Anthony Lawrence, legendary BBC journalist, dies aged 101 in Hong Kong
Anthony Lawrence, who also helped found German newspaper Die Zeit, dies at 101
Anthony (Tony) Lawrence, one of Hong Kong's best known foreign correspondents, has died in Grantham Hospital at the age of 101. From 1958 until 1974 he was the voice of the BBC in Southeast Asia.
From bases in Hong Kong and Singapore Lawrence demonstrated a unique ability to convey the reality of life in this region by using his extraordinary range of contacts with ordinary people who are usually confined to the background of news reports.
Lawrence reported on the Vietnam war, the 1960s riots in Hong Kong and Malaysia and a host of other big stories. In the days before China allowed the establishment of Western press bureaus on the mainland, Lawrence's brief included "China watching" from Hong Kong.
He was among the first reporters to reveal the extent of China's Great Famine, which began in the late 1950s, getting a lead from local friends who were sending food parcels to relatives across the border. By asking the Post Office to confirm the number of food parcels being dispatched he quickly realised that this was an enormous problem.
Lawrence's retirement from the BBC in 1974 marked a new stage in his career as an author and a much loved broadcaster for RTHK and Commercial Radio.
As he always regarded news as being primarily about people, he readily volunteered to work with International Social Services, which provides assistance to refugees and migrants alongside a host of family protection services.