分类： 人物

A beautiful Spring on the way

Hope: Forward-looking is a strong characteristic of the Chinese.

Dec 22, 2022
By Foong Pek Yee
A person is a year older after eating the first bowl of “tang yuan”  (glutinous rice ball in sweet syrup in Chinese ) on Winter Solstice Festival (Dongzhi).
“Tang Yuan” which rhymes with reunion also makes the delicacy a must have for the festival.
Most of all, the delicacy is  affordable and palatable to the young and old alike as family members gather to celebrate.
Today (December 22, 2022) is the Winter Solstice Festival.
Auspicious:  CNY deco that focus on all things good.
With Chinese New Year  (CNY), also known as Spring Festival,  exactly a month away (on Jan 22, 2023), many traders are hopeful that Dongzhi shoppers are also in the mood for CNY shopping.
My turn: It is Year of the Rabbit starting Jan 22, 2023
Vibrant : Red for good luck and traders are hoping business will pick up as CNY draws near.
Upbeat: A trader livens up the festive mood with CNY songs.
At a wet market in Ipoh, traders are selling CNY deco and delicacies side by side with ready -to-eat  colourful “tang yuan”
One  CNY deco trader says business has yet to pick up, and that she has started selling the items two weeks ago.
She says people may be more cautious with their spending nowadays.
Nevertheless, she is upbeat that business will pick up as the celebration draws near.
Hope: Never too old to persevere.
She says many young people returning to their hometown to celebrate will do last minute shopping for their  family  elderly.
This coming year is Year of the Rabbit – a symbol of peace, energy and joy.
With the lovely  bunny hopping happily, the people are hoping for a good year for all.
Lively:  Plants and flowers are evergreen deco especially during CNY.

A blessed and beautiful Saturday.

Bringing hope : Another RM1.063 mil for a hospital for the people (from left); Dr Chuah, Dr Sak, Dr Ting, Prof Ewe, Dr Ling, Datuk Seri Yap, Chor, Lim and Lee. Sept 25, 2022.
By Foong Pek Yee
The weather was fine and there was an air of festivity all over the place.
Some 100 plus golfers who gathered at the Sungai Long Golf and Country Club in  Kajang, Selangor last Saturday (Sept 24) were there for a good cause. .
The event-Charity Golf Meet- has scored a big goal – raised RM1.063mil  for UTAR Hospital, a not -for-profit hospital in Kampar, Perak.
“We appreciate all of you coming together to enjoy a game of golf over a good cause for UTAR Hospital,” says Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik who is Universiti  Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Chancellor.
“Most golfers would agree that the friendship and bond built on a golf course are meaningful and elevating,” says Dr Ling who was MCA president and Transport Minister for about 17 years, and he is well known to have taken part in many golf tournaments to raise funds for education; including funds to expand Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC)in the 1990s and the building of UTAR since the early 2000s to provide quality and affordable tertiary education for the people.
UTAR turns 20 this year.
All smiles: (from left),  Lim, Chor, Lee and other golfers at the charity golf meet in Sungai Long Golf and Country Club, Kajang on Saturday,  Sept 24.
Describing the event as meaningful, UTAR council member Tan Sri Chor Chee Heung says it brings together diverse groups of people who value acts of charity.
Also the event’s organising committee chairman, Chor notes that UTAR Hospital will benefit Malaysia’s multiracial community especially the less fortunate by providing very affordable medical care.
He thanked the golfers for their support, and also all who contributed to the donations; from friends, partners, donors to sponsors, including Datuk Seri Ir Yap Chong Lee who through his Sungai Long Golf and Country Club, sponsored the golf course for the golf play and the breakfast and lunch for the golfers and guests for the event.
Also present were UTAR council chairman Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh, UTAR Education Foundation Board of Trustees  chairman Tan Sri Dr Sak Cheng Lum,  UTAR council members Datuk Lim Si Cheng and Datuk Lee Leck Cheng, UTAR president Datuk Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat and UTAR Hospital board chairman Tan Sri Dr Chuah Hean Teik .
Chor commended Lim and Lee for their months of effort and hard work from day one to help make the event a success.
Prof Ewe in thanking the golfers, donors and sponsors, says their spirit of giving back in support of charity is truly heart-warming.
He says the hospital is a hospital for the community, and the funds raised will help in its development and makes affordable specialist medical treatment more accessible to those in need.
The 350-bed UTAR Hospital comprises  250 beds for Western Medicine and 100 beds for traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM).
The T& CM section  has started operations early this year and the Western Medicine section is expected to open next year.
The RM330mil UTAR Hospital is also a teaching hospital under UTAR , a not-for-profit private university which turns 20 this year.

