Those who are not from Johor may not know much about Tan Sri Kuek, whom we addressed dearly as 郭老. Perhaps some people only knew him as the cousin of Robert Kuok, but Tan Sri Kuek was actually a very important and influential person in JB, especially to the Chinese community. All his life, he was dedicated to charity and the development of Chinese education in JB. He played a significant role over the decades in developing Foon Yew schools to where they are today.
Even though i do not know Tan Sri Kuek personally, i do feel deeply for his passing away. Besides having a great respect for this great man, I had a little bit of past affinity with the family too. When my dad was still around, we stayed at a house diagonally opposite to his residence (our house was directly opposite to the empty compound of his residence area). My mom knows his daughter personally too through participating in the various Chinese community organisations in JB. His daughter was an English teacher in Foon Yew High School during our schooldays; she was our English teacher for a year and i was the English class assistant for her class. Despite being part of the rich-and-famous Kuok's family, they are down-to-earth and humble people.
The passing away of Tan Sri Kuek was a great loss to the Chinese community in JB. I would like to extend my heartfelt condolence to the family. His charitable deeds and admirable personality will always be in our memory. RIP.
Labels: life
