Datuk Dr Ronnie McCoy was my father’s generation. They were in the University of Malaya in Singapore in 1948 – 1952. Ordinarily I would not have had the opportunity to get to know him well. Except for the fact he was installed as President of the Malaysian Medical Association in May 1995.
This was the MMA AGM in which I proposed a resolution that read –
“This House is deeply concerned at the deplorable state of health care on plantations and proposes that the MMA carries out a study of the health, educational and social problems in plantations and mounts a campaign to influence and effect change so that the plantation community can be integrated into the mainstream of national development and health care”.
This resolution was adopted by the House, and led to the organizing of a seminar on the Health Status of the Estate Population at the Faculty of Medicine on 26th November 1995. More than 10 papers were presented in that one-day event. Datuk Dr McCoy was very supportive of this effort and in his Forward to the Proceedings of this seminar wrote –
“Malaysia has in recent years experienced economic growth at a breathtaking pace. … However, it is unlikely that this economic growth could have taken place if there had not already been in place a substantial economic base to build on. This economic base was built through the hard work of plantation and tin mine workers. As beneficiaries, we owe these Malaysians a large debt of gratitude. We must begin to repay this debt to the plantation workers and their families, most of whom do not enjoy the benefits of education and health care that the rest of the population have access to.” (Excerpts)
Datuk McCoy, the President of the MMA at that time, went on advocating for plantation workers, as mandated by the resolution adopted by the MMA in May 1995. One of his major points was that the Ministry of Health did not have the power to instruct estates on health issues while the Ministry of Human Resources which did have the power, did not have the technical expertise to carry out this responsibility properly. The Ministers of Human Resources and of Health did not like his comments and they criticized Datuk McCoy and the MMA in press statements. However, Datuk McCoy did not back down, but instead responded with a 4 page open letter to the government, detailing how the estate community had been marginalized in terms of health care, and giving specific recommendations how the situation could be improved.
This gives us the true measure of the man. He was unassuming, friendly and soft spoken. “Call me Ronnie”, he would say repeatedly as I usually referred to him as Datuk McCoy. But he was very firm on social justice, refused to kowtow to power, and really stood his ground in his advocacy for plantation workers, and I suppose for Nuclear Disarmament too, at a different forum.
A leader we can look up to. Who showed in word and deed what solidarity with one’s fellowmen should look like. Thank you, Ronnie. We will miss you!
Jeyakumar Devaraj
Chairperson
Parti Sosialis Malaysia
2nd September 2026