GEORGE TOWN: Property consultant Michael Geh and his wife went into the low-risk Covid-19 centre in Penang as patients with mild symptoms but only one left when he succumbed to the deadly disease.
GEORGE TOWN: Michael Geh (pic), one of the country’s foremost property consultants, has died of cardiac arrest after contracting Covid-19.
The 57-year-old, a regular at property conferences and speaking circuits around the world, breathed his last at 1.45pm yesterday after developing complications while battling the disease at Penang Hospital.
His sister Linda said Geh was admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit on May 9 after testing positive for the coronavirus.
“He had hypertension and according to doctors, the virus weakened his heart and kidneys.
“He was intubated and we thought he had a fighting chance, ” she said.
Geh, a former student of St Xavier’s Institution here, was a registered valuer and real estate agent and senior partner of Raine & Horne International Zaki and Partners Sdn Bhd.
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The topic of senior living has been widely discussed in Malaysia over the last decade. The National Policy on Senior Citizens defines senior citizens as those aged 60 and above, and there has been a proposal by the National Senior Citizens Advisory and Consultative Council last year to amend the definition to 65 and above.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia’s 4Q2020 demographic statistics show that the country’s population stood at 32.73 million, comprising three age groups: 0 to 14 (7.57 million); 15 to 64 (22.82 million); and above 65 (2.34 million).
Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd associate director James Tan notes that while Malaysia is fast becoming a developed nation, it will also become an ageing nation by 2030, with 14.2% of the population being senior citizens. The figure will increase to 23.1% by 2050, owing to the increase in the life expectancy rate with the help of modern medical treatments.
After a year of battling the Covid-19 pandemic, there does not seem to be an end in sight with many countries continuing to impose lockdowns, albeit of differing severity. In Malaysia, the third wave of the outbreak and the subsequent Movement Control Order (MCO) 2.0 have added to the uncertainties in the country’s economic outlook.
However, amid the current turmoil, there is some good news for Penang. In presenting the 4Q2020 Penang Housing Property Monitor, Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd senior partner Michael Geh says data from the National Property Information Centre (Napic) shows that the state’s property market saw a major spike in terms of transaction volume in 3Q2020, and he expects this trend to have continued into 4Q2020.