The status of former Penang Chief Minister Dr Lim Chong Eu's health is still unknown to the public as his family has instructed the hospital authorities not to divulge any information about the matter, the media has learnt.

lim chong eu Lim, 91, is currently admitted to the intensive care unit in Penang General Hospital, and is believed to have suffered a stroke on Tuesday.

Gerakan president and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Koh Tsu Koon visited Lim for about 15 minutes today, at about 4.30pm.

The media caught up with him when he was leaving the unit, along with several other Penang Gerakan leaders including state chairperson Teng Hock Nan and vice-chairperson Ong Thean Lye.

When asked about Lim's condition, Koh declined to comment, saying he had no authority to talk about the situation.

All he could say was the Lim was "resting", and urged all Penangites as well as Malaysians, to pray for the his speedy recovery.

gerakan egm 101010 koh tsu koon pc "Upon reading the news about Tun's illness, we in Gerakan have started praying for his speedy recovery," he told the media, who had been camping at the hospital since this morning.

Koh ( left ) also said the last time he visited Lim at his Penang home was two-and-a-half months ago. "He was doing very well after retirement."

Lim was the second Penang chief minister for 21 years from May 1969 to Oct 1990, and held the Gerakan presidency from 1971 to 1980.

Prior to Gerakan, Lim was MCA president from 1958 to 1959, during a time when the party was undergoing one its most tumultuous periods.

Following his retirement from politics, Lim became a businessman and in 2007 he was named founding chancellor of Wawasan Open University in Penang.