Rajaratnam (Raj) Sundarason was born in Singapore on 3 July 1929. Sponsored by the Colombo Plan, he travelled to Australia in 1950 when he was 21 to study medicine at Melbourne University. Sadly it was at a time when there was a great deal of racial prejudice in the population and he and his fellow Asian students found it hard to find suitable accommodation. Eventually he managed to persuade the university to found a hostel where local and foreign students could live and share experiences. It opened in 1957 and was known as International House. He graduated from Melbourne in 1956 and did various house jobs before passing the fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 1964 and of the college in 1966. While in Melbourne he took on the task of vice-warden at the International House, helping to shape its future ethos and for 20 years from 1973 to 1993 he served on its council as an international member. On his return to Singapore, he was appointed consultant plastic surgeon and continued to practice almost all his life. At the University of Singapore he was a lecturer in general surgery. He helped to set up the Singapore Association of Plastic Surgeons and also the Singapore Society of Cosmetic (Aesthetic) Surgery and was an active member of both organisations. He died on 21 December 2017 aged 88 and was survived by his wife, Mary, five children and seven grandchildren.