Kuan Goh

KUAN GOH ‘Extraordinary’ contributor to science and the community

Emeritus Professor in Soil Science Kuan Meng Goh, who died suddenly in Christchurch on 10 January 2014 aged 78, was a remarkable New Zealander, loyal to his Malaysian origins and proud of his ethnic Chinese descent.

His funeral filled the Silks Lounge at Christchurch’s Addington Raceway to capacity and was attended by public figures from the many facets of the community with which he was involved; academics and colleagues representing his university connections, family members, friends, and anonymous citizens and acquaintances whose lives he had touched.

Christchurch’s Mayor Lianne Dalziel described him as an “extraordinary man who served with quiet dignity and integrity” and she drew attention to his historic role initiating the process that led to the Government’s apology to the New Zealand Chinese community for the discriminatory poll tax imposed on Chinese migrants between 1881 and 1944. He met personally with Prime Minister Helen Clark on the matter and delivered the apology acceptance speech in Parliament.

Weng Kei Chen of the Christchurch Multicultural Council described him as a “champion of ethnic issues in New Zealand”’ and said his vision was to make New Zealand a “place everyone could be proud to call home”.

Other high level tributes referred to Professor Goh as a “very significant human being” and that “the world was a better place for his life”. Professor Goh was foundation President of the NZ Federation of Ethnic Councils and a past President and Vice-President of the NZ Chinese Association.

Professor Goh came to New Zealand as a Colombo Plan Scholar in 1957. He was Senior Scholar in Agriculture at Massey University in 1961 and from there his pattern of academic dedication and achievement was set. In his subsequent career as a soil scientist and academic he went on to receive numerous top honours and awards, but he was always quiet, self-effacing and supportive of others.

He joined the staff at Lincoln College in 1971 and in his career at Lincoln was appointed Professor (Personal Chair) in Soil Science and, on retirement, Emeritus Professor. In 1999 he was made an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to soil science and the community. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Professor Goh retired from Lincoln University in 2008 but continued with international expert science consultancies, such as for the United Nations in Vienna, and academically in New Zealand as an assessor for the Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF). His work as a long-serving Justice of the Peace, also continued. Whilst a man of outstanding academic and public achievements, Kuan was also a devoted and loving husband and father, faithful colleague and loyal friend. (2015 Landforms)