Lee Tiang Keng, death 30 July 1961

Penang. Mon. --- Messages of condolence poured today into the MacAlister Road residence of the late Dato Lee Tiang Keng, who collapsed at the Penang Turf Club yesterday. Messages received included three from the Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Haji Mohamed Khir Johari, and the Penang Chief Minister, Dato Wong Pow Nee. The body will lie in State until the funeral on Saturday. [The Singapore Free Press, 31 July 1961, Page 12]

PENANG, Saturday. The Prime Minister, Tengku Abdul Rahman, accompanied by two Cabinet Ministers, was among the nearly 1,000 people who attended the funeral here this afternoon of Dato (Dr.) Lee Tiang Keng, former Malayan Ambassador to Japan who died at the Penang races last Saturday. The funeral was to have started at 1.30 p.m., but the crowd was so large that the procession was delayed 18 minutes before it could leave Dato Lee's house in MacAlister Road. Several thousand spectators lined the one and a half mile route to Batu Gantong cemetery where the body was cremated. The Tengku, together with the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Inche Mohamed Khir Johari, made a special trip to Penang in a Royal Malayan Air Force plane. They flew back to Kuala Lumpur immediately after the funeral. The Tengky and the Governor, Raja Tun Uda, and Tengku Puan Hajjah Nor Sa'adah, Inche Johari and the Chief Minister, Dato Wong Pow Nee, arrived at Dato Lee's residence at 1.30 p.m. With Dato Wong, the Tengku walked up to the hearse, took off his hat and bowed in tribute to Dato Lee. They were followed by the Japanese Ambassador, Mr. Wataru Okuma, who had also made a special trip from Kuala Lumpur, and other dignitaries including Dato Ong Yoke Lin and the MCA President, Dato (Dr.) Cheah Toon Lok. Later, they joined the Tengku and Dato Wong behind the mourners as the hearse left Dato Lee's house. Six Buddhist priests conducted the funeral rites both at the house and at the cemetery. Preceding the hearse was a decorated car from which a Buddhist priest threw rose petals along the route. Walking alongside the hearse were Dato Lee's two sons, Saik Kee, a lawyer, and Saik Eng, a doctor. Their mother followed behind in a trisha. Four lorry-loads of wreaths were received from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong, the Governor and Tengku Puan Hajjah Nor Sa'adah, the Tengku, the Federation Cabinet, the Japanese Ambassador and other envoys.  [The Straits Times, 6 August 1961, Page 5]