In Memoriam - John Miksic October 27, 2025 17:42

NUS Press mourns the passing of John Miksic, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at NUS.

A defining presence in the study of Southeast Asian archaeology, Prof Miksic first came to Singapore in 1968 as part of the Peace Corps in Kedah, Malaysia, and spent most of his life since then in Southeast Asia. In 1987, he moved to Singapore, where he joined NUS History and played a key role in establishing the Southeast Asian Studies Programme in 1991. He was awarded the Public Service Medal by the Government of Singapore in 2023 for his contributions to the nation.

With NUS Press, he edited Earthenware in Southeast Asia (2003) and Philippine Ancestral Gold (2012), and authored Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800 (2013) which won the inaugural S$50,000 Singapore History Prize in 2018. He edited and also wrote a number of archaeological site reports for NUS Press' Open Access Southeast Asian Archaeological Site Reports website, including on the Singapore Cricket Club excavation in 2003 and the Fort Canning Dig in 2018.

His research has redefined the understanding of the cultural history of pre- and early historic Southeast Asia, and dismantled the belief that Singapore’s history began in 1819. We extend our sincere condolences to John's family, friends, and colleagues in Singapore, Southeast Asia, and around the world. He will be deeply missed.

Straits Times article on the Archaeological Site Reports website featuring (left to right) Goh Geok Yian, John Miksic and NUS Press Director Peter Schoppert.

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Further reading

  1. Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800

  2. Site Report on Banten

    A paper by John N. Miksic on the history and archaeology of Banten, an important early Islamic port in western Java, Indonesia, with a comprehensive survey of the various excavations in the urban area, from 1976 through the 1990s. Presented at the Singapura Before Raffles conference in Singapore in 2019.

Photo by John Miksic showing an artificial meditation cave at Banten Girang overlooking the Banten River.