GEORGE TOWN – Datuk Kee Phaik Cheen, one of Penang’s most charismatic personalities in the tourism and arts sector, has died of Covid-19. She was 74.
The former Gerakan leader and her husband, Dr Choong Sim Poey, tested positive for the virus in late June and were hospitalised along with their two maids, who were also infected.
It is believed that the couple caught the coronavirus from a maid at their home in Lengkok Jesselton.
Gerakan veteran Wong Mun Hoe, a former assistant to Kee, confirmed her death to The Vibes.
Kee had been hospitalised at Gleneagles Medical Centre over the last few weeks.
In a heartfelt message on social media, Dr Choong said his wife died peacefully at 2.40pm.
“I was holding her hands in her last hour. None of the drugs or machines could help her.
“I talked to her and told her of the hundreds of friends who wished her well. My last hug represents all of you who called.
“We had a 45-year journey together that ended too soon. Told her that our memories will never die.”
Dr Choong said their children, Chiren and Chiying, spoke to their mother before she breathed her last.
In the 1986 general election, Kee won the Batu Uban state seat, becoming part of the Penang government under then chief minister Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu. She held the seat until her retirement from legislative politics in 2004.
With her bubbly and energetic personality, her profile was significantly raised when she was appointed state exco in charge of tourism, culture and arts in 1990, a portfolio that she held until 2004. She was also in charge of women’s affairs in the executive council.
Kee’s tenure saw Penang’s arts and culture groups receiving significant support through a number of government councils and committees she headed.
Most notably, she conceived and led the Penang-YTL Arts Festival that ran for many years, providing an unprecedented government-supported platform for local groups to be exposed to bigger audiences while getting a boost to raise their standards.
She was later appointed chair of the Penang Tourism Action Council and made Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board deputy chair.
She was also devoted to her alma mater Methodist Girls’ School, and was chairman of its board of governors and managers since 2010. – The Vibes, August 4, 2021
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