He never give up

by Foong Pek Yee
13 Dec, 2021
HIS garden is a sight to behold.
It is a symbol of love and hope.
At 82, Phang See Kong has been planting perilla plants at the backyard of Gopeng Museum since a few months ago.
“Are they (leaves) pretty?  They come in 10 different colours and shades,” says Phang who tends  to his plants daily.
He has a few hundred pots of the plants,  and he hopes to sell them to raise funds to maintain the  museum.
Labour of love:  The Perilla Garden  at the backyard of Gopeng Museum
The museum which offers free admission  has been shut down due to the pandemic.
It is set to re-open in January 2022
Phang who is the museum’s curator  has been at wits end to raise funds to maintain the museum he co-founded in 2009 with three others  –  Bernard Yaw, Wong Kuan Cheong and Tan Yoke Chun.
Wong had passed away while Yaw has migrated a few years ago.
Only Tan and Phang continue to stay in Gopeng, about 18km from Ipoh city centre.
Phang was a teacher and headmaster in Gopeng where he spent his entire working life.
He went on to serve in Gopeng as special assistant to then Gopeng Member of Parliament and Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh between 1991 and 2008.
Phang is also a writer.
 His book   ” A Meander down Memory Lane (1850-2000) ”  documenting Chinese pioneers in Gopeng – a famous tin mining area until the collapse of the world tin market in the 1980s- was published in 2016.
A pot of the perilla plant is priced between RM18 and RM12.
Phang can be contacted at 016-5421287.

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