GEORGE TOWN: A recipe book was among offerings cremated with Goh Yi Zhang. In life, the 17-year-old was an avid cook who had even won cooking competitions.
Chung Ling High School senior assistant (student affairs) Yeap Hock Chye, who was one of 10 people to eulogise Yi Zhang, said he was giving the recipe book as an offering so that Yi Zhang would still be able to cook where he was going.
“Yi Zhang had a passion for cooking, and he, along with fellow student Aun Yi Yang, had won first prize in the Power Chef Competition 2009 finals organised by KDU College Penang last April,” he said.
Last journey: Family and friends walking beside the hearse during the funeral procession for Brendon in Penang yesterday.
Besides cooking, Yi Zhang was also one of four troop leaders of the school’s 11th George Town South troop. He was active in the school’s Leo Club, Chess Club and Young Enterprise (YE) programme, and was a peer counsellor.
Yi Zhang was among six people who drowned in the dragon boat tragedy on Sunday. They were among 18 from Chung Ling who went on a training session in a borrowed dragon boat from the Penang Forward Sports Club.
They were preparing for the First Club Crew Championships for Commonwealth Countries scheduled to be held at the Teluk Bahang Dam in July.
They had rowed for 45 minutes before strong waves struck them, resulting in their boat hitting a barge. All of them were thrown overboard but 12 were rescued by passing fishermen.
Yi Zhang’s parents Goh Yeang Tong, 49, and Tan Lee Chin, 48, said they were glad to know that their son’s friends had shared many great moments with him.
“As a father, I am very proud of him. My only wish now is that he is at peace. Our family is very close, and he will always be in our hearts,” said Goh.
Devastating loss: Cheong Hean comforting his wife Nerry Khoo as the casket of their son Brendon was wheeled into the hearse in Penang, yesterday.
The scouts troop also gave their leader a touching farewell where they recited the scouts oath and sang a verse from Taps— the “lights out” bugle call which doubles as a funeral tune.
As the funeral parlour was located next to the crematorium, the troop also led the hearse in a one-hour procession before returning to Batu Gantong.
Earlier, the cortege of another victim, Brendon Yeoh, also aged 17, left the Khoo Kongsi funeral parlour in Bandar Baru Air Itam and headed for the same crematorium.
He was training for the National Junior Karate Championship just before the tragedy,
His coach Lim Lee Lee said she had been training Brendon, who was the bronze medallist in 2008, since he was seven, adding that he was aiming for the gold medal this year.
His father Cheong Hean said the boy was not only outstanding in co-curricular activities but also excelled academically.