Khoo Kay Kim

Khoo Kay Kim was a Malaysian historian and academic of Chinese descent. He was honoured with Emeritus Professor title by the University of Malaya in 2001. In January 2011, Khoo was appointed Chancellor of KDU University College. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad described Khoo’s passing as a truly great loss to the country. Khoo Kay Kim was born to Peranakan Chinese parents in Kampar, Perak, Malaysia on 28 March 1937. During his early education, he attend the English school in the morning before the Chinese school later in the afternoon. He received a BA, MA, and a PhD in 1959, 1967, and 1974 respectively from the University of Malaya. His doctoral thesis was entitled The Beginnings of Political Extremism in Malaya 1915-1935 (1974), where he was supervised by Kennedy G. Tregonning, the Raffles Professor of History at the University of Malaya. Khoo was one of the co-authors of Rukunegara. He was a highly regarded national academic for his views on local sports and socio-political issues. Khoo had served at the Universiti Malaya’s history department for over 50 years and had taught many prominent Malaysians. He published his autobiography in 2017 titled “I, KKK - The Autobiography of a Historian” where he talks about his earliest memories growing up in pre-independence Malaya. The book was dedicated to Malaysians, particularly the youth, for them to have insights about the country. Khoo died of lung failure on 28 May 2019, Tuesday morning at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Petaling Jaya, Selangor at the age of 82. The family, in a short message confirming his death, said: “It is with the deepest sadness that we inform of the passing of our much-loved husband and father. He passed, as he had always lived, with the greatest dignity.” Khoo leaves behind wife, Puan Sri Rathi Khoo and three children, Eddin, Rubin and Mavin. His remains were taken to the Nirvana Memorial Park in Sungai Besi, where it will be until the funeral at 10am on Saturday. Memorial service will be held from Thursday until Saturday. Following news of his death, messages of tribute and condolence flooded social media. Many described his passing as a huge loss to the country that would be greatly felt. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s (UKM) Prof Datuk Dr Teo Kok Seong said Khoo had always put Malaysian nationalism above anything else, despite sometimes drawing criticism from the Chinese community. “It made him unpopular among the Chinese but he always spoke the truth based on history, looked at things from a Malaysian perspective,” he told theSun. Khoo was honoured with several awards and accolades for his contributions to the nation. He received the Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (JSM) in 1983, the Knight Commander of the Order of the Perak State Crown (DPMP) in 1987, the Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) in 2008, the Knight Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor (DPMS) in 2009, the 10th "Tokoh Akademik Negara" of the National Academic Awards (AAN) in 2017, and the Merdeka Award for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement in 2018. In July 2019, the Selangor state government with the consent of the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah decreed to renamed Jalan Semangat in Petaling Jaya as Jalan Prof. Khoo Kay Kim in honouring the Khoo's contributions during his life.