MCA leaders honour Tun Michael Chen's legacy of national service

The Star

Tun Michael Chen was laid to rest on Wednesday (July 31) with a large group of community leaders, political leaders and close friends coming to pay their last respects to the late MCA leader.   Read more at https://tinyurl.com/mu2hsahz  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00About 200 family members, community leaders, politicians, organization representatives

00:08and close friends paid respects to the late Tun Michael Chen, a prominent MCA figure who

00:14passed away peacefully on July 26 at the age of 92.

00:19The final viewing, sealing of the casket and prayer services took place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

00:26The funeral, held at Nirvana II in Bukit Seputu, began on Sunday.

00:31MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Wee Kha Siong, via a recorded video, expressed condolences

00:37and apologized for his absence as he was attending his daughter's graduation overseas.

00:42Dr. Wee highlighted Chen's significant contributions, including his role in establishing Malaysia-China

00:49diplomatic relations in 1974 using ping-pong diplomacy.

00:54Even in his later years, Tun Michael Chen remained an unwavering pillar of support for

01:02the party actually.

01:04Despite his advanced age and reliance on the wheelchair, his loyalty to the party never

01:11faltered and he consistently showed up at our events, offering his encouragement and

01:19wisdom, demonstrating a profound dedication that inspired all who had the privilege to

01:27witness it.

01:28Tun Michael Chen's passing is a tremendous loss to our party, our nation and his people.

01:36His legacy of dedication and service will always be remembered and his spirit will forever

01:45remain in our hearts.

01:48MCA Secretary-General Datuk Chong Sin Woon praised Chen's dedication to the party.

01:54Tun Michael Chen has always been a great contributor to the nation.

01:58As a veteran of MCA, he is always present to support MCA.

02:02He never missed our major events like the Chinese New Year open house, first day of

02:07Chinese New Year.

02:09Even on wheelchair, he will be there every morning.

02:12His son also told me that every first day of Chinese New Year, he is not the first one

02:17to see him, but we are the first ones to see him.

02:19He mentioned that MCA had wanted to interview Chen in conjunction with the 50th anniversary

02:25of Malaysia-China diplomatic ties, but it could not take place due to Chen's health.

02:30As a former minister, former deputy minister, former leaders of MCA and also the president

02:36of Senate, surely he is a very experienced politician.

02:40I would say that he is an experienced state man that we did not see many these days.

02:48Chen's political career included winning the Damansara Parliament seat in 1964

02:52and the Ulu Selangor seat in 1972.

02:56He served in various ministerial roles, including special functions minister in 1973

03:02and housing, local government and new village minister in 1974.

03:06He also won the Beruas Parliament seat in 1982 under Gerakan's banner and served

03:12as Port Klang Authority chairman for 16 years.

03:16From 1997 to 2003, he was a senator and senate president from 2000 to 2003.

03:23In September 2017, Chen was conferred the Darja Kebizaran Siri Setia Mahkota

03:29SSM award by Sultan Muhammad V, carrying the title Tun.

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