More than good food.

Recipe for a worthy cause. Sept 23, 2022.
By Foong Pek Yee
It was drizzling since early morning .
But the crowd in Golden Kimwah Restaurant in Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya yesterday was very good.
Apart from the good food in this popular neighbourhood eatery, the patrons were there for a noble cause -raise funds for Utar Hospital, a not -for- profit hospital in Kampar, Perak.
The event, organised by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) council and with the support of the restaurant, raised RM56,936. 80 from 7.30am to 3.30pm yesterday.
The donors include Ezon Bhd group chief executive officer  Ikaxa Tan, Ir Ling Leong Choong from Sitiawan, Perak and Datuk Peter Ng from Kajang, Selangor.
Highlight: Dr Ling frying char kuay teow.  Looking on are (from right), Dr Ting, Ezon Bhd group chief executive officer Ikaxa Tan and Utar council member Datuk Lim Si Cheng, also the event organising chairman. 
Big support :  Ikaxa Tan handing over a cheque to Dr Ling.
Good deeds:  Dr Ling (seated) receiving a cheque from Ir Ling Leong Choong. Looking on are Dr  Ting (second from right) and Utar council member Tan Sri Chor Chee Heung (behind Dr Ling).
Council chairman Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh expressed his gratitude to the people for their support.
And he used the Chinese saying – to save a life is better than to build a seven – level pagoda- to underscore the importance of their support.
A mission:  To help build Utar Hospital for the people (from left);  Dr Ting, Datuk Peter Ng, Ir Ling Leong Choong, Utar official Fook Oi Yee and Wong Jung Lik. 
Earlier, Utar chancellor Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik fried a plate of char kuay teow to kickstart the event.
Utar Hospital is a 350-bed hospital for Western medicine (250 beds) and Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM)  (100 beds).
The hospital, costing RM330mil, is expected to be fully operational next year.
The TCM section has started operations early this year.

A life grounded on destiny and love

Actions defines a man (1928-2022)

By Foong Pek Yee

The teenager survived the perilous journey and landed in Singapore.
First trip out from his village in Ipoh, Perak, Tung Sam Chee – my third maternal uncle – was only armed with the determination to survive.
That was shortly after the end of World War 2 in 1945 and, life was simply harsh and unpredictable.
His parents decided to send him to Singapore after losing  two older sons in the crossfire between the Japanese and communists earlier.
But the end of  World War 2 only saw civilians  caught in the confrontation between the British colonial government and communists in then Malaya.
That was life in a turbulent era.
Last goodbye:  Leaving Ang Mo Kio, Singapore on July 29, 2022 –  his home for about five decades.
The 17-year-old never looked back after landing in Singapore.
Perseverance, hard work and,  encounters with good people saw him settled down in Singapore.
He met and married the love of his life, Wong Wai Kwan, and they were blessed with three children; sons Kum Choon and Kum Cheong and daughter Sow Mun.
By then he already had his company on tooling business.
Life was a bliss for the family until fate dealt a cruel blow.
His wife passed away from kidney failure in 1974.
She was 34.
Third uncle stayed strong for their children – a promise he made to his wife- and to love them no matter what.
In 2005, he  lost his second son, 39-year-old  Kum Cheong, to brain tumour.
Again he remained strong for his children, and had kept a brave front as Kum Cheong battled with the disease.
Seventeen years later, on July 25,  third uncle who was 94, passed away peacefully in Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore, leaving behind Kum Choon, Sow Mun, their spouse and five grandchildren.
And his loved ones found consolation that he finally reunite with his beloved wife and Kum Cheong whom he missed dearly.
They were laid to rest side by side in the columbarium in Kong Meng San Buddhist Temple and Monastery in Bishan, Singapore.
Rest in peace: Prayers at Kong Meng San after the cremation on July 29, 2022
A proud son of Singapore, third uncle was forever patriotic and grateful for the opportunities he got as the nation evolved from a struggling post war island to a major global financial hub.
A  filial son and a  loving and caring  husband and father, he had stayed strong whatever challenges life threw at him.

