Ungku Aziz dies at 98

One of Malaysia’s best known academics and social critics, Royal Prof Ungku Abdul Aziz Ungku Abdul Hamid, has died. He was 98.

Ungku Aziz, who served as vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaya from 1968 to 1988 during a critical period of student protest movements, was the brain behind the establishment of pilgrims fund Tabung Haji and Angkasa, the apex body governing cooperatives nationwide.

His daughter, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, is the former governor of Bank Negara Malaysia.

Ungku Aziz, who was related to the Johor royal family, received the title “royal professor” in 1978, and wrote more than 50 books and monographs on Malaysia’s socio-economic issues.

He also served as consultant to several international bodies as well as the United Nations and Unesco.

Born to an English mother and a father of Malay-Circassian descent, Ungku Aziz received his early education at the Batu Pahat Malay School.

He later attended Raffle College before furthering his studies at Universiti Malaya, which was then in Singapore.

He received his PhD from Waseda University in Tokyo.