|
|
An Interview With
Dato' Dr Ronald S. McCoy
At the recent 2nd Malaysian National Workshop on “Peace
Education: Promoting Peaceful Values and Positive Peace
in Malaysia”, the SEACSN Malaysia were privileged
to have Dato’ Ronald McCoy as one of the guests.
Dato’ McCoy participated actively in the conference,
both as the Chairman in several Panel Sessions and also
making contributions from the floor. We therefore took
the opportunity to find out more about him in a short
interview, which he graciously granted, for this Bulletin.
Dato’ McCoy was born in Seremban, Malaysia. He
has spent most of his life living in Kuala Lumpur, having
first been schooled at Pasar Road School, then the ‘Victoria
Institution’ which at that time was a ‘boys
only’ school. He moved on to study medicine at
the University of Malaya which at that time was situated
in Singapore. After completing his pre-clinical foundation
year and five years of medical training he arrived at
Kuala Lumpur General Hospital ready to commence his Houseman
year. Following this, he spent two years in the United
Kingdom, specialising in Obstetrics and Gynacology, firstly
in Oxford then further north in Leeds. He returned to
Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s ready to commence work
at the new maternity hospital as Senior Registrar. In
the late 1960s, he moved to Assunta Hospital, Petaling
Jaya. In 1974, he joined a group of other Doctors who
united to establish the Pantai Medical Centre. He retired
from medical practice in 1996, having delivered some
20,000 babies! A family man, Dato’ McCoy and his
lovely wife Sushei have been married since 1969 and have
three children and two grand children.
How does this medical career link in with the work of
SEACSN and an involvement with Peace Studies?
Since 1945 when Hiroshima and Nagasaki suffered the atomic
bomb, Dato’ McCoy has been against war and nuclear
weapons, having also seen at first hand the occupation
of Malaysia by the Japanese. As an adult, he read “Hiroshima” by
John Hershey. This book described in detail the devastation
caused and the complete inability of medical doctors
to respond as health professionals. He was challenged
to consider what Doctors in Malaysia could do about this.
In 1986, Dato’ McCoy read about an organisation
called ‘International Physicians for the Prevention
of Nuclear War’ (IPPNW) who had received the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1985. Dato’ McCoy wrote to the British
affiliate ‘Medical Campaign against Nuclear War’ (MCNW)
to join as an overseas member.
In 1987, in Malacca, whilst participants at the Malaysian
Medical Association (MMA) were having breakfast, Dato’ McCoy
rose and addressed them. He proposed that a Malaysian
Branch of the IPPNW should be established. He received
35 signatures. Later that year, he and Dr M K Rajakumar
went to the World Congress in Moscow and thus the Malaysian
Medical Association for the Prevention of Nuclear War
(MMAPNW) was born. The IPPNW meets bi-annually. In 2004,
the World Congress will be held in Beijing. At present,
they are working towards a special commemoration of Hiroshima
Day on August 6, 2003.
Amongst the concerns of the MPPNW are the unimaginable
| - |
the threat of terrorists gaining access to nuclear
weapons |
| - |
the nuclear weapons currently under research
such as the low yield weapons with the capacity
to penetrate depth, thus, with potential to access
bunkers. |
Dato’ Dr McCoy has been involved in the UN Canberra
Commission on Nuclear Weapons and other advisory bodies.
For more information look up:
www.ippnw.org
or contact:
email: mccoy@pc.jaring.my
MPPNW, 17 Jalan Tanjung (5/4), 46000 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Content
|
