Farewell, FFK

I feel totally deflated. Last month, I said my farewells to three friends. Today, I learnt that another of my earliest chess friends, Fong Foo Khun, had passed away suddenly in the early hours of the morning. Apparently, he had woken up at about four o'clock this morning and told his wife that he was feeling chokey. And within five minutes he was gone. Just like that!

I first met Foo Khun in 1974. It was the year that the Penang Chess Association had held its first closed chess championship and he had emerged as the joint champion together with Tan Kai Ming. I did not play in that tournament as I was studying in Kuala Lumpur then. But I got to know him later that year when I returned to play in the Asian team chess championship in Penang.

He was a jovial character and a good chess friend, ever ready to help others. In the last 20 years or so, we always greeted one another warmly whenever we met up at chess tournaments in Penang. And that was usually once a year. 

One of my memories of Foo Khun was in the late 1970s. The Penang Chess Association had been invited to Taiping for a friendly match. We decided to drive and Fang Ewe Churh, then the founding president of the Association, lent us his car for the day trip. Foo Khun took charge of the drive. Rather uneventful journey except for one section when he had to swerve rather abruptly with only one hand on the steering wheel.

The last time that we exchanged messages on social media was around 06 September, less than a month ago, when I tried to get him to sign up for the OFA Centenary chess tournament. "Of course," he replied and proceeded to ask me for more information. So I went through the process, telling him that he must also apply for his FIDE ID. That part must have really stumped him because two days later, he messaged me that he could not sign up. "I apologise for not taking part given all the hassle involved," he wrote, and ended his message with "take care!" Considerate till the end.

I shall miss you, Foo Khun.