Growing economic potential outside the city

Work life balance is the starting point for a young family
By Foong Pek Yee
After five years studying in Kuala Lumpur and  in UK, he is hesitant about returning to the laid back lifestyle in his hometown.
It takes Ooi Choo Teck about three years of contemplation before he returned to  Jering New Village in Manjung, Perak for good.
That was in 2008.
Today , Choo Teck is a tiger prawn farmer and has set his sights on the China market.
Making progress:  Choo Teck’s prawn farm in Segari, Manjung.
Scalability:  The quest for food security worldwide sees growing potential for farming.
A typical day for the  41-year-old farmer sees him juggling  between his house and farms  in Segari, Manjung, about 35 minutes drive apart.
He is already  in the business for eight years .
Prior to that he was helping his father Datuk Ooi Jing Ting in the family business.
He says  a relative taught him prawn farming.
“It involves much work and attention to detail ,and the need to be hands on,” he says.
While Choo Teck has workers to handle the job, he goes to the farms daily to stay on top of things.
Unlike living in a big city like Kuala Lumpur where traffic congestion can be  time consuming and stressful, Choo Teck says work-life balance is better away from  the  hustle and bustle.
Nowadays he has time to play badminton and goes jogging with his wife Yap Oi Leng.
The couple who are both  41 are blessed with three children.
Cultivating a future:  Rising economic opportunities outside the city.
 On what it takes to stay on in a village while many young people are leaving for the cities, Choo Teck says he makes new friends,  focus on his business and bringing up his family.
With food security  a rising world concern, he says food production has good business potential.
He has plans to expand his prawn business and export to China in five years’ time.
To date, his prawns go to Pantai Remis in Perak.
“We must have a certain volume of production in order to qualify to venture into the overseas export market,” says Choo Teck who has a degree in marketing.
Prawn and fish farming is a big business in Manjung.

Turning adversity into strength

Down with polio at three and orphaned at five, Too Hing Huat sees hope in life as long as he can walk.
By Foong Pek Yee
At 82, Too Hing Huat still rides a tricycle and tends to his vegetables and fruit trees daily.
Having to support himself with a walking stick does not stop him from moving around and being  productive.
A typical day for him  revolves around his village – his vegetables and fruit trees,  his home that double up as a sundry shop and the coffeeshop to meet up with friends.
Hing Huat from Raja Hitam New Village in Manjung, Perak says he  sees hope in life as long as he can walk.
Never give up:  Hing Huat’s life motto 
Born in 1940 and growing up in a turbulent era, he learned survival at a very young age.
“I woke up one morning and cannot  walk.
‘The day before I had fever .”
Hing Huat who regained his mobility but with a limp, has likened it to a new lease of life.
Youngest among nine siblings, they lost their mother during World War Two.
In 1945, Hing Huat ‘s ailing father who wanted to seek treatment in China wanted to take him along.
Barred from boarding the ship  when they found him limping, his father went ahead, and that was the last time he saw him.
“Until today we don’t know if our father had arrived in China.”
Without formal education, Hing Huat took up odd jobs when he turned 13.
He was 16 when he landed  a job at a Foochow pau shop in Ayer Tawar town.
It was at the shop that Hing Huat  made some friends, including Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh, who is three years his junior.
“He (Dr Ting) used to ride a bicycle from his village and parked it  at the back of the shop before taking a bus to his school in Sitiawan.
“We did chat a bit when he returned to get his bicycle after school,” Hing Huat  recalls  the good old days, and a friendship that has remained over the decades.
Hing Huat married Tin Chon Heong in 1968, and they returned to his village the following year to set up their Foochow pau shop and raised their five children – all sons who are aged between 52 and 41 now.
 
Old faithful: The tricycle that serves Hing Huat well over the decades
Choice location: Raja Hitam New Village is conducive for living and doing small business since the old days.
Community first : A well kept garden and playground for the villagers.
Education a priority:  The village’s Chinese primary school SJKC Pei Min Kg Raja Hitam.
Hing Huat’s wife passed away about
eight years ago, shortly after the couple retired and closed down their pau business.
Two of his sons settled down in Johor, one in Singapore and one in Pantai Remis, Perak.
Hing Huat stays with his youngest son,  Too Song Yee and his family in their shop house in the village.
Song Yee and his wife Joan Law have two children.
Orphaned at age 5, Hing Huat has come a long way.
“Three generations living under the same roof is a blessing.
” Due to my physical disability, I dare not think of marriage  initially for fear of not being able to provide for my family.
 “It is my wife who gave me the confidence that we can together raise our family.” 
Perseverance runs in the family.
Song Yee, 41, works about 15 hours a day, six days a week running his sundry shop.
A typical day for him starts at 5.00am.
He will be in Ayer Tawar town, about 10 minutes drive from his village,  to get fresh vegetables for sale in his shop.
His shop opens by sunrise and closed at 8.00pm daily.
Returning to his village from Singapore for good 12 years ago, Song Yee never looked back.

