LONG before Mr Wee Kim Wee became President of Singapore, he was one of The Straits Times' top reporters. His forte was political and diplomatic reporting. Straits Times readers became used to seeing his reports from far-flung locales.
Among his coups: a 1966 "world exclusive" interview in Jakarta with Lieutenant-General Suharto, during the Malaysia-Indonesia confrontation.
The scoop
Mr Wee started working for the company at the age of 15, as a clerk in the circulation department. In his 20s, while working in the advertising department, he got his first break as a reporter, covering sports after his regular office hours.
In 1941, he left the ST for American news agency United Press Association. He rejoined the paper in 1959 and was appointed deputy editor (Singapore).Relations between the ST and the new People's Action Party Government at the time were strained.
A running joke then was that Mr Wee, as the top editor in the Singapore office, would be the person arrested if relations with the Government soured. He was nicknamed the "jail editor". He retired in 1973 as editorial manager.
First published in The Straits Times 150 Years supplement, July 15, 1995
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