# Ruth Kiew

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**Ruth Kiew** ( 14 April 1946 – 20 November 2025) was a Malaysian-British [botanist](/source/Botany) focused on Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo.[1][2][3] Kiew was the first woman to be awarded the David Fairchild Medal for plant exploration, by the [National Tropical Botanical Garden](/source/National_Tropical_Botanical_Garden), recognising her as "one of the world's great experts on tropical [begonias](/source/Begonia)" in 2002.[4] The standard [author abbreviation](/source/Author_citation_(botany)) **Kiew** is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[5]

## Early life and education

Ruth Evans was born in Cambridge on 14 April 1946, the daughter of two botanists both involved with [Cambridge University](/source/Cambridge_University), Jessie Margaret (nee Hadfield) Evans and [Clifford Evans](/source/Clifford_Evans_(ecologist)). Cambridge was the last British university to permit women to get a standard graduation, which occurred two years after Ruth Evans's birth, and it had inhibited her mother's (J. M. Evans) academic advancement. Consequently J. M. Evans, who became a biology teacher, was determined that her daughter should get the same opportunities that were open to male students. Ruth Evans took an undergraduate degree in psychology, which she later found to be "completely unscientific", before getting postgraduate qualifications in botany, and advancing to a doctorate in tropical plant taxonomy in 1972 under supervisor [E. J. H. Corner](/source/E._J._H._Corner),[1] with the requirement to complete a year of fieldwork in the tropics.[1][3]

## Career

With the encouragement of her father and her supervisor, Kiew started her fieldwork in Malaysia in 1969 under a [Leverhulme](/source/Leverhulme_Trust) scholarship.[3] She intended to stay for a year but ended up spending most of the rest of her life there, or in Singapore. She was an expeditionary researcher on [herbaceous plants](/source/Herbaceous_plant), at a time when it was not an area of interest to many other scientists.[1][3] She made at least two such expeditions a year, typically into Peninsular Malaysia or Borneo. Kiew described approximately 150 species, including Borneo's blue-capped [thismia](/source/Thismia) (*Thismia goodii*), and a perennial herb (*Ridleyandra chuana*),[6] found only in two small areas of Peninsular Malaysia's mountainous forests. This was one of five [Ridleyandra](/source/Ridleyandra) species identified by Kiew.[1][7] When later in 2002 she was awarded the David Fairchild medal by the National Tropical Botanical Garden, the equivalent of [Nobel Prize](/source/Nobel_Prize) in botany,[2] the director [Paul Cox](/source/Paul_Alan_Cox) called her the botanical equivalent of [Dian Fossey](/source/Dian_Fossey): "[Dr Kiew] is an expeditionary scientist who seeks to protect the biodiversity of the planet and conserve plants for generations to come."[1]

In 1976, Kiew became a lecturer at the [University of Putra Malaysia](/source/University_of_Putra_Malaysia), and at one point in time had to lecture to 1040 Mixed Diploma students simultaneously.[3] She was able to lecture in Malay to her students, and still maintained her fieldwork expeditions,[1] often together with her husband who studies frogs.[3]

From 1997 to 2005, Kiew served as the keeper of the herbarium of the [Singapore Botanic Gardens](/source/Singapore_Botanic_Gardens), during which time 6,000 herbarium types were logged and recorded.[1][3] The herbarium, which was in poor condition and did not have air conditioning before Kiew's arrival, saw major upgrades under her administration. She also conducted extensive sampling works for the herbarium in [Sabah](/source/Sabah) and [Sarawak](/source/Sarawak), often in collaboration with the forestry departments in those two states.[3]

In 2006, Kiew was recruited by Saw Leng Guan to join the editorial team of the book series *Flora of Peninsular Malaysia*, a series published by the [Forest Research Institute Malaysia](/source/Forest_Research_Institute_Malaysia) (FRIM). She was involved in the editing of *Series I: Ferns and Lycophytes* and *Series II: Seed Plants*. Kiew also worked as an editor for Volume Seven of the *Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak*.[3] She wrote natural history books for children to encourage their interest in the subject.[1]

In 2013, Kiew, together with a group of FRIM researchers, explored the limestone hills in [Merapoh](/source/Merapoh), which are at risk of development due to their unprotected status, and found numerous rare and endemic plants, including one previously undescribed species. Some of these finds include *Pararuellia sumatrana* var. *ridleyi*, *Rhynchoglossum obliqua*, *Pandanus irregularis*, *Spelaeanthus chinii*, *Zippelia begoniifolius*, *Monophyllaea musangensis*, *Tridynamia megalantha*, *Calciphilopteris alleniae*, and *Cleisostoma complicatum*.[8]

