"I am devastated yet rejoiced that he passed away peacefully."

Those were the words of Tan Sri Francis Yeoh Sock Ping, the YTL Corporation managing director and eldest son of YTL Corporation Berhad chairman Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, who passed away earlier today.

"He was truly a great man and will be dearly missed," Francis told Astro AWANI in a text message.

The rest of the Yeoh family members also expressed their sadness in a statement today.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of the head of our family, Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, but comforted that he has gone home to our Lord Jesus Christ.

"We are four generations that have had the privilege of enjoying his presence for 88 years and he will be truly missed," the statement reads.

Tiong Lay founded YTL in 1955 as a construction company, and transformed it into one of the nation's biggest conglomerate in the decades that followed.

The Yeoh family said friends and family are welcomed to pay their last respects tomorrow from 7pm onwards at 2, Lorong Buloh Perindu 1, Damansara Heights in Kuala Lumpur.

Tiong Lay will be laid to rest at the Nilai Memorial Park.