Martin Khor

Martin Khor Kok Peng (November 9, 1951 – 1 April 2020)[2][1][3] was the executive director of the South Centre, an intergovernmental organisation of developing countries based in Geneva, from 1 March 2009 to 2018. He replaced Dr. Yash Tandon who was the executive director of the South Centre from 2005 to 2009. Khor was also a journalist, economist and the former Director of the Third World Network, which is based in Penang, Malaysia.

Martin Khor
Khor in 2013
Member of the UN Secretary General
In office
1997 – April 1, 2020
Succeeded bypending
Executive Director of South Centre (organization)
In office
March 1, 2009 – July 1, 2018
Preceded byYash Tandon
Succeeded byCarlos María Correa
Personal details
Born
Martin Khor Kok Peng[1]

November 9, 1951
Penang, Malaysia
DiedApril 1, 2020(2020-04-01) (aged 68)
Penang, Malaysia
Cause of deathComplications of cancer
Resting placeMount Erskine
Children1
EducationCambridge University
Universiti Sains of Malaysia
Martin Khor (2012)

Khor was born in Penang, Malaysia. He was active in the civil society movement and attended the 1999 and 2000 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, the World Social Forum (WSF 2002, 2003) and the European social forum (2004).[4]

He was also, from 1997, a member of the UN Secretary-General's Task Force on Environment and Human Settlements, and a member of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry's National Committee on Multilateral Trade Issues in Malaysia.[5] He was a Vice-Chair of the Working Group of Experts on the Right to Development under the UN Commission on Human Rights.[6]

He also participated in the Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy.[7]

Khor sat on the board of directors of the International Forum on Globalization.[8]

Khor was also a long-standing columnist for The Star newspaper from 1978 to 2019.[9][1]

He was trained as an economist at the University of Cambridge and Universiti Sains of Malaysia. [10][11]

Illness and death

In 2015, Khor was diagnosed with cancer and returned to his hometown, Penang, to fight it. He succumbed to it on the 1st of April 2020. His wake was held at the Mount Erskine funeral parlour and his funeral was held the next day at the same location under Covid restrictions. He was survived by a wife and a daughter. Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan paid tribute to him.[1][2][10][12]

Quotes
  • about the WSF: "That is a new global relationship between countries that promote the weak rather than the strong"

WSF 2003

  • about the patent system and intellectual property in general: "One of the solutions is finding ways to promote innovation and to reward good work without necessarily using the intellectual property system, because it may not be the right system to provide rewards all the time."

Scenarios for the future

Selected works

References
  1. Trisha, N (April 1, 2020). "Former Third World Network director Martin Khor dies of cancer (updated)". The Star. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  2. Dermawan, Audrey (April 1, 2020). "Condolences pour in for late Martin Khor". New Straits Times. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  3. "Martin Khor - Library of Congress". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  4. Bach, Amandine. "The third European Social Forum, 14-17 October 2004, London". Archived from the original on February 28, 2005.
  5. Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy Members Archived 2007-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "How can Financial Crises be Prevented? In Focus: Financial Market Regulations". Archived from the original on 2007-12-11. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  7. "Mobilising political will - Report from the Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy". Archived from the original on 2007-06-22.
  8. "Staff & Board of Directors". ifg.org. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  9. Jin, Soo EwE (January 30, 2010). "Up close & personal with Martin Khor". Star Publications. Archived from the original on February 3, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  10. Singh, Sarban (April 2, 2020). "Tok Mat pays tribute to civil society advocate Martin Khor". The Star. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  11. "Martin Khor Memoriam" (PDF). South Centre. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  12. "Welcome to Third World Network". Archived from the original on 2020-04-08. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
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