CHEAH BOON KHENG
(1939 – 2015)
Cheah Boon Kheng joined MBRAS in 1976 and served as Vice-President from 1991 – 2014. He edited JMBRAS for nearly two decades and handled the production of several Monographs and Reprints. After receiving his PhD from the Australian National University in 1978, Dr Cheah joined the history section at Universiti Sains Malaysia, where he worked until his retirement in 1994. His groundbreaking books on Malaysian history include Red Star over Malaya, The Peasant Robbers of Kedah (1988), and To’ Janggut: Legends, Histories, and Perceptions of the 1915 Rebellion in Kelantan.
KENNEDY G. TREGONNING
(1923 – 2015)
MOHD TAIB BIN OSMAN
(1934 – 2017)
A pioneering figure in modern Malay studies, Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Taib bin Osman held a PhD in anthropology from Indiana University and brought a social science approach to the study of Malay literature, folklore, and customs. His books include Malay Folk Beliefs, Islamic Civilisation in the Malay World, and studies of Malay language and culture. At the University of Malaya, he served as head of Malay Studies and later as Vice Chancellor. He was a life member of MBRAS.
NICHOLAS TARLING
(1931 – 2017)
Nicholas Tarling, a historian at the University of Auckland, made a prodigious contribution to the study of Southeast Asian history, publishing more than forty books and numerous articles. MBRAS published his groundbreaking study, “British Policy in the Malay Archipelago, 1824 – 1871” as a special issue of JMBRAS in 1957. In 2007 the Society published his edited volume entitled Historians & Their Disciplines: The Call of Southeast Asian History (2007), which contains brief autobiographical sketches by leading scholars describing their engagement with Southeast Asian history. He became a life member of MBRAS in 1961.
P.M. SHARIFFUDIN
(1936 – 2018)
Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Shariffuddin bin Pengiran Haji Metali was the inaugural director and curator of the Brunei Museum, opened in 1972. A leading authority on the history of Brunei, he had a deep knowledge of the genealogical history of the Brunei rulers. He was also an ardent supporter of local arts and crafts and played a key role in setting up the Brunei Arts and Handicrafts Centre. A long-time member of MBRAS, he became a Life Member in 1981. In his capacity as Vice-President, P.M. Shariffuddin represented Brunei and contributed in many ways to the Society.
RUSSELL JONES
(1926 – 2019)
Russell Jones was an authority on the Indonesian and Malay language, Malay manuscripts, and Islam in the Malay world. His teaching career began at the University of Sydney in 1961 and moved to the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 1965. He was instrumental in setting up the Indonesian Etymological Project and helped found the journal Indonesia and the Malay World and was general editor of the project’s publication, Loanwords, in Indonesian and Malay (Leiden, 2007). He joined MBRAS in 1949 and at the time of his death was the Society’s longest-serving Life Member.
KHOO KAY KIM
(1937 – 2019)
Emeritus Professor Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim was Professor of Malaysian History at the University of Malaya, and also served as Head of the History Department and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. He authored more than 80 scholarly publications, and was also a prominent public intellectual, writing a newspaper column and participating in public discussions relating to Malaysian history. Professor Khoo joined the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1974 and served as its president from 1993 to 1995. He contributed nearly a dozen articles and numerous book reviews to JMBRAS and was editor of the journal between 1996 and 1998.
MOHAMMED HANIF OMAR
(1939 – 2024)
Tun Hanif was a Life Member of the Society and served as its President from 2007 – 2017. After completing his bachelor’s degree at the University of Malaya in Singapore in 1959, Tun Hanif joined the police force. In 1974 he became Inspector General of police, a position he held until his retirement in 1992. After leaving the police, Tun Hanif pursued his interests in heritage and archeology and worked to revive flagging public interest in Malaysian history which he regarded as essential to the maintenance of peace and national development. As president of the Society, he actively supported the MBRAS publishing program and lecture series, digitisation of MBRAS archives, and the placement of digital copies of JMBRAS online through Project MUSE and JSTOR.
ANTHONY REID
(1939 – 2025)
After starting his career at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur in 1965, Anthony Reid joined the Australian National University in 1970, where he remained for nearly 30 years. Much of his research concerned Indonesia but his magnum opus was a magisterial two-volume work entitled Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450 – 1690 (Yale, 1988, 1993). He joined the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1999, and in 2002 became inaugural director of the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore. A long-term member of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, he served on the Society’s International Advisory Board.
ABU TALIB AHMAD
(1952 – 2025)
Professor Dato’ Abu Talib bin Ahmad studied for an MA in International Relations at University of Tsukuba in Japan and then earned his doctorate at Monash University with a dissertation on the Japanese Occupation of Burma. In 1984 he joined the Universiti Sains Malaysia as a lecturer in History, and in 2003 was promoted to full professor. He amassed a distinguished publication record while serving as chair of the History Section, Dean of Humanities, and delegate to the University Senate. A Member of the Council of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, he served as associate editor of JMBRAS.