|
PETALING JAYA: The lights do not dim at 80 and no one seems better proof of that than Royal Professor Ungku Abdul Aziz Ungku Abdul Hamid.
The former Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor turns 80 today, his mind as keen as ever, his wit just as sharp and his love for ideas, books and people as broad as ever. |
“My life has been like a jigsaw puzzle. But everything seems to have fallen into place in its own way,” he said when speaking about his unusual and remarkable life.
Ungku Aziz is best known as Malaysia’s first and only Royal Professor and a pioneer in studying the economics of poverty.
But he is also one of those rare personalities who mean many things to many people.
Many of his friends, associates and former students say he is not only “a man of his time,” but also “a man ahead of his time.”
They remember him well for his open-mindedness and his sense of fairness, traits which have stood him up well to the challenges of his work as an educationist.
Born in Hampstead, London, in 1922, he grew up in relative hardship after his father died when Ungku Aziz was just a teenager. But his intellect and, more importantly, his willingness and ability to embrace new things and ideas carried him through one event in life after another.
Despite being the son of a Johor aristocrat – his uncle was Datuk Onn Jaafar – he was willing to soil his hands from carrying rocks to driving a lorry.
“I could have been a lot of things, I suppose. I could have gone into politics or the civil service but from very early on, I knew I wanted to do something intellectual.”
After completing his studies at the Raffles College in Singapore, he joined the University of Malaya, Singapore, in 1947 as an economics lecturer.
It was a slow but steady climb up the academic ladder. In 1968, he became the first Malaysian vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaya, a post he held for 20 years.
His post-Universiti Malaya years have not been idle for he continues to write, give talks and teach. His involvement in the co-operative movement remains unrivalled.
Ungku Aziz will spend this evening with family, namely his wife Sharifah Azah Aziz, daughter and Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Zeti, grandchildren and relatives.
The Malaysian Economics Association, of which Ungku Aziz is a founder member, is planning a dinner to honour him on March 28 at the Mandarin Oriental.
The event will also see famous former students reminisce about the “birthday boy”. They include Singapore President S.R. Nathan, Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Musa Hitam, and International trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz.
Those interested can contact Teh Zainah Md Zain at 03-7963647 or
e-mail.
First published in The Star on Jan
28 2002. Copyright The Star. All rights reserved.
|
