Food legend: Founder of Penang’s famous Ah Leng Char Koay Teow has passed away.
GEORGE TOWN: Penang has lost one of its char koay teow masters to the dengue epidemic, which has seen 163.2% more deaths year-on-year.
Teoh Koon Leng, or Ah Leng, 82, as he was affectionately known, passed away after he was diagnosed with the disease, having battled a fever for over a month.
His son Teoh Yeong Hee, 57, said his father had not shown any symptoms before his death on Monday but had on-and-off fever before that.
“He was fine after taking some paracetamol and medicine, but the fever would come back after a few days,” he said.
He said when his father’s fever worsened, the family decided to take him to the hospital over the weekend, where the doctor had diagnosed him with dengue.
Ah Leng had been selling char koay teow for over 40 years.
Asked who would be taking over the mantle, Teoh said he and his sisters Teoh Chye Yong, 46, and Teoh Chye Hong, 43, will continue their father’s legacy.
Teoh said the family has two stalls – one in Zoo Road in Ayer Itam and another at Tong Hooi Kopitiam in Datuk Keramat.
“Our father had passed down the family secret on how to fry a good char koay teow,” he said, adding that he and his siblings have been helping their father for more than 15 years.
Ah Leng started his char koay teow business in the 1980s in Kimberley Street before moving to Datuk Keramat and opening another branch in Zoo Road near his house.
At his stalls, it was a normal sight to see people queuing up and willing to wait for 45 minutes or more for a plate of his char koay teow.
Ah Leng’s char koay teow was also a tourist magnet because of the extra-large prawns and even the inclusion of mantis shrimp meat.
He leaves behind his wife Ooi Swee Phaik, 83, four daughters, a son, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
His funeral will be held tomorrow where he will be brought to the Batu Gantung crematorium.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in a statement Wednesday, said the number of dengue fever cases in the 51st Epidemiological Week of 2022 (EW51/22) from Dec 18 to 24 increased by 3.5% to 2,018 cases compared with 1,950 in the previous week.
He said one death due to dengue fever complications was also reported during the week.
The cumulative number of dengue fever cases reported so far is 64,078 cases compared with 25,794 cases for the corresponding period in 2021, an increase of 148.4%.
At the same time, a total of 50 deaths due to dengue complications was also reported, compared with 19 deaths during the same period last year.
“Some 58 hotspot localities were reported this week, 32 of which were in Selangor, Sabah (16), Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (six) and Penang (four),” Dr Noor Hisham added.
