Prof Madya Dr Faridah Moosdeen It is with great regret that we report the death on 30 January 2009 of Prof Madya Dr Faridah Moosdeen, one of the leading figures of the International Society of Chemotherapy (ISC) over the past 20 years. Faridah Moosdeen was born in Malaya in 1949 and received her Bachelor and Master Degree in Science from the Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia. In 1975 she went to Vietnam to study for the Diploma in Medical Microbiology at the Pasteur Institute in Saigon. She came to the UK in 1982 to study at the Department of Medical Microbiology at the London Hospital where she was awarded a PhD and passed the MRCPath examination. |  |
In collaboration with the late Professor John David Williams she carried out significant research, publishing a number of papers on bacterial resistance mechanisms. On her return from England, Faridah was appointed to an academic post in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. From 1995 until 1997 she was Professor of Microbiology at the Medical School of the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. During her time in the Caribbean she studied infections in patients with sickle cell disease and published on this topic with Graham Sergeant, a world authority on haemoglobinopathies. Faridah was one of the founders of the Malaysian Society for Infectious Diseases and Chemotherapy (MSIDC) and also of the Western Pacific Society ofChemotherapy (WPSC). The first Congress of both Societies was held in Kuala Lumpur in 1989 and was organised by Faridah together with her local colleagues. She became Secretary General of the WPSC in 1989 and continued in that post until 1994. Faridah made major contributions to the International Society of Chemotherapy. From 1991 until 1999 she was Honorary Treasurer of the Society and from 1999 to 2005 was Executive Director, establishing the ISC office in London where she documented the history of the ISC and organised its publications and memorabilia. She was responsible for the organisation of the ISC’s two-yearly Congress in several continents. In 2005 the ISC awarded Faridah Meritorious Membership of the Society. Faridah’s last few years were clouded by cancer. In spite of this she carried on as normal, refusing to become an invalid, travelling to meetings and corresponding with colleagues and friends. She never complained and bore her illness with great bravery and dignity. | |
The Kuantan Wreck's real name at the time of sinking was the Marvin 1. It had just been bought shortly before it sunk and it is possible that they didn't even have time to repaint her as many years ago we were able to seem the name Nichi Asu Maru on her starboard side. Here is something I wrote up years ago although things do change over time and marine life die and migrate... The Nichi Asu Maru (にちやす丸) a.k.a. The Kuantan Wreck / Marvin 1 Nichi にち- means several things and there is a logical progression of the meanings too. First, it means “circle” or “round”. It can also mean “sun” (that’s round, right?) or “day” because the day starts with the sun. Usually though, on things such as ships, it is used as the abbreviation for “Nippon / Nihon”, i.e., the Japanese name for their own country. The “Ni” character is also the first character in Nippon / Nihon. Also note the Japanese flag features a rising sun. So “nichi” on the ship quite possibly means “Japan
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