He turned these disciplines, with their limits and absolutes, into something noble and superior.

Medicine and sport for the accomplished anaesthesiologist, emeritus professor and former Malaysia cricket captain was a vehicle of expression and emotion.

Malaysians have plenty of reasons to thank him; as does medicine, for which he was a wicket keeper of ethics, and cricket, in which he touched all the senses.

Mainly, this had to do with his character, the irresistible Alex-ness of Alex.

Delilkan became public property at a young age and remained so to the end.

On his 88th birthday on Feb 12, 2022, he quit teaching critical care at medical schools but continued to share his knowledge on his two loves.

Since first representing St Joseph’s Institution, Singapore, in cricket at 12 in 1946, he devoted himself to his sport as batsman and bowler for possibly longer than anyone in Malaysian history, retiring in 1978.

Delilkan, whose father had come from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to settle in Singapore was a storyteller to his bones.

With an unblinking perspective and wisdom, he spoke boldly through all of his 16 books on critical healthcare and two on local cricket.

Without fear or regret

In 1962, Delilkan refused to be part of whipping of an inmate at the Penang Prison, considering such a sentence “torture” and in contravention of medical ethics.

The inmate was given three of the 10 court-ordered strokes of the rotan, and the prison officers wanted the doctor, then 28, to attest that the lawbreaker was fit to receive further strokes.

When he refused, they reported him to his superiors and he was reprimanded.

He stuck with his decision that doctors were there to cure and save lives, not help kill or help mete corporal punishment to fellow human beings.

The experience encouraged him to write books and papers on medical ethical issues, and caring for the critically ill and dying.

He drew criticism for his belief that when death is imminent, dying with dignity is preferable to prolonging poor quality of life with valiant medical procedures unless there was a good chance of full recovery.

As a first-year freshie at University of Malaya in Singapore in 1953, he was forced to write an article in the campus newspaper as part of ragging.

His piece, headlined “University Malaya the graveyard of sportsmen’, traced the aborted careers of some sports stars of yesteryear.

They had either given up sports and completed their courses, or failed their exams and had to leave the university to continue their damaged sporting careers with sporadic success.

He argued there were precious few who had maintained their sporting careers and completed their tertiary education.

Delilkan was hauled up by the vice-chancellor’s office and warned that if he expressed such views again, he would be expelled from the university.

He never regretted what he did because, according to him, they were all for a good cause.

In his 2020 book, “The Conjoined Careers – Scholastic and Sports”, he touched on the lack of meritocracy in sports and medical academia.

He said political divisions have especially weakened and undermined the development of sport in Malaysia. “Hopefully my memoirs will be a cry to bring back meritocracy.”

Some clinical and sporting milestones

In 1981, he led the anaesthetic team in the first successful separation of conjoined twins in Malaysia.

Eleven doctors – five general surgeons, two orthopaedic surgeons and four anaesthesiologists, were involved in the eight-hour session at University Hospital, Petaling Jaya.

Fifteen years later, Delilkan led his team in Malaysia’s first successful caesarean delivery of quintuplets.

In 1967, he helped set up critical care services at the same hospital (now University Malaya Medical Centre) , which was the first teaching hospital in the country.

He was also instrumental in designing and writing the blueprint for postgraduate training and certification in anaesthesiology in Malaysia.

In cricket, he made headlines for an amazing feat in 1964: he cleaned bowled Gary Sobers, then the world’s greatest all-rounder first ball at the Kuala Lumpur Padang, shocking the crowd.

Sobers, who came down with E W Swanton’s Commonwealth XI, made up for that jolt by taking the new ball and captured five consecutive wickets.

The West Indian returned in 1984 for a friendly match and, when interviewed by then sportswriter R Nadeswaran, jokingly remarked: “I hope he (Delilkan) will not spoil things this time.”

Delilkan, who had quit playing competitive cricket six years earlier, was not invited to play for the Royal Selangor Club against Sobers’ Negeri Sembilan Yang di-Pertuan Besar’s XI although some of his contemporaries from the 1964 match played.

For all his successes in the operating theatre and the cricket pitch, it is ironic that Delilkan is best remembered for that one glorious moment.

He was no one-ball wonder. As an exponent of leg spin, his victims included Rohan Kanhai and Seymour Nurse of the West Indies (both thrice), England’s Basil D’Oliveira (twice) and India’s Nawab of Pataudi (twice).

Delilkan sometimes exhibited annoyance at the constant harping back to the Sobers moment as the only thing about his cricket career worth remembering.

He appeared most proud of the fact he captained the All-Malaya (Federation of Malaya and Singapore) team in 1959 while still an undergraduate.

Delilkan’s disciples

There is a group of supporters called Delilkan’s Disciples in Critical Care, and there are his ex-patients who have remained eternally grateful to him.

Delilkan wrote: “I’ve had people come and kiss my feet because after long periods of not being able to sleep due to pain, they were helped.”

He related the story of a 12-year-old boy who went flying from his father’s motorcycle and hit a lamppost, without a helmet.

“We managed to stabilise the brain. This boy used to be very bright.

“After his recovery, I brought him to a conference and someone asked him, ‘You used to be first in your class, how are you doing now?’

“The boy replied slowly, ‘Well, I’m not doing so well now, I’m second.’”

Delilkan shunned private practice despite the lure of big money, preferring to remain in teaching, and to impart his knowledge to his students, many of whom are now successful anaesthesiologists.

His son Rienzie said: “Our dad, with the help and love of mum, achieved so much and taught us to love and serve the community.

“He always encouraged us to help people irrespective of race, religion or colour. He was a man of principle and was always looking for continuous improvement.

“He most importantly was, is and will always be a part of our lives, and his legacy will be evidenced in all the lives he has made an impact on.”

Alexius Ernald Delilkan is survived by his wife Prabha, three daughters and a son, and five grandchildren.

The final rites will be at 10am today at Bliss Garden, Jalan Setia Makmur U14/49, Section 14 in Shah Alam.