By Asian Pacific News Service

Former Malaysian journalist Fabian Dawson has been appointed deputy editor of the Vancouver Province, one of Canada's largest newspapers.

Described as a chief architect of the newspaper's success, Editor-in-Chief Wayne Moriarty announced Friday the appointment of Dawson who will share the role with the paper's former deputy managing editor Ros Guggi.

Dawson, who began his journalistic career in Malaysia, will continue to lend his keen news sense to the paper's day-to-day operations, said Moriarty.

"He will employ his creative mind to boost the visibility of our paper throughout B.C."

"This is something of a new role in the newsroom and I can't imagine anyone better suited to the challenge."

Dawson who has been on a leave from The Province takes up his new role on Dec 15.

Dawson moved to Canada in Dec 1988 with his wife Anne after working for the New Straits Times, The Malay Mail and the Malaysian Business magazine.

He joined The Province the following year as a temporary reporter and was rapidly promoted to senior reporter, assignment editor, city editor and news editor.

An internationally acclaimed investigative journalist, Dawson's work has taken him all over Asia, Europe, Central and North America.

Prior to his current posting, he served as the editorial consultant to the award winning Vancouver-based Asian Pacific Post newspaper and was an advisor to publications in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India and England.

"He helped us grow from strength to strength and we are going to miss him," said Harbinder Singh Sewak, the publisher of The Asian Pacific Post.

"He is an immigrant success story...he is probably the first Malaysian on a mainstream newspaper's masthead in North America," said Sewak, a fellow Malaysian.

Earlier this year, Dawson was picked as the recipient of 2004 Unsung Hero of Canadian Journalism by The National Newspaper Awards (NNA) Board of Governors.

The "unsung heroes" award recognises journalists who generally toil in anonymity but are often considered key individuals who make things happen. The NNA awards are the highest honours in Canadian newspapering.

Dawson has also been cited for excellence in journalism in previous years by the Jack Webster Foundation while many of the stories he has directed have won journalism awards.

In 2003, he partnered with the editor of The Asian Pacific Post, Jagdeesh Mann, to win the Jack Webster Award for Best Community Reporting.

His investigative stories and exposes have led to the production of four documentary films and a made-for TV movie, which is currently being shot in India.

Dawson told the Asian Pacific News Service that he is humbled by the new appointment and the support given to him by Province publisher Dennis Skulsky and editor Wayne Moriarty.

"I look forward to working with an exceptional journalistic team and continue the tradition of The Province which is to listen to its readers and serve the community," he said.