KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — Sabah Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wong died this morning of a heart attack at the age of 64.
According to DAP, the Sandakan MP and Sabah DAP chairman went trekking at Putatan Hill today before his untimely death.
“Malaysians, especially in Sabah, just got the news about the sudden death of a leader who was very committed to his new job as Sabah Health Minister,” federal Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad tweeted.
“Condolences to the family of the late YB Stephen Wong, who was also Sandakan MP. RIP.”
Then-Semenyih assemblyman Bakhtiar Mohd Nor from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia died last January of a heart attack too.
Another lawmaker, then-Paya Besar MP Abdul Manan Ismail from Umno, similarly died of a heart attack in February 2018.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said last January that heart disease was Malaysia’s foremost cause of death, with 58 as the average age of contracting the illness in Malaysia, much younger compared to other countries like Singapore (61), China (63), Thailand (65), United States (66), and Canada (68).