## Personal life and death

Soon after arriving in Malaysia in 1969 she met her future husband, Kiew Bong Heang,[9] a zoologist. They later divorced but she retained Kiew as her surname. She was the mother of a son and daughter,[1][2] Lisa Kiew and Nick Kiew.[9] She also has a brother and two grandchildren.[9] During her 56 years residence in Malaysia, she became a [Malaysian citizen](/source/Malaysian_nationality_law).[3][9] She was hospitalised several weeks before the lauch of her book *Flowers of Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia* on 2 November 2025, but was able to autographed 20 copies of the book from her bedside.[10] She died of cancer on 20 November 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, at the age of 79.[1][3][9]

## Publications

- *The State of Nature Conservation in Malaysia* (1991) ISBN 978-983-968-108-6
- *[Wild Plants of Ha Long Bay](https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2000-065.pdf) [Thực Vật Tự Nhiên ở Vịnh Hạ Long]* (2000)
- *Singapore Botanic Gardens : A Souvenir Guide* (2001) ISBN 978-981-306-548-2
- *Begonias of Peninsular Malaysia* (2005)[3] ISBN 983-812-086-3
- *A Guide to Begonias in Borneo* (2015)[3] ISBN 978-983-812-160-6
- *Batu Caves: Malaysia's Majestic Limestone Icon* (2020) ISBN 978-967-179-661-0
- *Flowers of Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia* (2025) ISBN 978-983-812-221-4

## References

1. ["Ruth Kiew, intrepid botanist who scoured the Malaysian jungle for herbaceous plants (obituary)"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/11/26/ruth-kiew-botanist-begonias-herbaceous-malaysia-jungle/). *[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*. 26 November 2025. p. 27. [ISSN 0307-1235](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0307-1235). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20251126085304/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/11/26/ruth-kiew-botanist-begonias-herbaceous-malaysia-jungle/) 26 November 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 November 2025.

1. Claudia Dreifus (4 June 2002). ["A CONVERSATION WITH: RUTH KIEW; Begonias and Beyond: A Voice For the Tropical Forests"](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/04/science/conversation-with-ruth-kiew-begonias-beyond-voice-for-tropical-forests.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140226042125/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/04/science/conversation-with-ruth-kiew-begonias-beyond-voice-for-tropical-forests.html) 26 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 January 2014.

1. 黄凤玲 (20 November 2025). ["【怀念】植物学家Ruth Kiew／翻越无数山林 守护植物生态 – 副刊 – 人物"](https://www.sinchew.com.my/news/20251120/supplement/6991369) (in Chinese). *Sin Chew Daily*. Retrieved 20 November 2025.

1. ["National Tropical Botanical Garden – awards"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130512170411/http://ntbg.org/programs/research-awards.php). [National Tropical Botanical Garden](/source/National_Tropical_Botanical_Garden). Archived from [the original](http://ntbg.org/programs/research-awards.php) on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.

1. ["Kiew, Ruth (1946-2025)"](https://www.ipni.org/a/13671-1). *International Plant Names Index (IPNI)*. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.

1. ["New Perennial Herb Species Found in Malaysia"](https://www.sci.news/biology/science-herb-new-species-malaysia-01216.html). *Sci.News*. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2025.

1. ["Ridleyandra: A. Weber & B. L. Burtt"](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1007550-1). *Plants of the World Online*. London: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250120055649/https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1007550-1) 20 January 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 November 2025.

1. Cheng Li, Tan (16 July 2013). ["Rare finds on outcrops"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150630111942/http://www.thestar.com.my/news/environment/2013/07/16/rare-finds-on-outcrops/). *The Star*. Archived from [the original](http://www.thestar.com.my/news/environment/2013/07/16/rare-finds-on-outcrops/) on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2025.

1. Nossiter, Adam (16 December 2025). ["Ruth Kiew Dies at 79; Botanist Made Discoveries in Remote Forests"](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/science/earth/ruth-kiew-dead.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. [Archived](https://archive.today/20251216194443/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/science/earth/ruth-kiew-dead.html#selection-637.0-637.13) 16 December 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 December 2025.

1. ["Dr Ruth Kiew"](https://www.facebook.com/chanchewlun/posts/pfbid02TuCJKHUCwMmwRAxFRGLCboreJdpBCs7JPDo7VVhLVeYcewauP4m9gPWASNd7KXtWl). *Chan Chew Lun*. 20 November 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.

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