TRIBUTE As a spectator watching the gun control debate in the US, I never imagined that the issues that it raises would one day hit so close to home.

Claudia Theophilus For on the same day that US President Barack Obama released a photo of himself shooting a shotgun, a friend and a former colleague, journalist Claudia Theophilus, was killed by a similar weapon thousands of miles away on the mountains outside of Beirut.

The news came on Sunday when I was browsing through the Internet. My reaction was that it must be a hoax or a case of mistaken identity. But after checking several reliable news sources, I had to accept the truth. Claudia's name was simply too distinctive.

As a journalist, Claudia was well known in the industry, having started her career at TheSun before joining Malaysiakini and later, Al Jazeera . I first met Claudia in 2002 when she became my colleague at Malaysiakini .

When she first came into the newsroom, Claudia was greeted with no little measure of awe. She was a journalist coming into a newsroom of young reporters. She had more experience than three of us put together and true to reputation, she was tenacious and highly principled.

Soon, we became friends and lunch buddies. One of our favourite spots was a Kelantanese warong in Bangsar Utama, that we called "Pokok", after the tree that provided the shade under which we sat. Claudia would order her favourite dish of nasi putih and ayam padprik before continuing the discussions that we left off in the newsroom. Our passion for our work was such that we took no real breaks, not over lunch and not over our many teh tarik sessions.

During this period, Claudia's most memorable work was her reporting on public opposition to a plan to build a mega-incinerator in the town of Broga, straddling the border between Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

The RM1.5 billion incinerator was meant to be Asia's largest to address Kuala Lumpur's waste disposal needs.

NONE However, it brought with it many environmental and health concerns. Not for a moment did anyone expect residents from this agricultural town to be able to stand up to the might of the federal government but with no little help from Claudia (extreme left in photo, with Broga residents) , Broga's issues came to the forefront.

Broga's residents were given a voice and with her usual thoroughness, Claudia reported the story from every possible angle. The project was subsequently terminated and I have no doubt that Claudia's reports played a major role in bringing about this victory for the town's residents.

Unwavering convictions

Inevitably, one of the biggest issues that preoccupied Claudia, given her professional ethics, was that of media freedom.

She held strong opinions and was unwavering in her conviction that unless the media is ready to reform itself, no amount of lobbying by one side would lift the restrictions that the media has to operate under. By extension, it also meant that Malaysians would continue to be denied the information they need to assert their civil and political rights.

press freedom We all fought a tough battle against the censors, official and unofficial, and many of us dropped out along the way. Only Claudia and one other of our contemporaries remained in the industry. Seeking an alternative avenue to report without fear or favour, she later joined international news network Al Jazeera .

However, over the few times that we had been in touch since parting ways, Claudia continued to express her frustration that she was still not in a position to report the news according to her ideals.

The last time we spoke was just two months ago when she accidentally rang me up while researching a story. We had a brief conversation, promising that we would meet to catch up again soon. But time caught up with us.

Claudia moved to Doha, going further in pursuit of her ideals. We would never meet again but in my heart of hearts, I hope that in her last weeks, she found the newsroom of her dreams.

Goodbye, Claudia. You will be missed.

 

This article was first published in 'Free Spaces' in TheSun on Feb 5, 2013. It is reproduced here with permission.

In memory of Claudia Theophilus

Claudia - journalist with a big heart