KUALA LUMPUR: Chow Chee Keong, hailed as Asia’s No 1 goalkeeper in his heyday, passed away today at the age of 69 after battling bladder cancer.
Chee Keong, who died at 8.08am at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, also suffered from heart complications.
Chee Keong is survived by his wife, Christina Kwok (daughter of the late former FAM secretary general Datuk Kwok Kin Keng) and son Adrian Chow (a former goalkeeper for the national ice hockey squad).
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has sent his condolences to Christina and Adrian. “I have received news that former national goalkeeper Chow Chee Keong has passed away.
“He was Asia’s best goalkeeper for five years in a row and is a Malaysian football legend. My condolences to his family,” said Najib on his Twitter account today.
Meanwhile FAM secretary general Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin has visited Christina and Adrian to convey a condolence message from FAM president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim who also said Chee Keong had brought honours to the country with his footballing exploits.
Representing Malaysia in the 1960s, Chee Keong was known as “Asian Stainless Steel Gate” for his impenetrable defence.
To many football fans, Chee Keong was arguably the greatest goalkeeper that Malaysia has produced. Remarkably, he was voted Asia’s best goalkeeper by the Asian Football Confederation for five consecutive years from 1966-1970.
A former student of St. John Institution in Kuala Lumpur, Chee Keong played alongside Malaysian football legends like Abdul Ghani Minhat, Syed Ahmad, Dali Omar and Robert Choe.
He was a member of the great Malaysia team that won the 1968 Merdeka Tournament, an event which used to draw giants like South Korea and Asia.
Chee Keong, who made his national debut at just 15 years old, played professional football for about 10 years in Hong Kong in the 1970s.
It was in Hong Kong that he made a great save against Brazilian legend Pele, and even drew an offer from Pele’s club Cruzeiro to play for them.