David Chessex (St. Michael's Church Ipoh Cemetery)

The tomb of David Chessex and Teresa Yong Thean Sin looks well maintained with a fresh coat of paint on its letterings. 

David Chessex passed away on 24 February 1950. 

Teresa Yong Thean Sin passed away 44 years later on 23 January 1994. 

David Chessex and Teresa Yong Thean Sin

It was highly likely that David Chessex passed away at a young age. Researching further, my intuition is correct as Detective Corporal David Chessex died at the age of 26 on 24 February 1950. What was shocking was that he was murdered in the line of duty by bandits of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), the armed wing of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) during the bloddy Malayan Emergency. 

2 Killed in Coffee Shop

A 26 year old Eurasian detective Corporal David Chessex and the Chinese proprietor of a coffee shop, Lee Foo Heng, age 45 were shot dead by bandits in the mining town of Gopeng, 13 miles south of Ipoh on 24 February 1950. David Chessex was having drinks with 4 friends at the coffee shop at 9 pm when 4 armed bandits came in and shot him in the back of the head. 

The towkay of the shop ran into the street when he heard the firing but was shot down. There were 2 large pools of blood in front of the shop suggesting that the towkay had collapsed on being hit and try to get up to get away before he was shot again from sten guns. A European police sergeant of the Gopeng jungle police squad hear the first shot and raced to the scene. Upon seeing the bandits emerge from the shop, he engaged them with his pistol. The bandits returned fire before running off. 

It was revealed 17 months later on 26 July 1951, that the murderer was a Min Yuen leader of Gopeng, Chong Kit Leng and the irony of it all was that he was a school friend of David Chessex (or maybe they went to the same school). Chong Kit Leng was killed by a combined police and commando operation in the Kampar area after they located a bandit camp on 25 July 1951. Recovered from his body was the service revolver he then took from David Chessex. when he murdered him. The Min Yuen (民運 or Gerakan Rakyat) was the civilian branch of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), the armed wing of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP)