A good friend remembered

As I write this , David is on his way to Ipoh to pay his last respects to a friend we met in 1998 during one of our Classic Volvo Runs to Hatyai Thailand . Tan Cher Beng is what you might call a ' regular chinaman ' but with a very big heart...which  stopped beating on the 10th of April 2011. He was Col Lee's ( the then and current President of the Classic Volvo Club  ) sidekick as Andrew would put it and who knew his way around Thailand at the back of his hand....hence why he followed us on all our Volvo trips there.

I never knew him very well but he was a good friend to David and the club members. He would always insist on using his Mercedez Benz for all the reece trips. My earliest memory of him is that he introduced us to the famous Foh San Dim Sum in Ipoh. And ever since then he would ask us to stop in Ipoh everytime we were driving north and he would wait to take us for breakfast to where everyone knew his name. His knowledge of Chinese tea astonished me as he would keep brewing tea with his little utensils if we were to sit with him for a chat at his home.

And as we say goodbye to you  today we say we will miss you especially on our future road trips to Thailand...and as David says Ipoh will be different for us now...and we may have no reason to stop there...as our  friend Tan Cher Beng is no more....but we have all the treasured memories of his company with us on all our trips with the Classic Volvo Club to the Kingdom of Thailand.

May his soul rest in peace eternally.

Tan admiring all the pretty Volvos in a row.

Tan in red jacket posing for the camera

Colonel (R) Lee and his sidekick Tan in yellow tshirt.

                                                                            

Tan enjoying some music at the Billabong Pub in  Koh Samui

          Note : The dates on the photos above should indicate 25th and 26th of April 2008 and not as printed on the photos.