Born and brought up in Penang, Professor Boey graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the University of London in 1987. Until 1992, he worked in various hospitals in the United Kingdom, including children’s hospitals such as the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children in London and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. During this period, he obtained his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom and Diploma in Child Health from the Royal College of Physicians of London. Upon returning to Malaysia, he was appointed a lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya on March 16th, 1992.   In addition to providing service and teaching in general paediatrics at the University of Malaya Medical Centre,  he also started the Unit of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition in the Paediatric Department in January, 1993 as the head of unit and its only staff. The unit now has a team of three staff specialists and is recognised nationally as a centre of excellence for this subspecialty, receiving referrals from hospitals and clinics throughout Malaysia. In 1996-97, Professor Boey was Visiting Fellow in paediatric gastroenterology in Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. In March 2000, he was awarded ‘The Young Clinician’s Award’ by the Asian Pacific Association of Gastroenterology and