Where chickens are free to roam

A day in the life of a healthy free range chicken.
By Foong Pek Yee
The chickens need to eat, move and sleep well.
Three meals a day,  exercise and a good night’s sleep is a must .
Free range chicken (zou di ji in Chinese) farmer Ling Kok Seng also known as  Chicken King, says customers can tell the difference when chickens are well bred.
The Chicken King : Ling Kok Seng is synonymous with quality free range chickens in Manjung, Perak.
The chicken meal  comprises corn and  chopped vegetables mixed with chicken feed.
He fenced up two acres 0f his four-acre oil palm holding for his chickens to roam all day long.
The chickens are released to  the fenced up area in the morning.
They are rounded up to a secured section in the evening to protect them from predators like wild boars at night.
While a two months old chicken is ready for the market, Kok Seng says he keeps his chickens for another month.
According to him, a three  months old chicken is at its prime – in terms of meat texture.
“An extra month of exercise enhances the meat texture,” he shares.
Healthy : A good diet makes a difference
Kok Seng who learned chicken rearing while working for a relative says passion for the job and experience is important.
“I am happy when my customers are happy with their purchase,”  says Kok Seng from  Jering Village in Ayer Tawar.
His customers are mostly regulars  from Ayer Tawar and Sitiawan in Manjung, Perak.
Kok Seng will be in the market in Ayer Tawar and Sitiawan thrice a week to sell his chickens.
On market days, he will wake up 4.00am to make his way to the market early.
He says he enjoys market days – mingling with traders, friends and customers.
Kok Seng had taken up different jobs before he became a chicken farmer six years ago.
He was a construction worker in Singapore for four years  before he returned to his village for good in  2004.
Kok Seng, 40 and his wife Ting Ping Ping, 38,  have  a five-year-old son Ling Ke Yong.
While his zou di ji (free range chicken) business can be hectic, Kok Seng says it is not stressful and that he has time for his family and friends in between work.

A brilliant career spanning seven decades

He never allows distractions to get in his way.

By Foong Pek Yee
It was the 1985 world tin crash that literally crushed the mine workers and the economy.
Massive unemployment, business shutdowns  saw many left their hometown in droves looking for a living.
It was a picture of grim in Kampar-a rich tin mining town-but all is not lost.
A tin miner in Kampar was determined to revive the town.
He is Tan Sri Hew See Tong who envisioned a modern self- contained town built on ex mining land.
True to the Chinese saying: “We rise from where we fell”, he built Bandar
Baru Kampar meaning Kampar new town.
Today, the town is  an education hub  complete with a private hospital.
An icon’s journey : On May 25, 2022, the hearse carrying Tan Sri Hew See Tong along Jalan Universiti in Bandar Baru Kampar where UTAR,  UTAR Hospital and Westlake International School are located.
It has the trappings of a modern township.
 Hew’s first and big breakthrough was in 2003 when the Kuala Lumpur based Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) opened its Perak branch campus in Bandar Baru Kampar.
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The township got a major boost when Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) opened its main campus there in 2007.
TARC was set up and owned by MCA in 1969, while UTAR is a not for profit private university  owned by UTAR Education Foundation.
Both institutions  were built by public donations, and they were well known for their affordable fees that make tertiary education accessible to the middle and low income groups.
 MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik ( 1986 – 2003) is credited for expan
ding TARC and getting government approval to build a private university (UTAR) in 2001.
Dr Ling and a group of MCA  leaders including Hew took the lead to raise funds for TARC expansion and  building UTAR.
Hew , three-term Kampar Member of Parliament (1995-2008),started  Westlake International School (WIS) in Bandar Baru Kampar in 2013.
And  last month (April) marked another  milestone for Bandar Baru Kampar when UTAR Hospital opened its 100-bed  traditional and complementary medicine department.
Its  250-bed Western Medicine department is scheduled for opening next year.
A fund raising campaign for the hospital is ongoing and Hew was actively raising funds until a few days before he breathed his last.
To complete the story on Kampar, Hew single- handedly designed the Kinta Tin Mining (gravel pump) Museum in Bandar Baru Kampar.
And the scenic lake in Bandar Baru Kampar which is an ex mining pond is testimony to the town’s origins
Picture perfect: The lake is surrounded by development, with the Hew residence fronting it.
A life of dedication that makes a difference to the lives of many, Hew passed away last Sunday (May 22, 2022).
He was 91.
An education icon, Hew is a loving husband, father and grandfather, and a great friend to many from all walks of life.

