Obituary: Cheah Boon Kheng, by Mahani Musa
Excerpt
The international scholarly world and in particular Malaysia’s academic fraternity regretfully lost a great scholar with the passing of Cheah Boon Kheng on 27 July 2015 aged 76. He succumbed to a year-long battle with cancer. Professor Cheah, through his research and publications, was a highly respected and renowned historian in the country as well as in the international academic community. Born in Klang, Selangor, Cheah began as a journalist with the The Straits Times (1956–1967) where he was exposed and familiarised with the rigours of research and investigation not unlike the skills demanded in the discipline of history. He read History and English literature at University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur graduating with honours in 1969. Dr. Lee Kam Hing, then a tutor at the History Department in 1967, described Cheah as possessing two sets of qualities, namely “the instinct of a good reporter who knows how to choose what subject to pursue, and a mature, skilled and experienced student who writes very well.”
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