SEREMBAN, Aug 21 — Traffic in Seremban came to a halt today as local folks bid farewell to Dr Chen Man Hin, founding chairman of DAP.
Little wonder that he should receive such a momentous send-off as he was “everyone’s friend” regardless of age and race, according to Jerry Richard Kessler.
“There isn’t anyone in Seremban who doesn’t know Dr Chen, whether young or old. He was everyone’s friend.
“He was my mother’s good friend, and all of us grew up knowing him and his clinic,” Jerry told Malay Mail when met at the Church of Visitation here, for Dr Chen’s funeral service.
This was a trait that Dr Chen was known for among Seremban residents. He was their go-to medical practitioner, said Jerry, a local in his 60s.
Dr Chen, he said, understood the plight of the less fortunate and poor in Seremban, so he treated common illnesses and administered jabs for free.
“I can still recall those days when he visited us in the flats. Whether you were poor or not, he would make it a point to visit each household just to say, ‘How are you?’ and to see if there was anything he could assist with,” said Jerry, who used to reside in the famous 14-storey block known ‘sap-sei lau’ in the Cantonese dialect.
He added that Dr Chen was known for his down-to-earth personality despite his wealth.
“You can ask anyone in the market; even the person who sweeps the floor will know who Dr Chen is,” he said.
Sharing similar memories was Rose, a parishioner of the Church of Visitation, which Dr Chen also attended in his lifetime.
The 62-year-old remembers him sitting discreetly across from her.
“He was very low profile and would quickly disappear when church service was over.
“He was a man who did things quietly, including making donations to the church. I didn’t know he contributed so much to the church until he passed away,” she said, describing how Dr Chen likely made his way to church by foot as he was never seen arriving in a vehicle.
The distance from Dr Chen’s residence to the Church of Visitation is about 1.1km, or a 23-minute walk.
“My husband must see Dr Chen whenever he feels under the weather.
“He said it was the way Dr Chen spoke to his patients that offered some immediate relief,” she said.
A strong fighter
Rose said she managed to catch the sunset years of Dr Chen’s political career, during his nightly ceramah delivered during the last general election campaign in 2018.
“He was a very strong fighter, and even at that age, you could still feel the fire in his voice, and that greatly inspired the people of Seremban.
“He made many see how much he pushed his people forward and how Seremban needed a strong voice to champion their struggles.
“Now it’s up to Anthony Loke and we hope he can carry on with Dr Chen’s work,” she said, referring to the current DAP secretary-general and incumbent Seremban MP.
Door always open
When delivering his eulogy, Loke, for whom Seremban is also his hometown, said one of Dr Chen’s many successes was instilling in DAP the culture of caring for the downtrodden and the poor.
“He made sure the doors of his clinic and his service centre always stayed open for all walks of life throughout the years, for almost half a century.
“When I first ran for public office in Seremban, Dr Chen was already in his 80s.
“When we met, the first thing he told me was to always care for the downtrodden, the underprivileged and ordinary folks. He always reminded me to visit the pasar (market) traders, meet the people and always keep your doors open,” said Loke, seemingly passing on the same advice to future DAP leaders.
On its final journey, Dr Chen’s cortège was accompanied by DAP party leaders, including Loke, veteran Lim Kit Siang, chairman Lim Guan Eng, deputy secretary-general Liew Chin Tong and the Negri Sembilan Riders Club.
The 1.1km procession started from Dr Chen’s clinic in town known as Chen Dispensary to the Church of Visitation.
Other central committee executives present were Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim, Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai, Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok.
Dr Chen, who died on August 17, was DAP chairman from 1966 to 1999. After graduating in 1952, he worked as a doctor in Singapore and Hospital Seremban until 1956, before setting up his own practice.
He served as Seremban MP from September 1974 to April 1982, and again from November 1983 to October 1990; as Seremban Timor MP from May 1969 to September 1974; and as a member of the Negri Sembilan state legislative assembly for Rahang from December 1965 to April 1982.
He is remembered by DAP veterans as the MP who stood up for the party in Parliament when its entire national leadership was incapacitated following the detention of 16 top leaders under the Internal Security Act in 1987 as part of the infamous Operasi Lalang.
Party chairman Lim Guan Eng recalled in an earlier statement how Dr Chen had pointed at the home minister in Parliament back then and indicated the empty seats of the detained DAP MPs, shouting angrily that the government was sabotaging democracy by allegedly removing them illegally.
