Artist behind record-setting Pudu Prison mural dies, body unclaimed for 50 days

 

Former prisoner Khong Yen Chong, who once earned an unlikely place in the Guinness Book of Records for a mural he painted on the walls of Pudu Prison - now long demolished - passed away on Feb 20 at the age of 78.

In a saddening turn, the man once tied to a piece of living history spent his final days in obscurity, with his body left unclaimed at the Penang Hospital morgue for 50 days.

An NGO was finally granted permission on April 10 to claim his remains.

Various parties came together to organise a wake in his honour. Yesterday, Khong was laid to rest through cremation.

Speaking to Sin Chew Daily, his friend Wu Kai Min, 70, said Khong had set the record after becoming the first artist to complete an entire prison mural alone.

“The staff (at the morgue) told me his (body) was the longest (which remained unclaimed). Usually, within two or three weeks, someone claims a body. But for him, nobody came for 50 days.

“Khong’s life was full of ups and downs. He broke records in life, and after death, he ‘broke another record’,” he added.

According to Wu, Khong has a son, but he could not be contacted.

Wu expressed regret that society tends to remember a person’s negative past while overlooking their achievements.

“Although he once set a world record, it is rarely mentioned. In his later years, he lived in increasing hardship and had to rely on occasional support from the church,” he added.

‘I made a promise’

Wu, who met Khong in church some five years ago, said he took the initiative to handle the funeral because of a promise he had made.

“Khong once told me that if one day he was gone, he hoped that I would take care of things. I agreed,” he said.

In 1984, Khong created the 266.1m mural, which became renowned for its realism. However, the mural he was so proud of vanished when the prison in Kuala Lumpur was demolished in June 2010.

It took him one year and nine months to complete the mural. He finished the painting a day before his release. - Mkini