Austin Coates

Coates was a RAF Intelligence officer in World War II, and his service in Burma, India, Singapore and Malaysia was his first time in the Far East.

In 1949, he joined the Colonial Service and occupied civil positions in Hong Kong and Malaysia before retiring in 1962 to become a full-time writer.

[2] Coates' first aspirations were towards acting, much like his mother, and he spent two years training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

[3] Through his World War II service in RAF Intelligence, Coates went to Burma, India, Singapore and Malaysia.

[5][7] Unlike the previous biographies, Coates aimed to show how Rizal's life would be of interest to non-Filipino readers.

[3][5] The Filipino writer F. Sionil José declared it the best,[5] while the public historian Ambeth Ocampo wrote that it "is cited for its readability and insight into Rizal that eluded earlier biographers.

"[8]Coates was the guest of many prominent Asians, among them the Tagore family, the Indian painter Jamini Roy and Mahatma Gandhi.

[citation needed] His book, City of Broken Promises was made into an extremely successful musical for the Hong Kong Art Festival in 1978.