KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — Director of the Royal Selangor pewter company, Datin Paduka Chen Mun Kuen, has died, her family announced today. She was 76.

It is understood that her death on Thursday was due to complications from acute myeloid leukaemia.

Chen was the granddaughter of Yong Koon who founded the Royal Selangor company in 1885.

She was a stalwart of Malaysia’s pewter and tourism industry for most of her life, overseeing Royal Selangor’s growth in the mid-80s that culminated in the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah of Selangor conferring on the company a royal warrant.

In a statement issued this morning, her husband, Chen Shoo Sang, said his wife "loved meeting people, loved telling stories, and had a dazzling smile.”

The family also paid tribute to their matriarch, who always attended company events in her trademark cheongsam, in the same statement.

"For her, business was family and family was business.

"She was known for her humour and her zest for life, driving and working full-time until just before she fell ill two months ago,” they said.

Chen leaves behind a daughter Chen May Yee, son Chen Tien Yue and five grandchildren.