A familiar face who often greets journalists covering press conferences of the Penang chief minister at Komtar’s 28th floor is no more, now that Ong See Fook has passed away.

Ong, 83, was a friendly but quiet civil servant, who had worked tirelessly for three chief ministers, starting with the late Dr Lim Chong Eu in 1970.

He passed away peacefully yesterday, after a month’s illness.

According to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, Ong could be the longest serving civil servant as he served the government for 61 years, beginning as a staff in 1956...