Remembering Tun Suffian at Cambridge

The Gonville and Caius College in the University of Cambridge will be establishing the Tun Suffian College Lectureship, in honour of the former Malaysian Chief Justice and Lord President of the Federal Court. Tun Suffian, who was bestowed an Honorary Fellowship by the college, was the first Malay to win a Queen's Scholarship in 1935 to read law at the college. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree in 1939 and Bachelor of Laws in 1940, before being called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in London. Sir Christopher Hum, Current Master of the college says the decision to establish a lectureship came about during his meeting with Cambridge alumni last year, in a move that will hopefully strengthen links between Malaysia and the college. "We have a very strong tradition in our university of teaching in small groups, that obviously has costs associated with it... Endowment will mean creating a sum to meet the costs for as long as possible.. gives the guarantee that the funds are available for us to continue teaching the way we want to," he says in a recent interview. Establishing a lectureship is part of the Cambridge tradition in commemorate each of the 30 college's own alumni. "Tun Suffian was very distinguished - Chief Justice, Lord Preisdent and made an Honorary Fellow of the college in his later years. He was very attached to the college and we are very attached to his memory," says Hum. Come April 19th, the college will be organising a fundraiser for the lectureship, together with Yayasan Tun Suffian in Malaysia. adding that the college will be organising a fundraiser for the lectureship, together with Yayasan Tun Suffian in Malaysia. A total of RM5 million is needed to fund the lectureship. In the following interview, Hum also shares about what Malaysian universities can learn from Cambridge, in becoming a top-tier university, as well as the university's increasing focus on Asian students.