GEORGE TOWN - An entire newsroom would light up when the late Ronnie Oh Hoon Chneh walked in with his infectious smile and friendly demeanour to all around him.
Oh passed away in the pre-dawn hours yesterday due to a lung ailment, leaving many colleagues - past and present - to mourn the loss of the veteran sports journalist, whose passion was mostly covering football.
Everyone who passed through the newsroom would be greeted with Oh's hello and a huge smile, an indelible mark which Oh, aged, 67, left on both his colleagues and the persons, whom he had interviewed for his sports pieces.
Oh passed away around 3am at his home in Island Park, leaving behind his wife, two children and a granddaughter.
Just like his father before him - Oh Kee Tiang, who retired as a news editor - Oh spent his entire career with The Star newspaper in Penang, writing anything and everything about the world of sports in the northern region.
His partner- in-sports Chuah Yew Khoon, a retired photographer, spent close to 30 years, covering football matches with Oh.
While reminiscing, Chuah spoke highly of the caring nature of Oh before cutting short the conversation as he got emotional.
Another former colleague K.H. Ong, who is now with the state bulletin, Bulletin Mutiara, said that Oh was passionate about football and his highlight was interviewing England great Kevin Keegan and Brazilian legend Ronaldo.
Oh also covered the 2006 World Cup quarter-final match between giants Argentina and Germany while the domestic highlights were the Southeast Asia (SEA) Games and the Commonwealth Games in 1998 where the "Malaysia Boleh" slogan was well heard.
He was also particularly close to the former Penang coach Moey Yok Ham, who passed away last December.
The relationship was festered when Moey built up a formidable team with minimum funding from the Penang Football Association in the 1990s.
Others who paid tribute were Oh's former editor Ng Weng Tuck and the paper's current assistant news editor Tan Sin Chow, as well as another veteran Dorairaj Nadason.
His wake is at United Hokkien Cemeteries in Paya Terubong while the final rites will be held at 11am on Monday. - The Vibes, September 19, 2021
