Tan Sri Leslie Clifford Bateman (12 March 1915 – 26 October 2005) was the last non- citizen of Malaysia to be appointed to any establishment connected to the government of

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, as the Controller of Rubber Research in 1962. Bateman was a strong proponent of grading

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

, and pushed for the introduction of the process into the Malaysian rubber industry as the Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) scheme. He believed this was the only way natural rubber could survive against the

synthetic rubber A synthetic rubber is an artificial elastomer. They are polymers synthesized from petroleum byproducts. About of rubber is produced annually in the United States, and of that amount two thirds are synthetic. Synthetic rubber, just like natural ru ...

products introduced during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Bateman received his early education from

Bishopshalt School Bishopshalt School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status based in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It has specialisations in music and the performing arts. Between 2013 and 2014, the school was used for scenes in the BBC si ...

, Uxbridge, and went on to the

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where he received a First class Honours degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

in 1935. He went on to earn a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

and win the Ramsay Memorial Prize for best student of the year. During his life, Bateman wrote a total of 70 papers on natural rubber, mostly dealing with

oxidation Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

and sulphuration reactions. During World War II Bateman devised rubber hoses that could handle

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

, and later joined the

British Rubber Producers Research Association The Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre, originally known as the British Rubber Producers' Research Association, carries out research into rubber and is funded by the Malaysian government. Early years: as the British Rubber Producers Research Associa ...

as a physical chemist. He became the association's director of research in 1954. In 1962, he was appointed as the Controller of Rubber Research and the chairman of the Malayan Rubber Fund Board. Batesman left these postings in 1974 and became the secretary-general of the International Rubber Study Group in 1975. In Mar 1968 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

He retired in 1983, and suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in 2002. He died on 26 October 2005, and was eulogised in an

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

placed in the

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based ''The Straits Ti ...

by the director-general and staff of the Malaysian Rubber Board.

References

* Manavalan, Theresa (6 November 2005). "Bateman bet on rubber and won". ''

New Sunday Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as a local offshoot of Singapore-based ''The Straits Ti ...

'', p. F5. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bateman, Leslie Clifford 1915 births 2005 deaths Malaysian civil servants Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of University College London British expatriates in Malaysia Rubber industry in Malaysia 20th-century British chemists