Leong Chee Woh

Leong Chee Woh was born on 11 November 1929 in Taiping, Perak. He was adopted by a Chinese family of Baba-Nyonya descent. He furthered his studies at the King Edward VII School before his studies were interrupted by the Japanese occupation of Malaya.

After Japan surrendered, he sat for the Senior Cambridge Examination or also known as the Overseas Schooling Certificate Examination in 1949.

Prior to joining the police force, Leong initially worked as a Taiping Town Council clerk after the Japanese occupation, before serving as a chief clerk at the Selama Police District Headquarters.

Leong joined the Federation of Malaya Police on 1 December 1950 as Probationary Inspector and has undergone basic training at the Police Training Center in Jalan Gurney, Kuala Lumpur. Since he joined the police force during the Malayan Emergency, he naturally participated in the work against the Communists, so he joined the Police Field Force (now known as the General Operations Force). As a result of his hardworking efforts, it led him to be transferred to the Special Branch in April 1953. After that, he was also transferred to the Special Branch of various states. He also served in Betong in southern Thailand for four and a half years as a Malayan intelligence officer. He also became head of the group and the Malaysia-Thailand border committee member to monitor the illlegal activities of the Communist Party of Malaya. His anti-communist services in states such as Pahang, Perak, Kelantan, Kedah and Sarawak have all achieved brilliant results.

In addition, he was founder of the F team, the most elite undercover task force in Special Branch in March 1971 and was holding the rank of Superintendent of Police at that time.

Leong retired on 10 November 1984 upon turning the age of 55 one days later on an optional compulsory basis and his last position at the police force was a Deputy Director (Operations) of Bukit Aman Special Branch.

At 18 July 2021, Leong passed away due to stroke in his residence at Seri Kembangan, Selangor.[1][2]

•  Malaya :
  • Recipient of the Mention In Despatches (K.P.K.) (1959)[3]
•  Malaysia :
  • Member of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (A.M.N.) (1966)[4]
  • Officer of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (K.M.N.) (1975)[5]
  • Companion of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (J.M.N.) (1981)[6]
  • Medal of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (P.P.N.) (1984)[7]
  • Recipient of the Star of the Commander of Valour (P.G.B.) (2017)[8]
•  Sarawak :
  • Member of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (A.B.S.) (1973)
  • Companion of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (J.B.S.) (1983)
•  Pahang :
  • Member of the Order of the Crown of Pahang (A.M.P.) (1980)
•  Federal Territory (Malaysia) :
  • Knight Commander of the Order of the Territorial Crown (P.M.W.) – Datuk (2010)[9]

Leong, Chee Woh (2015). Scorpio: Against the One-eyed Dragon. ISBN 978-0-9961501-1-8.