Interview of Yung Wai (Charlie) Loke by Alan Macfarlane, 22nd February 2007

(Sound poor due to faulty radio microphone)

0:06:18 Born December 1934 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; paternal grandfather, Loke Yue, came from Guangdong Province and he married a local lady; story that he came to Malaysia with $10 in his pocket as indentured labourer then became an undustrialist and built up tin mining and rubber businesses and bought land and houses; later built up other industries on land where tin mines had been exhausted

5:55:07 Passion for education and started Loke Yue scholarships particularly for medicine and engineering; at that time no universities in Malaysia but Hong Kong did have one so student sent there; the capital died out during the War so scholarships no longer exist but aim to resurrect them in the future; never knew grandfather but by all accounts was a nice man - honest, determined and focussed; got on well with the British administration in Malaysia and was trusted by them; know little of grandmother's background; grandfather had two wives and had five children in all; father was son of the first wife

9:37:12 Mother's family came from Penang from Peranakan, Baba, Chinese who had been in Malaysia for generations; grandmother spoke Malay and Hokkien and wore a sarang kabaya and chewed betel nut; lived with mother's family so know the Penang side better than the Kuala Lumpur side; father died in the 1970s and mother died last year; sent to England to school when about thirteen; before that brought up by nannies (ayahs) so had little to do with parents

14:12:04 Went to English speaking school when younger; a Christian Brothers' school and sisters went to a convent though not Christians; fortunate to learn Latin as able to get into an English public school; father had been at Aberdeen Grammar School possibly because of the Scottish connection with planters in Malaysia; had been destined for either Eton or Harrow but parents friendly with the Birkhills (he was Master of Peterhouse) who were to act as guardians in England; they suggested going to The Leys instead

16:36:13 First impressions of The Leys; meeting with Colin Kinnear; adoption of the name Charlie as no one could pronounce Yung Wai; no masters that made a great impression; learnt to play hockey and even rugger; have always been a scientist, particularly biology; had wanted to be a marine biologist but discouraged by family so ended up doing medicine; but as soon as qualified reverted to research as true interest; occasionally went back to Malaysia for holidays or parents would come to England

21:57:16 Relationship with parents was a distant one; father continued in the family business; at 18 didn't think about own ethnicity; only recently has this become an issue, after retirement; life became more anglicized that this is where work and life is; all my friends are British; never found any conflicts with religion or family; having been brought up in a British colony all familiar and English the main language spoken at home

25:48:01 Had an uncle, Loke Wan Tho, who was an undergraduate at King's; also Birkhills thought King's was appropriate; Senior Tutor at that time was Patrick Wilkinson, a contemporary of my uncle's and selection at that time was not so severe; main teacher was Kendall Dixon although when I first came my director of studies was David Stockdale; at that time no medical sciences tripos, all medics came as natural scientists; Kendall became my mentor in my later years in King's; he was a wonderful man, the kind of person who could not see bad in anyone; very gentle, very good director of studies, very perceptive; took his advice to go to St Thomas's Hospital after King's; college not as democratic as it is now where student have far more say

31:10:16 Didn't really know many other fellows; knew Dan Brown and Hal Dixon; King's in the fifties was mainly peopled by Public School students so it was an extension of the school system; this I think is the main difference between then and now; have discarded the tradition of dining in hall every night as undergraduates; now much harder to create a community spirit

35:40:00 Did a lot of sport; played hockey, tennis and squash for the college; also played golf; Kendall give me an ultimatum as he thought sport was taking too much time; suggested that if I continued with sport I should take an easier tripos such as land economy; inducted as a fellow in 1972; spent three years at St Thomas's although finals then always taken in Cambridge; did a couple of years post-graduate work at the Middlesex Hospital; then went back to teach in university in Malaysia where the first medical school had just been started; taught there for four years and had no intention of leaving; came back to Cambridge to collect M.D. and spoke to Kendall about doing research in Oxford; suggested instead I apply for assistant lectureship in pathology in Cambridge; this was in 1967 and I thought I'd come back for three years and then return to Malaysia; however, got a lectureship and tenure; Kendall retired and I got a teaching fellowship at King's; got professorial fellowship and now a life fellow; never really had to think about leaving or what to do; only now that I have to give it some thought

42:07:03 Main subject of research is the immunology of the placenta; why doesn't the placenta reject the baby during pregnancy as a foreign organ; parallels with clinical attempts at transplants which are much less successful; problem of what is special about the placenta; mother's recognition; rethinking old paradigms

50:00:15 Currently facing problem of not being able to feel settled in England or Malaysia; find my experience of life abroad finds me with nothing in common with old friends in Malaysia; lonely even among friends; don't feel lonely here, feel I have come home when I come back to King's although I wish in some ways it was not so