about work, no politics. He was a workaholic. You could argue with him only about work and nothing else.
"He was a friend, a teacher and an inspiration to me. May his soul rest in peace."