Sunday May 3, 2009

Reliving the kampung days

BY FOONG PEK YEE

Hers was the only Chinese family in a Malay village; her family car the sole mode of transport for villagers in times of need. Newly-appointed deputy minister Heng Seai Kie’s lessons on serving the community started from young.

FROM her office in Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad, Senator Heng Seai Kie has a panoramic view of the Kuala Lumpur skyscrapers. At times, though, she sees not the concrete buildings but fields of padi just like those in her old hometown some 500km away up north.

Born and bred in Kedah – Malaysia’s “rice bowl” – Heng, the newly-appointed Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister, is certainly not homesick.

Yet she longs for the good old days in a Malay village – Kampung Teluk Kechai, Kedah where she and her family lived. The Heng family was the only Chinese household in the village.

Her nostalgia certainly has much to do with her appointment as deputy minister.

To begin with, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s vision of 1Malaysia has literally taken her for a walk down memory lane.

Sharing her memories of the close-knit community, she says life was hard in the village but: “We shared so much, from celebrating Hari Raya and Chinese New Year to our day-to-day problems and joys.”

Ready to serve: Heng i s excited with the new appointment which she believes will give her another platform to serve the people better.

Heng left the village to study in Universiti Malaya where she graduated with a BA in 1986.

Close knit family

Her father, Heng Swee Heang, whom she describes as a very generous and helpful man, owned a shop selling construction materials and was a highly-respected figure in the village.

It is obvious that the Heng family was in a better financial position compared with the rest of the villagers who were mainly padi farmers and odd-job labourers.

The Heng family car was the only transport for the villagers, taking them to hospital when they were sick or were going to give birth and sending them home later.

In times of emergency, including financial ones, the villagers could always count on Heng’s father.

And every Hari Raya, Heng’s father would order 100 packets of beef (one kati each) as gifts for them. A packet for each family, Heng recalls.

In return, the Heng family would get lots of Raya delicacies.

Come Chinese New Year, the Malay villagers would get fruits like mandarin oranges, and kuih bakul (nien kao).

Heng also recalls the neighbours visiting their house every other day.

“We all had so much to share. I remember the men would like to talk to my father about their farming problems.

“We are from different backgrounds, culture and religion. But it is the shared understanding that pulls us together as Malaysians.”

Heng’s mother, Tan Ah Hean, arrived in then Malaya from Quangzhou, China, at the age of 18.

“My parents’ marriage was an arranged one. Like many traditional Chinese men born in Malaya then, my father went to China to look for a bride. Girls from China then were considered very lucky if they got chosen,” she quips.

Heng says her mother was well integrated into the family and the community three months upon her arrival.

That speaks volumes for not just her loving family but also the community as well.

The couple were blessed with five sons and three daughters, with Heng being the second youngest.

A lecturer-turned-politician, Heng also speaks passionately of her mother whom she describes as one who always puts other people’s interest first. She recalls the times when she and her mother, who had suffered a stroke, struggled to find time to be together in her final days.

“I am fine. You don’t have to worry about me. Go and help other people in distress as they need your help more,” a misty-eyed Heng remembers her mother telling her on one of her visits two years ago. Her mother died last year at the age of 88. Heng’s father died 10 years ago at the age of 76.

Her upbringing not only shaped her outlook in life as a Malaysian and a politician but also served as lessons and a compass to guide her in her new appointment.

As she puts it aptly: “We may live in different eras but the essence of human beings remains the same.”

The soft-spoken and trilingual Heng, who is Perak Wanita MCA chief and Wanita secretary-general, joined MCA in 1992.

She obtained a Masters in Business Administration from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 1997 and started lecturing in Ungku Omar Polytechnic College the following year.

She lectured in accounting, commercial law, business administration and human resources management.

In 2006, she was made a Senator.

Heng, 47, and her 49-year-old husband, Y. H. Chiam, a lawyer, were campus sweethearts and they have a six-year-old son.

As for how the family is coping with her new appointment, Heng says it is her understanding and caring husband who makes everything possible.

For now, her husband and son will continue to stay in Ipoh, Perak and the family will meet up over the weekends.

New platform

Heng is excited with the new appointment which she believes will give her another platform to serve the people better.

For a start, she wants to see how to disseminate information more effectively so that people on the ground would know what assistance is available for them.

On her motto in life, she says: “Give my best in everything I do. Be focused and honest. Be kind and help everybody if possible.”

Like many women, Heng who describes her husband as the greatest gift from God to her, says a good marriage is also the inspiration in whatever she does.

“I am always confident, in the face of challenges, that I have a place to go back to and share my problems with him. He is there to support me. This is what makes me a brave woman, because I know I have somebody to rely on even if the whole world turns against me.”

There is little surprise then that her favourite song is Yue liang dai biao wo de xin (The moon represents my love) by the late Taiwanese songbird Teresa Teng. That’s her mobile ring tone as well.

As to her secret of looking younger than her 47 years, the petite Heng who stands at 5 ft 2 inches, weighs 48kg and is blessed with a fair complexion, says her diet consists mainly of vegetables and fruits, with jackfruit being her favourite.

The soft-spoken Heng also reads, plays table tennis and enjoys listening to sentimental music.

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