KUALA LUMPUR: Legendary pianist and composer Datuk Ooi Eow Jin died at Kuala Lumpur Hospital today. He was 86.
Yayasan Kebajikan Artis Tanah Air (YKAT) chairman and veteran singer Datuk DJ Dave said in a statement today that Ooi's widow Datin Elaine Khaw Lean Kee informed him of her husband's death around 4.50pm.
"YKAT sends our deepest and heartfelt condolences to Datin Elaine on the demise of her beloved husband Datuk Ooi Eow Jin.
"Malaysia has lost a great musician, composer and icon whose services to Malaysian music have been tremendous, in a career spanning more than six decades," said Dave in a statement.
Dave also said that Ooi, who died at 3.30pm, had collaborated with some of the country's greatest singers including Tan Sri P. Ramlee and Datuk Sudirman Arshad, and was one of the "titans" amongst Radio Televisyen Malaysia's (RTM) music maestros together with the late Alfonso Soliano and Tan Sri Ahmad Nawab.
Ooi had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease since 2015 and also contracted Covid-19 in 2022.
In 2018, YKAT put Ooi on a pension scheme that provided him with a RM500 monthly allowance. The initiative was aimed at helping artistes who could no longer help themselves.
Ooi performed with the RTM Orchestra, as a composer-songwriter in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 2010, he became resident pianist at Kuala Lumpur's Majestic Hotel for five years until the illness forced him to quit in 2015.
Ooi's and Khaw's son Raymond died of Covid-19 complications on July 11, 2022 aged 58.