George, who died on Friday aged 97, forged a stellar reputation as an advocate of press freedom over a seven-decade career in journalism
Thayil Jacob Sunny George, the founder of Asiaweek who launched the publication in 1975 to provide an English-language magazine owned by Asians that spoke for the region at a time when none existed, died at the age of 97 on Friday.
Over a seven-decade career in journalism, George forged a stellar reputation as an advocate of press freedom, revered among colleagues as someone who spoke his mind and was unrelenting in questioning even top political leaders.
In his last column for the New Indian Express newspaper – where his writings were published under the title “Point of View” for over a two-decade period until June 2022 – George summed up his belief in independent journalism under the poignant headline “Now is the time to say goodbye”.
“Some of us feel that we should not criticise our own country. Some feel exactly the other way – that a big country like ours needs to be cautioned all the way about pitfalls. All arguments have their own supporters and their own critics, their own validities and their own drawbacks,” he said.
