Thousands bid farewell to slain ‘dai lou’
Many who could not get into the funeral parlour bowed and paid their last respects from afar.
Ong was the Datuk shot dead by his bodyguard on his first day of work in his car on the coastal expressway here last Thursday.
As early as 7am, hundreds parked along Lebuhraya Thean Teik to walk to the Leong San Tong Funeral Parlour, where his body had lain for the past five days for people to pay their last respects.
The parlour was crowded with people, forcing many to stand across the dual carriageway, bowing and paying their last respects from afar.
About 1pm, Ong’s casket was brought out by pallbearers using wooden poles attached, like is typically seen in a traditional Chinese funeral.
Screams of “dai lou” (Cantonese for “big brother”) were heard between sobs. Many, gathered at a mall across the parlour, also bowed and chanted prayers.
The pallbearers then walked halfway up the 10km journey to the Sepuluh Kongsi Chinese Cemetery in Relau, where he was buried.
Ong was operating a nightclub in Beach Street and the Persatuan Kebajikan Amal CK One welfare home for the underprivileged and the sick on the mainland.
He was married but had no children.
The bodyguard, said to be mentally unstable, was seated in the back seat of the car and apparently had an argument with Ong, who was driving his car home on Thursday.
He is said to have uttered some prayers before going berserk with his Glock 19mm semi-automatic pistol.
After shooting Ong, he hit Ong’s driver, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, on the head with the pistol.
When the driver escaped on foot, the bodyguard pursued him, firing at random. He killed two others — flower supplier M. Senthil, 38, and clown-entertainer Choi Hon Ming, 32. Five others were also wounded by the shots.
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Police have detained the bodyguard and the driver for investigations.