It came as a shock for we had planned to meet up in May after a lapse of more than 20 years. He lived in Penang while I’m in Sabah across the South China Sea.
I first got to know him when I was in form 2 in Kuala Lumpur. He used to board with our family for dinner as he was from outstation. He became part of our family and would help out in all our chores, from scrubbing floors to washing down the walls of our little wooden house.
He used to teach me mathematics, my weakest subject. He was the one who introduced me to football. I remember we walked from Imbi Road to the Merdeka Stadium to watch football matches in the evenings. He was the older brother I never had.
He was working in the University of Malaya library as a librarian and it was he who phoned me to tell me of my final year results. I can never forget this incident.
“You’re kidding!! I don’t believe you!”
“Serious! I won’t play the fool about this kind of thing. Come and see for yourself.”
I believed I had done very badly as my mind was a complete blank when I sat for one of my papers in English Literature. When I looked at the results pinned up on the notice board, he was vindicated and I was elated. A second class upper is not something to scoff at when your major is English.
He was later transferred to the University Science Malaya in Penang as the Librarian in charge and he made his home there. He had three children, two sons and a daughter. The daughter is domiciled in the USA while his eldest son is an architect based in Penang. His middle child passed away from medical complications.
My family and I stayed in his house when we visited Penang a long, long time ago. When he came to Sabah, he stayed in our house and I drove him up to Mt Kinabalu on a drizzly day.
A kind, gentle and caring soul has left us. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word. Never did a harsh word come out of his mouth. The pictures his son posted on Facebook showed the countries both of them travelled to and Bali was their last holiday destination, before he departed so suddenly, just days after. They were very happy pictures of father and son together with friends.
Rest in peace, Lim Chee Hong. So sad that you left before May. Had been looking forward to meeting up. Thank you for the happy memories that will be cherished always.
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