Kee Thuan Chye ponders the death of a dear friend, Gan Teik Chee, but is unable to comprehend the manner of his passing. Gan was a key cultural figure in Penang and Malaysia.
I was stunned when a friend called from Penang on June 19 to tell me that Gan Teik Chee had just died. As far as I knew, Teik Chee had been health-conscious, watched what he ate (“No Ajinomoto ah,” he would tell the waiter when we went eating out together), and performed his yoga and meditation daily.
What I didn’t expect was the cause of death. “Bad news. Very, very bad news…,” my friend repeated in a voice laden with emotion. Only after a long pause did he manage to tell me that Teik Chee had jumped from the eighth floor of a hotel.
“What?” I cried. “Why would he do that?”
My friend didn’t know. No one really does, I suppose. Those I’ve since spoken to about it have expressed shock and disbelief similar to mine. To me, Teik Chee’s death must have been a case of emotionality defeating rationality, for he was a man who inhabited both realms. I dread to think of the intense conflict that must have raged within the man in his final moments.
