Noordin Sopiee, one of Asia's great thinkers

Noordin Sopiee, chairman of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, died in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, close friends said. "It is with extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing away of ISIS Chairman and CEO, Tan Sri Dr. Noordin Sopiee. He died in hospital a few minutes ago," ISIS assistant director-general Philip Mathews said in a short e-mail sent out in the afternoon.

He was 61 years old.

Mathews said Noordin had been battling against cancer for some time. He died at Gleneagles hospital in Kuala Lumpur. His funeral will be held on Friday afternoon.

Asiaweek magazine described Noordin in a 1999 interview as a man who wore many hats, which probably understated his prominence.

He had become a regular feature in the speaking circuit, appearing in seminars and discussions in Malaysia, in ASEAN cities, and in various Asia-Pacific and international fora.

"He is one of the original ASEAN ISIS founders," Clara Juwono of Indonesia's Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said. "He is a very nice person and a great friend. It's really sad."

An economist by training -- he obtained his Ph.D in political science and international relations from the London School of Economics in 1972 -- Noordin served in various positions under then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, including as a director at the Malaysian Central Bank. He was a member of a crisis group established within the National Economic Action Council in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Besides being a close advisor to Mahathir, Noordin also wrote many speeches for the prime minister. A journalist in his younger days, he continued to write columns for many periodicals, and was the author of several books and a few hundred articles on economics, politics and strategic planning. -- JP