Mike Ellery (1932 – 2015)
Many Singaporeans as well as people in the ad industry were sad to hear that at the beginning of February 2015, Mike Ellery had passed away from lymphoma, a cancer that affects the immune system. He was 82. In recent years, he had also been suffering from fits which meant an end to his driving licence and probably led to the stroke that had put him in a wheelchair from June 2014.
Ellery was well-known to older Singaporeans because he was one of the most prominent radio DJs from the 1950s right up to the 1980s. Born in Bristol, UK, he came to Malaya in 1949 and helped to launch Rediffusion (a popular cable-transmitted radio programming firm) in Kuala Lumpur and eventually joined Rediffusion in Singapore in the mid-1950s. Apart from a short break back in the UK in the 1970s, Ellery spent most of his working life in Singapore.
He set up an audio recording studio called ‘CueVision’ in the same office block as ad agency ‘Dailey, Naidu & Chan’, and helped produce many of the radio commercials and sound tracks for TV spots heard in the 1980s. In more recent years, his company moved more into film production mainly in the area of documentaries. He filmed the beginnings of the MRT tunnelling right through to completion and his familiar voice was also heard on number of Government and corporate videos.
He was well-respected in the ad industry as a professional and had many good friends in the media and entertainment areas, including broadcaster Larry Lai with whom he started a mobile disco called ‘Moby Dick’ in 1969 and Vernon Cornelius, the front man and singer with former top local band, The Quests.
Despite his long association and contribution to Singapore, he failed to get his employment pass renewed in 2012 and moved to Thailand (it was surprising to many that he had not become a PR or citizen in the Republic) as he wished to stay in Asia but ill-health forced him back to England to be with his family.
John Hagley (1939 – 2014)
Pioneer adman and designer, John Hagley died on June 4th 2014. Hagley came to Singapore serving his National Service in the British army during the communist guerrilla war in the Malaya jungles. He fell in love with Singapore, became a Singapore citizen and remained until he retired to Scotland in the late eighties. He was one of the founders of Hagley & Hoyle which is still in operation at the time of writing. He went on to join Creative Consultants before setting up John Hagley Communications in Bukit Timah Road. He sold this to Batey Ads. Hagley was also a fine artist and had several exhibitions. He also produced a stained glass window in Freemason’s Hall in Coleman Street. Hagley helped found the first Creative Circle in the late 1960s and designed the original 4As logo. He married twice and his children were born in Singapore. He was a keen motorcyclists and photographer and travelled all over Asia.
He retired in the early nineties to a home overlooking a loch in Scotland. He died in 2014.
Michelle Lauridsen (1963 – 2013)
It is with sadness that we report the death of Michelle Lauridsen, Managing Director of Planet Ads & Design on 4th September 2013 in a tragic accident. Australian-born, Michelle worked in PR and as a copywriter in Adelaide and Tokyo. She founded Planet Ads & Design Pte Ltd in Singapore with her husband Harakazu (Hal) Suzuki seventeen years ago. The agency soon gained accreditation and success with work for well-known brands such as Guardian, 7-Eleven, Larry Jewelry, Carlsberg, MOS Burger, Delifrance, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Carrefour, an account which it handled for an astonishing 13 years (media and creative). Her sister Suzanne joined the agency after her own successful creative career in major ad agencies in Singapore.
Michelle leaves behind a daughter, Alyssa Suzuki. Michelle was just 50 years old when she died. She had a sweet, kind nature and it is hard to believe that such a lively lady will no longer be lighting up our lives. She will be sorely missed, in and out of the ad industry, by all who knew and loved her.
David Naidu (1939 – 2012)
The advertising industry in Singapore lost a pioneer on 21st November 2012. David Naidu died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 73. David had retired from the business, but was a still an active man and was living in Bukit Timah.
He started his career as a journalist on The Straits Times and covered the events leading to Singapore independence. He worked in marketing in Singapore and Malaysia and eventually started Dailey, Naidu and Chan. Dailey was an American agency that partnered with David and Bernard Chan soon after they set up shop. When Dailey dropped out, the company became known as DNC. It was a major agency in Singapore for a few years and handled Burger King business for many years.
John Archer (1944 – 2010)
Because it has been some months since we last published AdAsia, we could not publish a tribute to John Archer (Archah) who was found dead at his house in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) on 14thOctober 2010.
A number of people in the industry have paid tributes to this creative man. John Archer was born on 5thSeptember 1944 and graduated from RMIT in 1964 and began working for George Patterson agency in Melbourne before moving to Ogilvy & Mather in the late 60s. In 1970, he moved with O&M to Jakarta, beginning his long love affair with Asia. He joined the Singapore office in 1980 as Creative Director. He did some outstanding work for this agency and made time to help found the Creative Circle of Singapore. He passed on the reigns to the young Neil French and headed back to Sydney. After a serious accident in a taxi, he returned to Asia to work for McCann Erickson in Bangkok and then took on the role of Regional Creative Director for Bates Asia flitting between Singapore and Saigon. He left the agency in 2006 and settled in Vietnam; forming his own consultancy Woof (he loved his dogs).
He was a well-read man and had actually completed four 500 page novels which are now awaiting a publisher. John had a great sense of humour (many in the industry awaited his jokes on the email) and was great company in a pub. He was much loved and respected by those in the industry who worked or had dealings with him.
A sad end for a nice man with so many friends.
Dennis Khoo (1939 – 2007)
Held senior roles in Nestle in Singapore and Malaysia and had worked with the company in Switzerland and Hong Kong. He succeeded Patrick Mowe as President of Singapore Advertisers Association and position held from 1982 to 1985. He had served several years a Vice-President of the Association and was very supportive of the Ad Ball and other activities in the ad industry. Khoo died in April 2007 at just 68.