As a young medical student in postwar Malaya, Dr. Ronald McCoy read John Hersey’s “Hiroshima,” a 1946 report published in The New Yorker detailing the consequences of the atomic bomb through the eyes of six people.
These shocking accounts shook him deeply, but he didn’t know methods to prevent such great devastation in the longer term.
“I didn’t think I could do anything about it,” Dr McCoy told The Straits Times.
But he was there.
Decades later, Dr. McCoy heard about IPPNW, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and joined the organization. Years of campaigning to eliminate nuclear weapons led the retired obstetrician to found the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican) 10 years ago.
On October 6, Ican was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, after the United Nations announced in July that 122 countries had signed an agreement to completely ban nuclear weapons.
The first of its kind, the UN treaty is legally binding and enters into force once 50 nations have ratified it. Nine nuclear-armed states and their allies were absent from the negotiations, with the Netherlands voting against and Singapore abstaining.
“A lot of people in the world don’t understand the consequences of nuclear war,” Dr McCoy said in an interview at his home in Petaling Jaya.
“There is a sense that regardless of what they do, nuclear weapons won’t be disarmed. But if there may be a human problem, there may be actually a human solution.”
Dr McCoy said the creation of Ican stemmed from the failure of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2005, which resulted in no agreed plan of motion.
“It was like barking up the wrong tree… So I said, ‘Let’s take nuclear disarmament out of the NPT process, which wasn’t working, and create an international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons.’ That’s how we got Ican.”
Dr. McCoy, an lively 87-year-old, has a distinguished profession, having delivered greater than 20,000 babies during his 40 years as a health care provider in Malaysia.
As he watched over expectant moms and their children, Dr. McCoy couldn’t shake his sense of responsibility for youngsters growing up in a world where nuclear weapons existed.
“This child now lives in a world full of nuclear weapons and the threat of nuclear war… In my view, I have an expanded responsibility to do something about it,” he said.
He added: “As doctors, we can’t do anything in a nuclear war… Nuclear disarmament is a kind of preventive medicine.”
Dr McCoy said nuclear-weapon states cannot claim deterrence as a pretext to justify possessing such destructive weapons.
“You can’t rely on deterrence forever because one day an accident might happen,” he said.
Dr. McCoy believes the trail to eliminating nuclear weapons must run through the country with probably the most nuclear weapons, the United States.
“If the U.S. gives up this, other nuclear states will surrender their nuclear weapons. Change has to come back from the U.S. side.”
Despite her age, Dr. McCoy continues to push the envelope. While she spends her days answering emails and reading news and reports on nuclear disarmament, she maintains her health by doing light exercises at home.
Dr McCoy, whose father was a civil servant with the Malayan Railways, grew up in Kuala Lumpur.
It was a five-minute walk from his home to his primary school in Pudu, Kuala Lumpur’s old quarter; he then cycled every day to the distinguished all-boys secondary school, Victoria Institution.
Dr. McCoy, who’s of English and Indian descent, said many individuals are surprised to learn he’s Malaysian. “Maybe it’s my name and the color of my skin. So I would say, “I am 200 percent Malaysian”– he said jokingly.
Although he believes that abolishing nuclear weapons shall be a “difficult path”, the cheerful and joyful grandfather of 4 is optimistic that nuclear disarmament is feasible.
Even more so after the adoption by the UN of a treaty banning nuclear weapons.
“You should have heard the roar in the room when they announced it!” he exclaimed.
“When we get to zero nuclear power, I’ll be gone. But leave me a forwarded message, and wherever I am, I’ll celebrate,” he said with a smile.
The Nobel Peace Prize shall be awarded in Oslo, Norway, on December 10. Dr. McCoy shall be present on the ceremony.
When asked if he could give any advice to the younger generation, he replied, “Love your neighbors. What could be more needed today?”
Source : Strait Times
