Charles Chellapah
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Chellapah Canagaratnam (2 May 1940 – 14 February 1966), known as Charles Chellapah was a
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
an photojournalist who was killed on assignment during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
.


Biography

Chellapah was born in Singapore. He worked as a sports reporter for the
Singapore Free Press ''The Singapore Free Press'' was an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore. History The paper was founded on 1 October 1835 as the ''Singapore Free Press & Mercantile Advertiser'' in response to the sale of '' The Singapo ...
and then became a freelance photographer. He worked for the Malay Times in
Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
and then the Sabah Daily Express in
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
. He arrived in
Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
on 21 January 1966. Freelancing for the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
, he went to Cu Chi some north of Saigon, it was a densely jungled rubber plantation honey-combed with
Vietcong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the Communism, communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vi ...
(VC) tunnels and overrun by snipers. His close-up images of casualties and combat prompted AP photo editor
Horst Faas Horst Faas (28 April 1933 – 10 May 2012) was a German photo-journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. He is best known for his images of the Vietnam War. Life Horst Faas as born on 28 April 1933 in Berlin, which was then part of Na ...
to warn Chellappah to be more cautious and take fewer chances. On 14 February 1966, Chellapah was killed in a VC landmine blast while attempting to aid soldiers injured in an earlier mine blast. Chellapah's remains were returned to Singapore and cremated, his ashes were scattered at sea.


References


External links


Eastpix's coverage about Singaporean photographers killed in Vietnam war
Singaporean photographers War photographers killed while covering the Vietnam War 1939 births 1966 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing {{Photographer-stub