Yap was a helpful and humble person, say ex-colleagues

PETALING JAYA: The local media industry lost a veteran when Star Media Group’s (SMG) former business editor Yap Leng Kuen (pic) passed away following a bacterial infection.

Her son Andrew Chong, 29, said his mother had been hospitalised since Thursday last week and succumbed to complications and breathing difficulties at Prince Court Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning.

He said upon admission, she could still communicate and request for things.

He expected her to pull through but she fell into a coma after a few days before passing away.

Yap, 66, is survived by her husband Chong Ton Sin and Andrew, who are both in the book publishing business.

Even after her retirement from SMG in January 2012 and return to the company on contract until December 2013, Yap had been diligently penning her column Plain Speaking that appears in StarBiz on Mondays.

Her former colleagues in SMG remember her as a disciplinarian and go-getter but very helpful and humble.

Business editor Jagdev Singh Sidhu said Yap, who had been his boss, was attentive to their needs as employees and was always accommodating.

Her long-time friend and ex-colleague BK Sidhu said she first met Yap when she rejoined SMG after completing her MBA (Master of Business Administration) programme at Universiti Malaya, and they hit it off immediately.

“We had so many good moments during our reporting days and our late editor, PY Chin, would pair us up for some of the most gruelling assignments.

“She was a wonderful and trusted friend,” Sidhu added.

Assistant business news editor Daljit Dhesi said Yap was one of his mentors and a dear friend.

“Her passing was really unexpected ... I will miss her dearly,” he said.

Sharing some of her memories with Yap, business editor Hanim Adnan said: “I shared an apartment with her for almost two months when we did our fellowship at Washington DC many years ago. I was with Bernama then and she was with The Star.

“Such a kind soul she was. We had great fun together.”

Assistant business news editor Eugene Mahalingam said he would always be grateful to Yap for hiring him as a StarBiz journalist back in 2007.

“Leng Kuen took a chance on me when no one else did. I am glad I managed to tell her, years later, that my life was changed forever (for the better) after she hired me,” he said.

Former The Star associate editor Hafidz Mahpar, who is now the deputy chief sub-editor at Bernama, said Yap was a meticulous editor who did not just strive to be a boss but also a friend.

A wake will be held at Gui Yuan Funeral Parlour here from noon onwards tomorrow and the funeral will be at 10am on Saturday.