Former bodybuilding champion Gan Boon Leong dies

MELAKA: Malaysia's "father of bodybuilding" and former Melaka MCA chief Datuk Gan Boon Leong died at 1.30 am today. He was 84.

His son, Gan Tian Loo, said his father had been receiving treatment for a weak heart at a hospital here but was discharged yesterday afternoon.

"He was taken to a care centre here, where he breathed his last early this morning.

"His body has been taken to his office in Jalan Jonker for people to pay their last respects. He will be buried this Friday in Bekok, Tangkak in Johor," Tian Loo told Bernama when contacted here.

Apart from being active in politics, Gan was also an accomplished bodybuilder who was elected as president of the Malaysian Weightlifting Federation, vice-president of the Asian Bodybuilding Federation and vice-president of the Asian Powerlifting Federation.

He was also active in boxing and taekwondo associations, especially in Melaka.

Boon Leong, who was born on Aug 25, 1937, leaves behind a wife, Datin Chong Kin Yock, and seven children.

-- BERNAMA