While I was in Kelantan with ethnobotany students, my hp was beeping with sms from many friends informing me of the demise of my good friend Dr Manokaran of FRIM. I didn't know circumstances of his death until the next day when I read the Star.
Mano with Dr Nik of FRIM while participating in COP7 in Kuala Lumpur I have known Dr Mano when he and Dato Zakri A Hamid were busy negotiating agreements in the CBD as a delegation from Malaysia. He later chaired the Clearing House Mechanism Committee in which I was one of the consulting members.
Although I have not met him for some time since his retirement from FRIM, I remember him well as a good friend from FRIM. And the champion of Biodiversity. I will surely miss him.
Adios, Mano !
This is a report by the Star (25 Feb 2007):
Biodiversity expert found dead
KUALA LUMPUR: Leading biodiversity expert Dr Manokaran Navaratnam (pic) was found dead at the Bukit Kiara Park here yesterday morning.
Dr Manokaran, who would have turned 61 on March 1, was believed to have collapsed while jogging at about 6.30am.
Police said Dr Manokaran was found in thick undergrowth by a rubbertapper who was passing by the area.
Dr Manokaran was formerly with the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia before being made a consultant with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.
