From Penang to Edinburgh and back!

Enough have been said about how great a leader he has been and how the nation is losing a pragmatic leader who led a state after a turmoil (May 13 racial riots and losing free port status) and help to put Penang on the semi-conductor map of the world . For heaven's sake this guy has been out of the limelight of politics for the past 20 years. I guess the citizens of the state of Penang, at least, are not sorely losing him. As usual people will say niceties, pay last respects, carry on with life and past leaders where they deserve to be - in the History books and let the future generation be judge on the past leaders' good and bad!

The Man in the middle

At least I can boldly say that I share two things in common with Dr Lim Chong Eu, i.e. Penang Free School is our alma mater and we spent some time in Edinburgh (of course at different times). Chong Eu studied in PFS in the late 1930s. He must have been an exemplary student who must have excelled both academically as well as extra curricular activities and the extra charisma to have obtained the much coveted Queen's scholarship offered by the British Empire to study medicine in Edinburgh University, the same place his father had studied.
Besides these brilliant traits, we must also respect his quality of standing on what he believes is the right way to go. Leading the biggest Chinese party in Malaya, he left the party after some disagreement on certain policies of the ruling Government at that time to form a splinter party which eventually rocked the boat of the Alliance party and its own way contributed to the racial riots.
He acquired Penang in a dismal condition after losing its free port status and high unemployment rate. Having the foresight to develop Penang, he brought FDI in droves.
After losing the elections in 1990, as a gentleman who knows when he is not welcome any more, he bowed gracefully from the lime light and let a private life. (Another quality current leaders can learn!) Hence, reading the press statements by various leader never failed to tickle a few funny bones. Most of them mentioned that Chong Eu's passing is a great loss to the politics to the country. How can it be a loss when he had refused comments or interviews on current events (unlike some past leaders that we know)? The only coaxing and diplomacy in his life the days before he was incapacitated by stroke was in horse breeding.