Dad, what were your first few jobs? What did you do and do you remember how much you earned?

I landed my first job as a temporary stock clerk in Alec Bus Company as Kung Kung arrange for me to get some working experience after my Form 5 examination. I was paid RM 60 and all I had to do was to update the stock cards from the stock issuance/stock replenishment sheets. It was a matter of updating and ticking but it became a very boring job when I realised that the records will not match the physical stocks of the spare parts as I was not involved in any stock count at all. I gave up this job after 2 months.

I also did a temporary stint as a teacher in Federal Institute of Technology teaching English to the students there. I think I was paid about RM 120/200 per month and here too I lasted only about 2 months as I was on holidays or waiting to be posted.

After my completion of studies in TAR College in 1976, I landed a job fairly quickly as an executive accounting officer in the Department Of Civil Aviation. I was in charge of the Payments section and also did the payroll. It was quite an easy job authorising payment and ensuring proper account codes were used. This job paid me RM 640 as a starting pay. After 3 years I was transferred to the Central Medical Health office in Johor Baru in 1978. Here the finance section was my responsibility. I had to liase with the Accountant General's office after the Ministy of Health stopped the imprest system. In 1983 I was promoted to a Higher Executive Accounting Officer and was transferred back to KL in the Ministry of Health. Here too I was given charge of the Payroll, Revenue as well as some administration work. Although I finally qualified as an accountant in 1986, I only got my appointment as as Administrative Officer in Bank Negara Malaysia in 1989. I worked for six years and quit to be a Cosway stockist for about 5 to 6 months.

I was appointed an Assistant Vice President in Bank Of Commerce in 1996 and later promoted to Vice President in 2008. Here we did internal auditing too and I finally retired in 2009 at age of 55. Rested for about 9 months and then joined ORIX Leasing Malaysia Berhad as Internal Auditor on contract which ends in October 2013.



 

Dad, what was the worst trouble you got when you were younger

My earliest trouble I got was to hurt myself when I broke some glass bottle and it cut into my hand. I was then probably just a toddler and I remember the story because I had a few stitches in my hand. When I was in secondary school my trouble was caused by the pulling of my tooth by the General Hospital Johor Baru. Somehow after my tooth was pulled I bled the whole night through and I had to be carried to another private dentist who finally stop the blleding. I remember that I was so weak that I could harly walked then.

Another trouble I got into, was to hide in Kung Kung's car hoping to follow him to his office but was found out as my brother Alex also wanted to follow. I was of course chased out of the car.

Dad, did you ever win an honour you were proud of, and what was it in honour of

No, I had not won any outstanding honours, although as a Boy Scout I had won several badges but failed to complete my first class honours due to my weakness in tying knots. I did not attempt the exam but I did receice other merit badges such as for translation, camping etc.

One certificate I was proud off was the blood donation certificate which was received in 1976. It was my first blood donation and at that time the Chinese were quite afraid to give blood with all kinds of superstitions. Until today there are still several people with such superstitions. I think Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman created history when close to 70 of us gave blood in a blood donation drive then. Since then giving blood is a routine and we were glad to help out in the fasting months as Muslims then will take a rest.

I was also given token of appreciation by the Sultan of Terengganu when we held our Ministry of Health Sports in the form of a turtle ashtray and also by the current Sultan of Johor who was then a Raja Muda with a commerortive plate for the Sports held in Johore. I was then the national treasurer for the Ministry of Health Sports Club.

In Church I was appointed the Parish Pastoral Council Chief in 2005 to 2011. It was a longest stint for a PPC Chairman and we had 4 other PPC Chairpersons before me. I was quite happy to be given letters of appreciation by Father Simon Yong , the Parish Priest. I finally step down in January 2012 after Father Simon passed the baton to Father Albert Tan SJ. My usccessor is Hans Tan. During my stint as Chairman I was happy to be given the honour to address the Parish Assemblies and also represented SFX in the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council.

 

Dad, who taught you to drive and what was your first car

My first driving school teacher was of course your Kung Kung. He allowed me to learn driving from him after I finished my Form 5. He paid the driving school to teach me too. I remember using an old Toyota for learning how to drive. The teacher was a Malay gentleman who brought me to the hills to test the emergency brakes as well as driving on the road. I was also taught on how to park sideways, reverse etc. My only problem was on the day of my test I was given a car that I had never used before and suddenly I did not know where was the hand brake which was no more in between the seats but was attached to the dashboard. I nearly failed the test because of my unfamiliarity but in the end my driving instructor managed to kow tim my driving test results. I remembered the tester reminding me to drive carefully. Those days, it was much easier to pass driving tests.

