Roland Koh

Roland Koh
Born1908 or 1909
Sandakan, British North Borneo
Died (aged 63)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
NationalityMalaysian
OccupationClergyman in the Anglican Church
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese許碧章
Simplified Chinese许碧章[1]
Hanyu PinyinXǔ Bìzhāng
Hokkien POJKhó͘ Phek-chiang

Tan Sri Roland Koh Peck Chiang (c. 1909 – 6 October 1972) was a Malaysian clergyman in the Anglican Church.[2] He was the second Bishop of Sabah from 1965 until 1970,[3] and then the first Bishop of West Malaysia from 1970 until his death.[4]

Koh was the son of Koh Kim Hin and Anne Tan-Koh.[5] He was born into a Buddhist family in Sandakan in what was then British North Borneo (now the Malaysian state of Sabah).[4][2] He became a Christian as a student.[4]

Koh trained for ordination at the Union Theological College, Canton (now Guangzhou) and was ordained in 1941.[6] He remained at the college as a lecturer, before taking a brief incumbency for a year in Kwangtung (now Guangdong).[6] He was Vicar of St Mary's, Hong Kong from 1947 to 1954, and then Priest-in-Charge of St Mary's Chinese Church, Kuala Lumpur, from 1954 until he was raised to the episcopacy in 1958.[6]

His first episcopal appointment was as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Singapore.[6] He was appointed as Bishop of Sabah in 1965, and translated to the newly created Diocese of West Malaysia in 1970.[4]

He was President of the Council of Churches of Malaysia in 1962 and again in 1968 and 1969.[7]

He died in 1972, of a stroke, while visiting the United States.[4]

  1. ^ "全力以赴•持续收割 （待续）" (PDF). Anglican Messenger. Vol. 1. Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia. December 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Anglican Bishop Roland Koh dies in the US". The Straits Times. 10 October 1972. p. 15 – via National Library of Singapore. The Anglican Bishop of West Malaysia, Tan Sri Roland Koh Peck Chiang, died on Saturday in Philadelphia. He was 63.
  3. ^ "Anglican Diocese of Sabah: Our Bishops". Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Bishop Roland Koh". Church Times. 20 October 1972. p. 2. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  5. ^ The Straits Times, 25 August 1966, Page 10
  6. ^ a b c d "Chinese Assistant Bishop for Singapore". Church Times. 21 March 1958. p. 7. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Council of Churches of Malaysia: History". Retrieved 20 March 2021.