Business­man Datuk Tan Huat Seang, who died in Sa­­turday’s helicopter crash, was supposed to mark his 59th birthday

Businessman was supposed to spend 59th birthday with family

Son’s duty: Tan Hon Liang (left) carrying the ashes of his father (inset) at the Xiao En Memorial Park in Kuala Lumpur. He was accompanied by (from right) sister Tan Lee Fong , 32, and brother Tan Hon Yew, 27.

 

ALOR SETAR: Business­man Datuk Tan Huat Seang, who died in Sa­­turday’s helicopter crash, was supposed to mark his 59th birthday with his family here.

The celebration was sche­duled for yesterday, thus his wife Datin Yee Sow Yen, 58, was not keen about him attending the wedding recept­­ion of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s daughter in Pekan the previous day.

“She said she felt uneasy about him going for the event. She told him not to go but he insisted because he wanted to accompany Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis,” said family friend and former Kuala Nerang assemblyman Datuk Syed Sobri Syed Hashim.

“She told me that Tan was in Kuala Lumpur for a week before attending the reception. And her husband told her that he would be back home today (yesterday),” the friend told reporters at Tan’s house in Taman Golf yesterday.

The press tried to speak to Yee but she was too distraught to meet them.

The couple have two sons and two daughters, who are in their 20s and 30s.

Tan, who was managing director of Lam Ho Enterprise Sdn Bhd and chief executive officer of SP Baiduri, was also known to be a collector of luxury cars such as Ferrari, Bentley, Jaguar and Mercedes Benz.

Besides an active role in charity programmes, Tan was vice-chairman of the Kedah-Perlis Tan Si Eng Chuan Tong Association, besides being involved in the Kedah Chee Yang Kor Moral Uplifting Society.