GEORGE TOWN – Penang’s 97-year-old heritage icon Ong Liang Ching died of old age on Monday.
Also known as the state’s “chemical brother” for running a shop selling hard-to-find noxious chemicals used by yachties, Ong was reputedly also the country’s first chemist.
He ran his business as one of the fledgling outstanding universal value shops in the heritage enclave of George Town, making him one of the Unesco world heritage site’s most famous resident.
Ong’s shop, Liangtraco, sits along Chulia Street.
While tourists tend to visit Penang for its architecture, food and culture, Liangtraco is firmly on the tourist map as well, not only because it is featured in guidebooks as a must-see attraction, but because it is the dream of every little kid with a chemistry set.
The shop stocks numerous substances, from eucalyptus oil, sulphuric acid, iodine and solvents to chlorine.
Social activist Andrew Han shared a short film of the nonagenarian by documentary maker Ryan Anders and Oxlaey Media, in which Ong speaks of his determination to keep his craft and technical know-how of chemicals alive despite the rise of bigger firms.
Han said the film came about as gentrification began to affect heritage areas. With the repeal of the Rent Control Act, many of the working class here, including Ong, relocated to the mainland or other parts of the island to escape higher living costs.
With Covid-19 inflicting damage on the Penang economy, the heritage area is now devoid of activities and kept alive only online by George Town World Heritage Inc.
Besides Ong, Penang also lost its top consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Island Hospital on Friday.
Dr Seow Eng Lok, 53, died from burns sustained after a gas cylinder blew up in a freak incident at his home.
He suffered 95% burns and, despite frantic attempts by his colleagues to save him, he died in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
He is remembered for his efforts to transform the hospital into one of the region’s leading private healthcare facilities.
Dr Seow also had a huge following of patients in Indonesia.
The deaths of these two luminaries come days after Datuk Kee Phaik Cheen, one of Penang’s most charismatic personalities in the tourism and arts sector, lost her battle to Covid-19. She was 74. – The Vibes, August 11, 2021
