Veteran Hong Kong journalist Henry Parwani dies aged 67
Veteran Hong Kong journalist Henry Parwani died suddenly at his home in Jardine's Lookout on Tuesday night, aged 67.
His wife Rita, who was by his side, said Parwani had a heart condition but it had been under control. He felt unwell at about 7pm. An hour later he experienced shortness of breath and his condition deteriorated rapidly until he collapsed in his wife's arms shortly after 9pm.
Parwani joined the in the 1960s as a reporter before he was hired by , the city's first English-language tabloid newspaper, which had launched in 1965.
He then started the now- defunct tabloid , and later returned to the in the mid-1980s to take over as executive editor.
Parwani later branched out into media relations, and was recruited by tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai as a senior executive to help run satellite channel Star TV.
He had worked with Macau's Government Information Services for the past decade, and continued to contribute to journalism until his death.
In his heyday, Parwani was an award-winning journalist who became famous in 1973 for exclusively reporting the death of martial arts legend Bruce Lee in the flat of an actress. He was also credited with coining the phrase "sandwich-class housing" which has now become part of the official lexicon.
"We were reporters people loved to hate, but learned to respect, some of them the hard way,' Parwani told the more than a decade ago. "We were the public watchdog, we exposed problems, and we changed laws."
His many friends and former colleagues paid tribute to him yesterday, recalling his winning personality, sense of humour and passion for his work.
Parwani is survived by his wife Rita, daughter Audrey, son-in-law Nick, and grandson Aiden.
