"MR STORYTELLER" Lee Dai Soh

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By K. F. Tang

"MR STORYTELLER" Lee Dai Soh died of a heart attack on Wednesday night.

The popular Cantonese raconteur, who for 40 years thrilled radio and Rediffusion listeners with his colourful Chinese gongfu and historical epics like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, was 77 years old.

Many Singaporeans may remember Mr Lee as the storyteller with a flair for personal asides, which he used to spice up his stories while not disrupting their flow.

Family members said Mr Lee, whose real name was Lee Fook Hong, complained of a pain in his chest at about 5 pm and wanted to see a doctor.

He sat down to wait an hour or so in his Havelock Road Block 22 flat as the clinic would not be open before 6.30 pm. He collapsed on the sofa at about 6.15 pm while watching a television programme.

His family applied medicated oil on him and called the ambulance but Mr Lee died before help came.

Mr Lee's popularity waned with the advent of television in the ‘60s. The Speak Mandarin Campaign further reduced his airtime and he retired from broadcasting in Singapore in 1982.

But Mr Lee remained a storyteller to the end, working with Radio Australia, for which he made his last recording on Tuesday.

Mr Lee's daughter from his first marriage, Madam Lee Yun Han, 44, a teacher, recalled: "My father started his storytelling career sitting on a box under a tree in Chinatown, telling a story in the time it took a joss-stick to burn."

Mr Lee was also an accomplished Cantonese opera actor, who only stopped acting about five years ago because of rheumatism.

"He was especially fond of impersonating women on stage," Madam Lee added.

Mr Lee was active in clan association work and was a director of Tung On Wui Kun in New Bridge Road, where he has been telling stories weekly since May 1987.

Born in Singapore, Mr Lee grew up in the Tanjong Pagar area. He received only a primary education from Yeung Ching School in Club Road but he loved books.

A retired mechanic, 77, who only wanted to be know as Mr Fan, who was Mr Lee's senior by one year at Yeung Ching, recalled in Cantonese:

"He was a self-educated man. He collected and read books. They inspired him."

Three shelves full of books in Mr Lee's bedroom attest to his unceasing search for knowledge. It was only six months ago that Mr Lee bought a 10-volume set of the Chinese edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

His son, Mr Lee Chee Leong, 40, who works in a bank, said: "My father would never throw away books."

Madam Meng Yeow Hoh, 61, Mr Lee's second wife, said in Cantonese: "I believe he has left notes on what should be done with his books. Some are to be given to friends, some to libraries.

"He also wanted the rarer books to be buried in a time capsule, to be opened in 300 years' time."

Mr Lee leaves behind two widows, three children and two grandsons.

He never failed the many who consulted him on things Chinese, says friend

A FRIEND who last spoke to master storyteller Lee Dai Soh on Tuesday, the day he died, remembers him as a "walking encyclopaedia" on things Chinese.

Mr Poon Ee Seng, 42, a stage designer for Chinese operas, said many people consulted Mr Lee on Chinese customs and history and difficult Chinese expressions.

"He never failed anyone. If he did not know, he would look it up and tell them," said Mr Poon in Mandarin yesterday.

He remembers Mr Lee as a big-hearted man who did not put on any airs.

Mr Poon first listened to Mr Lee's stories on Rediffusion even before he was old enough to go to school.

He followed in Mr Lee's footsteps by also going to Yeung Ching School 35 years later.

Mr Poon, a member of the Tung On Wui Kun association, of which Mr Lee was a director, said Mr Lee's stories have left their mark on him.

"I had no fear of Chinese history or language in school. He stories helped me learn and love them."

He loved in particular the euphemisms which his mentor liked to use, for example: "African monk", which translates in Cantonese to hak yun chang to mean "disgusting".

"His death is a great loss -- to his friends and to those who love Chinese history," he said.

First published in The Straits Times, March 24, 1989

More stories:

	The storyteller
	Dai Soh's tales remembered
	Still spinning his yarns