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Assassination
On 14 November 1975, as the car driven by Constable Yeong Peng Cheong, Koo’s official driver, reached the junction at Fair Park Ashby in Ipoh, two men wearing white on a motorcycle came beside the car. One of them whipped out a pistol and fired five shots at Koo. All five shots found their mark, with four hitting his head and neck, with another hitting his left hand. Constable Yeong tried to return fire but was hit twice on his chest. He died on the spot, leaving behind a wife and three children. The assassins then escaped on the motorcycle.
Mortally wounded, he was rushed to the Ipoh General Hospital and underwent a three-hour surgery. Coming out of the surgery, he requested to meet both En. Hanif and Yuen Yuet Leng, as he wanted to hand over his duty to them. He briefed them on his knowledge, despite his mortal wounds.
Outside the ward, En. Hanif came across his wife who rushed at him shouting, “I told you Jimmy will die if he comes to Perak. Why?” He left, as Koo was not just a subordinate, but a friend to him. He left the family to spend the remaining time with Koo. After 28 hours, he breathed his last.
About a week later after his assassination, another police detective, Detective Corporal Lok Kim Fong was murdered in Melaka. Based on official records, he was the last victim of this assassination squad as the task force led by (rank unknown, later Dr., and a Datuk) Leong Chee Woh and his Team F finally neutralised the unit with the arrest of one member of the unit after he had been captured after a robbing a goldsmith and was in the midst of passing the proceeds to his unit.
Funeral and Legacy
His funeral was held in Seremban, attended by the then Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak. He was also posthumously awarded the title “Datuk Seri".
Today, two roads are named after him, one in Ipoh, and another in Kajang.
The Communist Threat
The Communist threat only ended in December 1989 in Peninsular Malaysia and in 1990 in Sarawak. Despite ending in the 90s, it is still a divisive topic today, especially on the contributions by MPAJA, or lack thereof records, and the subsequent atrocities by the MPAJA. The black spot of their atrocities would later be seen as much Chinese personnel, be it in Police Force or Armed Forces, had chosen to fade behind the limelight. Not to mention, many of those who were assassinated by the Mobile squad were former MPAJA guerrillas that had returned to the Government’s fold.
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