The place to connect and recharge

Coffeeshops is an integral part of life in a new village
By Foong Pek Yee
They easily chalked up a total of 24 hours of work daily.
The couple are up by 4.00am daily in time to open  their coffeeshop an hour later.
While they close for the day after lunch, they still have the cleaning up to do as well as planning for the next day.
At 68, Chang says she and her husband, Chiew, have been in this routine since they got married 33 years ago.
The shop in Merbau New Village in Manjung, Perak , also double up as their home.
Their three grown up daughters  are having their own career – marking an important milestone for the proud parents.
A daily  routine: Chiew (right) taking orders from a customer
Chang from Pantai Remis says the village is her world since her marriage.
“We only take off  in the first week of Chinese New Year,” says Chang, adding that they occasionally take a day off to run errands outside the village.
Coffeeshops is very much an integral part of life in a  new village.
For many, that is the first place they head to upon waking up.
Chang says the villagers who mostly work in their oil palm small holdings nowadays  start work early morning.
This was the same in the old days whereby majority were rubber tappers, she adds.
They have breakfast at coffeeshops before sunrise and off to work.
This is followed by mid morning coffee break and lunch in coffeeshops.
“It is also a way for them to recharge  and relax as manual jobs can be taxing physically,”  says Chang.
Most of them are owners of small holdings who continue to work  alongside their workers.
Retirees also thronged coffeeshops daily to keep each other company and get update on the latest development at home and abroad.
Face-to-face interaction and chit chat in coffeeshop also gives villagers a break from  social media addiction – something many urbanites are still struggling to do.
 While Chang and Chiew may be busy serving their customers,  they  also  enjoy their company .
Sharing and caring: Chang (left) with Phang who is a regular in her coffeeshop.
That perhaps is part of the driving force that keeps them running their business  rain or shine for over three decades, and  still  going strong.

Creating meaning in life to live well

Growing up in a turbulent era 
By Foong Pek Yee
THE soldiers came knocking on their door one night.
They were told to pack their bags before they got shoved into an army truck.
Huddled in darkness, she and her family members feared for their life throughout the journey from their home in Chemor, Perak to an undisclosed destination.
Recalling the ordeal, Phang who was only 13 then, says stories of  villagers went missing after they were taken away by soldiers  were real.
It was in the  early 1950s, and a turbulent era  in then Malaya.
Phang says she and her family were considered “dai maeng” (literally translated to big life in Cantonese – a term to denote someone who cheated death).
They were taken to Merbau New Village in Manjung, Perak – a  barb wire settlement under curfew – about 80km from Chemor.
It is among the 452 new villages set up by the colonial government to cut contact between the Chinese and the communists.
(The colonial government deemed the Chinese as supporters of the communists)
“It was a long journey before the truck came to a halt. We were told to get down and get inside an attap shack,” she says pointing to the village  community hall next to a coffeeshop where she was having her lunch .
“It was just an attap shack then,” she recalls.
This place certainly has a special place in her heart.
Good old days:   Once an attap shack that gave shelter to the temporary homeless 
Phang says they stayed in the shack for a while before each family was  given a plot of land in the village to build a house and do whatever they can to survive.
She recalls planting vegetables, tapioca and rearing animals for a living.
Phang  took a walk down memory lane when I met her at the coffeeshop recently.
Phang and Chang, the wife of the coffeeshop owner, came across as close friends.
Moments in life: Chang finds time to catch up with Phang (seated) 
Villages are basically close knitted communities.
Phang who got married and stayed on in Merbau has five children. Her husband passed away several years ago.
She says her eldest sister, in her 80s,  her only surviving sibling, stays in Chemor.   Phang is the youngest among four siblings.
Phang is taking care of her youngest child – a daughter in her 50s- who is not well.
A hard life, but all is not lost.
Growing up in the turbulent years has made her resilient to any challenges life throws at her.
“I live each day well,” says Phang when asked what  a typical day is like for her these days.