Kent Lim’s passing
Kent Lim Lian Seng, a 54-year-old Malaysian hairdresser who has been with the Jean Yip Group for the past 24 years, was reported to have passed away on 21 October 2021. According to a Lianhe Wanbao's article, dated 24 October 2021, Lim begun his career at Jean Yip Group as a hairdressing apprentice and worked his way up to a manager of two Jean Yip salons at Kovan and Raffles Place.
Lim was described as a person who was “responsible towards his work and loyal to the company”. Having introduced many to join the company, Chief Operating Officer, Dawn Yip, told the evening daily that Lim had made “significant contributions to the company”.
Besides his job, Lim was “a helpful person”, Yip added. She shared, before the pandemic, Lim travels between Singapore and Johor Bahu frequently, and during his free time, he would offer free haircuts to the elderly. “He is a kind and warm-hearted person”, Yip said. “He’s like family to us [. . .] the news of his death has filled us with immense grief”.
Yip and her sister, Jean, first heard of Lim’s death on 21 October 2021, and at first, they could not believe it.
After conducing further enquiries with their staff, they were informed that Lim had received his Covid-19 booster shot on 9 Oct, and eleven days later, on 20 Oct, approximately 4pm, he requested leave to return home for a rest, citing “physical discomfort”. Lim passed away the following day.
Subsequently, Yip received a call from Lim’s wife informing her that her husband had passed away in a hospital in Singapore after seeking treatment for his physical discomfort there. The said hospital had located her contact details from the phone book in her husband’s mobile phone.
Yip told Lianhe Wanbao
that Lim’s body had earlier been repatriated to Malaysia in accordance with his wife’s wishes.
“Due to the pandemic, we [the Jean Yip family] are unable to attend his funeral. As such, we will be organising an online memorial service for him on 24 Oct, and several hundred will be there to see him off”, Yip said.
Source:
Lianhe Wanbao, 24 October 2021
Online messages from one “Khorwit Goh”
Online messages on Facebook and Wechat, which Death Kopitiam were shown copies of, alleged that the death of a Jean Yip Group hairdresser, Kent Lim Lian Seng, was related to the Covid-19 booster shot that he had received days earlier.
Posted by a person/account named “Khorwit Goh” – this name uncannily resembles “Covid Goh” – the messages stated that after “receiving a booster shot on Saturday (the date was not specified)”, he felt extremely unwell on Wednesday and sought emergency treatment, and on Thursday came the news of his death”. Read together, “Khorwit Goh” seems to imply that Lim’s death was caused by the Covid-19 booster shot.
“After hearing such a piece of bad news, I am beginning to worry whether I should continue with my booster shot, “Khorwit Goh” mused.
Another Facebook user, "Richard Ricardo", posted a similar message.
There is no information to suggest that Lim’s cause of death was due to the booster shot he had received. We also do not know the medical history and any underlying conditions that Lim may be suffering from prior to his death.
Speaking on behalf of Lim’s wife, who declined to be interviewed, Yip urges the public to “stop circulating the misleading messages”.
Death Kopitiam’s view
Despite our best efforts, Death Kopitiam has been unable to locate the persons behind these online messages.
We would like to urge readers to stop spreading any misleading and unverified information [about Lim's death], and we hope the person(s) behind “Khorwit Goh” and "Richard Ricardo" will stop exploiting the death of Mr Kent Lim or any other person to further their anti-vaccination messages whilst masquerading their messages as "an expression of shock and grief over his death".
If Kent is, indeed, your friend, you do not do this. It is misleading, despicable and unethical, stop it, please.
Top image: Cover of
Lianhe Wanbao, 24 October 2021
