KUALA LUMPUR: A former Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) employee K Selvaraj, one of the initial employees of the agency, died on Saturday (Jan 27). He was 75.

       According to his son-in-law, T Ganesan, Selvaraj fainted at his home in Taman Subang Baru PKNS in Shah Alam, Selangor, in the morning and was subsequently confirmed dead at 9.15am.

       "He did not complain of any pain or anything, just that after he had his bath this morning, he said he felt afraid and then passed out.

       "His funeral will be held tomorrow at Simpang Lima, Klang,” he told Bernama on Saturday.

       Selvaraj was one of Bernama’s pioneer employees. He began as an office assistant and served for 27 years (Dec 1, 1967 to Oct 15, 1994), with his last position at the agency as a librarian.

       Former Bernama chief editor Abd Karim Shukor, 85, recalled that Selvaraj was someone he knew well, describing him as a quiet but very helpful person whenever anyone needed assistance.

       Abd Karim expressed his sadness upon learning of Selvaraj’s passing and said that he was a credit to the agency, and there were never any negative issues associated with him throughout his time in Bernama.

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       "I knew him very well, he was the first batch (working with Bernama) when the Bernama office at that time was just a bungalow in Jalan Pekeliling (now known as Jalan Tun Razak), Kuala Lumpur.

       "In all the time I knew him, there were no problems with Bernama. Even though he was an office boy, everyone got to know him, we are friendly people. Senior reporters would have their packed lunches with office boys, it was commonplace as it was the culture in Bernama,” he said when contacted. – Bernama