by KT Leong
The world lost a staunch advocate for interfaith dialogue with the passing of Joachim Ng Sye Pink (1948 – 2026), at the age of 77.
A veteran interfaith researcher and science enthusiast, Joachim Ng had acquired over 5 decades of research experience in studying the world’s scriptures and harmonising them with the latest scholarly findings in many disciplines, especially science and spirituality.
In addition, he was a regular columnist with two newspapers, Ipoh Echo where he wrote on environmental, sociopolitical and governance issues under the Connexion column; and the Sun where he demonstrated the interconnectedness of science, religion and spirituality under the Connecting Faiths column.
A Master’s degree holder from the University of Hull, UK, he is a former chairman of the Interfaith Spiritual Fellowship and the recipient of an Ambassador for Peace award conferred by the Universal Peace Federation.
In the 1980s, he penned a weekly interfaith column that won him a Promotion of Unity award from the Malaysian Press Institute. In addition to authoring many books, such as the “Great Paradigm Shift”, “A New Malaysia: Beyond Race, Politics and Religion” as well as “The Path to Right Living”, he has delivered papers on spirituality at international conferences held in New York, Los Angeles, Seoul, Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and Assisi near Rome.
His book, “Slay Your I-dentity And Find The Real You” is a gutsy motivational undertaking that Joachim’s erstwhile schoolmate at St. Michael’s Institution Ipoh, Ignatius Chew, supported to help Malaysians accomplish a pivotal breakthrough in their endeavour to overcome the viciously divisive partisan forces of race, culture, religion, ego, and politics that unsettles our minds and destroys our future.
From its preface:
“This book dispels the exclusivist claims that amongst so many religions in the world, you must believe that there is only one right way, for the other paths lie outside the circle of salvation, or at best they straddle truth and falsehood, like persons who stand with one leg in the light and one leg in the dark. Old-school faith leaders proclaim that scripture has ordained an exclusive way: you can only find it here, and not there. But why let the old school push us into such tight corners of egocentrism and warfare?”
“Any religion, to be true, must be inclusive rather than exclusive. Every faith has to become interfaith in our globalized environment, or else it risks being marginalized as science marshals up increasingly powerful and irrefutable evidence in support of verifiable certainties. The frank truth is that religion needs to be liberated from the intolerant power of King Ego. Only when religion is thus set free can it fulfill its role to liberate humanity.”
A brilliant mind, a champion of peace, and a proud son of Ipoh, Joachim Ng’s lifetime of work stands as an enduring antidote to division. He is survived by a loving family, a global network of peers who carry forward his mission of interfaith harmony and the publications to which he was a frequent and reliable contributor for. We express our deepest gratitude and respect for him and condolences for his family.
