Pun died on May 17 in Sydney, where he was often at Bersih Sydney gatherings and other events that attracted the diaspora of Malaysia, Singapore and the wider Southeast Asia.
Former Global Bersih president William de Cruz said Pun was a dedicated supporter of people and groups, standing up for the downtrodden, for justice and equality.
De Cruz said he saw Pun’s tough talk as a challenge to the listener to speak up, rebut, state their case, not just sit there whingeing, but to do something.
“He was an influential social justice advocate, who had dedicated a big part of his life to promoting multiculturalism in Australia.
“As founding president of the Chinese community council of Australia and other similar groups, he lit a path as illustrious as it was illuminating.
“The lives of many people are only the richer for having been touched by the big heart of the boy from Ipoh,” he said.
Pun moved to Australia from Malaysia in 1964 when he was 18.
After gaining a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of New South Wales, he became chief research scientist at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, serving in that role for 19 years.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he recorded the history of the Australian Malaysian Singaporean Association (AMSA), based on his recollections.
His passion for writing is reflected in 31 publications on blood transfusion, haematology survey, clinical laboratory computing and bone marrow transplantation.
In his long career in public life, he intersected with all shades of Australia’s Parliament and government, working with Labor prime ministers Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke, and Liberal prime minister John Howard.
He also served under Tony Abbott when he was health minister, on the Australian pharmaceutical advisory council.
In 1989, Pun came to public prominence when he lobbied Hawke to allow Chinese students to remain in Australia in the wake of the crackdown on student protests that led to the Tiananmen Square incident.
Hawke offered asylum to all Chinese people who were in Australia at the time.
Pun was also known to have had the ear of Whitlam and was at his side during the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties with China.
He served two terms as chair of the New South Wales (NSW) government’s ethnic communities council, and was a member of the federal government’s immigration review tribunal and the equal opportunity tribunal of NSW.
Pun is a three-time recipient of the NSW premier’s award for community service, spent nine years as an Australia Day Council ambassador, and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1997.
In his later years, Pun was a vocal peace advocate in the Chinese community, not afraid to wade into controversy.
In 2020, Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz caused a firestorm by demanding three young Chinese-Australians, appearing voluntarily before a committee hearing, to “unconditionally condemn” the Chinese government before giving evidence.
Pun joined federal parliamentarians, human rights activists, media commentators and ethnic community leaders in condemning Abetz as the trio in the fray defended themselves when bullied.
He wrote extensively for John Menadue’s public policy journal, Pearls and Irritations, and, until recently, wrote weekly opinion pieces for the benefit of ethnic community leaders nationwide.