Wu Liande

Dr. Wu Lien-teh (Chinese: 伍連德; pinyin: Wu Liándé; 1879 – 21 January 1960), also known as Goh Lean Tuck and Ng Leen Tuck in Minnan and Cantonese transliteration respectively, was a Malayan-born Chinese doctor and the first medical student of Chinese descent to study at University of Cambridge. He was also the first Malayan nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1935.

He was born in Penang, one of the three towns of the Straits Settlements (the others being Malacca and Singapore). The Straits Settlements formed part of the colonies of Great Britain. His father was a new immigrant from Taishan, China. His mother's family also originated from China but she was a second generation resident of Malaya. Dr Wu had four brothers and six sisters. His early education was at the Penang Free School.

He was admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1896, after winning the Queen's Scholarship held in Singapore. He had a successful career at university, and won virtually all the available prizes and scholarships. His undergraduate clinical years were spent at St Mary's Hospital, London.

In 1903, Dr Wu returned to the Straits Settlement after finishing his medical studies. In September 1903, he joined Institute for Medical Research in Kuala Lumpur as the first research student. However, there was no specialist post for him. This is because, at that time, there was a two-tier medical system in the British colonies, where only British nationals could hold the highest position of fully qualified medical officers or specialists. Dr Wu spent his medical career researching beri-beri and roundworms (Ascaridae) before started his private practice toward the end of 1904 in Chulia Street, Penang.

He was very vocal in the social issues of the time, and founded the Anti-Opium Association in Penang. This attracted the attention of the powerful forces involved in the lucrative trade of opium. This led to a search and subsequent discovery of a mere one ounce of tincture of opium in Dr Wu's dispensary, which was considered illegal, although he was a fully qualified medical doctor who had purchased this to treat opium patients. His prosecution and appeal rejection attracted worldwide publicity, including an invitation from the then Grand Councillor Yuan Shikai of the Chinese Government in Peking to take the post of Vice-Director of the Imperial Army medical College in Tientsin (Tianjin).

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