The late Tan Sri Chang Min Tat... | the late tan sri chang... |
It was with the deepest sorrow that I learned of the death of my good friend, Tan Sri Chang Min Tat in Penang on Thursday, September 27, 2007... I was in Bentong that evening and noticed his orbituary in the Saturday edition of the New Straits Times that evening... As I was in Bentong, it was with the deepest regret that I was not able to attend his funeral the next morning...
I came to know Tan Sri after his retirement as a Federal Court judge being introduced by a mutual friend... It was sometime in 1987... We will meet ocassionally for lunch when he is down in Kuala Lumpur for the hearing of the Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the collapse of the upper deck of the Pengkalan Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal in Butterworth which he headed... we met up for at least 3 ocassions in Penang after that, the last being in 2003...
During our short friendship, Tan Sri has been more than a good friend... I can remember clearly that he refuses to let me pay for dinner and room accommodation at the Penang Club when I met him on one of my trips to Penang... and the dinner at the Keppel Golf Club with Puan Sri when they were down for the Singapore races... Yes, Tan Sri is also a horse racing enthusiast and is a committee member of the Selangor Turf Club then... he is a metriculous man and exact on details, being trained in law... He is ever ready to give legal opinions if needed... Tan Sri is a humble and proud man and he will always call me "towkay"...
Tan Sri was born on April 2, 1916 and studied at St Michael’s Institution in Ipoh... He later secured a scholarship to Raffles College in Singapore in 1936, where he obtained his Diplomas in Arts and Education... He became a teacher but then went to Oxford and obtained his Master of Arts (Oxon) from the Honour School of English Language & Literature...
He then became a barrister and practised law in Penang... He later became a High Court judge and then a Federal Court judge... One of his landmark case is the passing of the death sentence on one of the country’s most famous criminal, Botak Chin in 1977... Another is the Arumugam Pillai tax evation case in Bukit Mertajam... When Tan Sri was a High Court judge, he had admitted Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman (after leaving office) to the Bar as an advocate and solicitor on July 4, 1974... After retirement, he held various posts such as chairman of the Penang State Planning Appeals Board in the 1990s...
I last wrote to Tan Sri on August 8, 2007 to arrange for dinner on August 10 when I will be in Penang... As there was no reply from him and due to my tight schedule in Penang, I was not able to drop in to see him at his residence... I truly regret not being able to meet him one last time... This e-mail was in response to Tan Sri's e-mail of June 3, 2007 of which he wrote, amongst other matters, "Yes it has been a long time Trouble is that I am wheel-chair bound. Don't you ever come to Penang. Will gladly give and your friends a meal."... I replied wishing him all the best and also send my wishes to his dear wife, Puan Sri Grace, as well as reminding him that I will take up the offer on my next trip to Penang...
My condolences to his dear wife, Puan Sri Grace and children Dr James Chang and Dorothy Chang... May he rest in peace... Goodbye, Tan Sri, my dear friend... |
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