George Hicks made a significant contribution to the understanding of the polities, societies and economies of Asia for most of his 89 years before passing away on 16th of November 2025. His complementary roles as an independent scholar, media commentator, and a philanthropist centred on exposing and challenging authoritarianism while defending and promoting social justice, human rights, and political pluralism. George’s intellect and compassion combined to shape research agendas, practically support other scholars and, at times, protect the politically persecuted.
George authored or edited more than a dozen books, most notably the groundbreaking The Comfort Women: Sex Slaves of the Japanese Imperial Forces (1995). Shortly after, he wrote Japan’s Hidden Apartheid: The Korean Minority and the Japanese (1997). George often assembled formidable teams of academics and public intellectuals to scrutinise significant conflicts in Asia. This resulted, for example, in The Broken Mirror: China After Tiananmen (1990). George’s opinion pieces and book reviews also featured in prominent newspapers and magazines including the International Herald Tribune, Asian Wall Street Journal, and the Far Eastern Economic Review.
Australian universities were among those to benefit from George’s philanthropy. This included Murdoch University’s Asia Research Centre which received generous funding to support two flagship projects in the 2000s: ‘Political Regimes and Governance in East and Southeast Asia’ and ‘New Modes of Governance in the Asia-Pacific.’ This support provided foundations for a wide range of influential publications and opportunities for emerging scholars. George also supported Monash University’s Monash Asia Institute. This included underwriting the project resulting in Jemma Purdey’s book From Vienna to Yogyakarta: The Life of Herb Feith (2011). Herb was a close friend of George’s.
Another beneficiary of George was the National Library of Singapore and the public users thereof. His voracious reading appetite and breadth of intellectual curiosity translated into The George Hicks Collection at the National Library in 2016. George never sought any public recognition for his deeds, which is why I was delighted Singapore’s National Library Board managed to persuade him otherwise on this occasion. This important and diverse collection encompasses works on Southeast Asia, China, Japan and the overseas Chinese.
George and his wife Julia lived for long periods in Hong Kong and subsequently Singapore, combined with frequent stints back at their Melbourne home, eventually re-settling there as proud and loving grandparents. By late 2021, though, George’s health began to deteriorate. His scholarly legacies not only include his written works, but also those of others whom he directly or indirectly supported. Importantly, George took neither Enlightenment values nor democracy for granted. This perspective is now in urgent need. Fundamentally, though, he led a consistent life of compassion and generosity, academia being just one of the beneficiaries.