I also managed to get my motorbike licence when I was in College after 4 attempts as I had failed earlier as I drop my feet during the emergency brake tests. Unfortunately when I lost my driving licence the RIMV could not trace my record for the motorbike licence and thus now I only have my car driving licence

Dad, did you play a sport and what do you like best about it

I am definitely not a sportsman. However in the primary days I do love to run and also took part in High Jump and long jump events. In fact I was chosen for trials in Standard 5 for the hurdles but as I was then not able to travel on my own, I could not attend the afternoon track events and I was promptly drop from the trials.

I remember my dad helped me to make a long jump pitch in our Abdul Samad home and I enjoyed practising there. I also learn to play badminton but only played for fun at home then with my siblings and some of the boarders at our home.



 

Dad, who were your favourite teachers and why?

I must say I have several favourite teachers as I go through my entire education. My first class teacher that I liked was Mrs Karthigesu who taught me in Standard 1. She was a very good teacher and I guessed I cannot forget her as she failed me in my Oral English test when I said that I don't take salt. She passed salt for me to taste and I found it horrible so I just said I have not eaten salt before. Little did I know that it was used for cooking. However I have since developed an unhealthy liking for salty foods.

Another teacher I remember and liked was a kindergarden teacher a Miss Yeoh who taught me Catechism. I loved her classes as I could answer her questions and use to get holy pictures as a reward.

In Standard 2 I had a Mrs Phua who was very inspiring and I managed to do well in class due to her encouragement. At theat time I was able to attain the second position in class, a feat that I never experienced again.


In Standard 6, I had a friendly teacher in Mr Chew Ah Liang who was very good to the students and up till today we will still say hello if we meet each other in Chuch of the Immaculate Conception Johoe Baru.

If I am not mistaken I had a Mrs Nadarajah who taught us English in Form 1 or 2 and she encouraged me to write essays. I remember writing a piece on a visit to a hospital and she gave me a 7 out of 10. In fact it was also sent out for a UNESCO competition but I lost out to my good friend Dr Yong Kwet Yew

The other teacher I remembered is a Mrs Chandra who taught us English Literature in Form 5. I remembered her taking us through Jane Austen's Manasfield Park and I used to love the book.

 In 6th Form the teacher that I liked was a Mr Bakshi who taught us English Literature. He was a very good story teller.


At KTAR my favourite teacher would be my law he lecturer who taught us Mercantile Law. Mr Law or lawman as fondly called was good in expounding the legal terms and case histories and during the free time could sing his favourite melodies. Sadly he had passed on a few years ago. May his soul rest in peace.

Another lecturer we were fond of is Mr Loy Jit Loy. He taught us tax but he did not hesistate to follow us in our motorbikes when we go for meals etc. Coincindentally I met him this morning the 19/09/2013 in Jalan Gasing and he told me he was on his way to UH for a check up. Incidentally I also met his brother who was the Head of the Audit Department in JB and we became lunch partners there in the late seventies.

I must say I was so impressed with teachers that I harboured intentions to be a teacher after Form 6. I did lecture in FIT for a few months as a part time job. Sadly though I did not pursue this career after I finished my accountancy courses.

To all my teachers I am grateful to you all and May God Bless you all

Dad, what were your favourite subjects in School and why?

In school I use to love history as I am somehow attracted to the stories of people. I love the events and the achievements our forefathers did and I wanted to emulate their good qualities. I also enjoyed my classes in Catechism as I had a strong attraction towards Jesus Christ and his holy Catholic Church. His biblical stories were all very inspiring as he cared for the marginalised, the poor and all thos who seek his help.

Another subject was arithmetic as it was easy then to memorise the time tables and solved simple arithmetical problems. However I got list in additional maths and I regretted taking Mathemetics for my Higher School Certificate. I did not know then that History would have been a better subject to take. This is mainly because I did not do history in Form 4 and 5 and was just afraid I could not catch up.

In HSC my favourite subject was Economics as it dealt with the market place and I loved the intricacies of the workings of the economy although I am no businessman. I also love English Literature although I may not be too fervent in the language. I remembered acting out in the play Othello in the Form 6 classes and although I was shy I sought of liked it too.

In College I love the law subjects aspecailly the Law of Torts and also some commercial law.