Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam, or 'S S Ratnam' as he was known, was born in Ceylon on 4 July 1928. His father, Murugesu Sittampalam, was a civil servant in the government of Malaya. His mother was Ratneswari Chellappah. He was educated at the Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur, before going to the Univ

After qualifying MB BS in Sydney in 1957 Francis Khin-Yoong became resident medical officer at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney from 1957 to 1958; resident pathologist in 1959; demonstrator and lecturer in anatomy at the University of Sydney from 1959 to 1960 and surgical registrar at St Vin