Veteran journalist and former Malaysiakini subeditor Sugumaran Krishnasamy, fondly remembered as Sugu, has passed away peacefully today.

He was 78 years old and left behind his wife, Michele Lebibi Althaus and two children.

Sugumaran started his career as a journalist at the New Straits Times in the mid-1960s before moving on to several other news organisations in Malaysia and Thailand.

He was also among the first editors to join The Star when it was launched in 1971 and was its senior editor in 1987 when then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad shut down the paper and three others during Ops Lalang.

He later joined The Sun and after that went to Bangkok, Thailand, and spent a stint at the English-language newspaper The Nation, as well as at a Buddhist temple as a monk.

He eventually joined Malaysiakini in 2009, where he worked as a sub-editor.

Sugumaran’s remains will be cremated in accordance with Buddhist rites tomorrow at the Sendayan Crematorium in Negeri Sembilan.