KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Some 150 people turned up at the Xiao En Centre, Cheras to bid a last goodbye to former MCA president Tan Sri Lee San Choon who died at home aged 87 last Friday.
Among those present were party veterans including current president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, deputy president Datuk Mah Hang Soon, and former president Tan Sri Tan Koon Swan.
Also present were representatives from the Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT) and the Malaysian Chinese Cultural Society.
Tributes poured in as friends and family members shared their memories about the MCA’s fourth president who led the party through three general elections, with the most successful being the 1982 general election.
San Choon was also remembered for building the party’s current headquarters on Jalan Ampang in the national capital here and funding the construction of Tunku Abdul Rahman College, as well as establishing the Malaysian Chinese Cultural Society.
Those who attended remembered him as a private and humble person.
“His work and his career may have been extremely public, but he never carried them home because he was concerned that it would saddle his wife and kids with such political burdens.
“That was the man he was,” said his son Lee Kwan Por.
“For a long while I wondered why my interests were so different from his, but on reflection I think there was more of his principle that he used to bring up on me and my sister.
“Then we realise my work on human rights and democratic governance and my sister passion for animal rights may at first glance have nothing to do with our father careers in politics,
“But in some way I feel there are things he quietly approves of,” Kwan Por added.
Wee said San Choon’s death was a big loss to MCA and to Malaysia.
He recalled San Choon’s contribution to the political, cultural, and educational development of Chinese Malaysians.
“He is an instrumental leader that has helped the educational and cultural development of our youth and ethnic Chinese community.
“He also helped to strengthen the economy in the 1970s and these are the things that would make us remember him always,” Wee added.
A funeral entourage carrying San Choon’s body left for the Xiao En Memorial Park in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan around noon.
