His daughter Theresa Chan Lai-kuen said on Monday that her father was remembered as a staunch professional who was “always persistent, punctual and well prepared”.

“He made it a habit to arrive for interviews early – sometimes by up to two hours in advance,” she told the Post in a phone interview.

He was also a role model who demanded the best performance from himself, Chan added.

Chan joined the Post in 1959 and remained there for 28 years until his retirement.

The industry legend had shared that his favourite assignments were those that carried an element of danger, such as the riots that gripped Hong Kong for nearly a year in 1967.

British colonial misrule and radicalisation from China’s Cultural Revolution spilled over, converging with labour unrest in May 1967 agitated by Communist Party members in Hong Kong.

Eight months of rioting and bombings followed, resulting in 51 deaths and more than 800 injured.

That period marked the most perilous phase of his career, where he dodged projectiles and navigated treacherous conditions.

But the veteran photojournalist had a soft spot for folk stories too, with his daughter Theresa revealing one of his favourites was the tale of British soldier Tony Caller and his Chinese partner, Dorothy So Yun-mai.

He first captured the pair in a sentimental 1961 photo, where Caller is seen bidding farewell to So on the wharf at Tsim Sha Tsui. The caption published then read: “Tony Caller of 32 Medium Regiment RA says his last goodbyes to pretty Miss So Yun-mai, just before the UK-bound troopship Nevasa sets sail.”

The couple later got married and started a family in Britain, reuniting with Chan again nearly two decades later. He even snapped their photo at the same spot for their 25th anniversary.

He won more than 30 awards in Hong Kong and abroad throughout his career, and was the first local press photographer to be awarded the Badge of Honour by Queen Elizabeth for his service and contribution to the Hong Kong media industry in 1985.

Chan also snapped her photos when she visited the city with Prince Philip for the first time in 1975.

Chan emigrated to Canada in 1993, where he “enjoyed life, did volunteer work, and continued to impart his expertise to the next generation of news workers,” according to his family.

“He was especially involved with the Chinese diaspora community,” his daughter said.

Celebrating Hong Kong’s most famous photojournalist Chan Kiu

Born in Hong Kong in 1927 to a working-class family, it was not until the early 1950s that Chan decided his life should be “a little more spicy”. He turned to photography. It was also about this time he got married, in 1952.

Known in Hong Kong’s media circles as “Uncle Kiu”, Chan remained modest about his achievements despite his long years in the industry, telling the Post in 2018 that he was “just an ordinary news photographer”.

“It just so happened that I was sent by the editor to cover the news events,” said the silver-haired, svelte veteran photographer, who was by that time 91 years old.

“You wouldn’t have time to think about recording history at the time when you pressed the shutter button. They were just history caught in a hurry.”

Chan is survived by his seven children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, most of whom also live in Vancouver.