Goodbye Ah Meng

Friday, Feb 8, 2008 marked the passing of a Singapore legend. She was a great looking Singapore girl who rubbed shoulders with royalty, movie stars and statesmen. Among those who dropped in on her were Britain's Prince Philip, pop superstar Michael Jackson and actress Elizabeth Taylor.

She was featured in almost 30 travel films and more than 270 write-ups worldwide. Her name was Ah Meng, and she was the famous Sumatran orang utan who is the face of the Singapore zoo. Ah Meng died at age 48 (which is 95 in human terms) and it marked the end of an era at the Singapore Zoological Gardens.

Ah Meng is survived by four children and six grandchildren.