by Joachim Fischer, Shanghai
Kuala Lumpur. There could not have been a better gift for Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen who celebrates her 63rd birthday I this days. She has been given a new lease of life as Tourism Minister, from her previous portfolio as Women, Family and Community Development Minister. Dr Ng, who will be sworn in today together with the rest of the Cabinet, pledged to give her all. “I will give my very best to ensure the tourism industry reaches its peak and will make Malaysia the best tourist destination in the world,’’ she declared proudly.
She was accompanied by husband Dr Chin Chee Sue, son Terence, daughter-in-law Trish Low and grandson Thomas. Earlier, she was given a splendid welcome as she walked into the programme venue when the organizer broke the good news of her appointment to the audience.
Just some days into her appointment, Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said inter ministerial co-operation between hers and other ministries would be among the first few tasks in her new portfolio.
“When I go into the Tourism Ministry, I will be looking into inter ministerial integration because the Tourism Ministry is not by itself,” she said at a press conference after launching the Golden Third Age program in her capacity as former Women, Family and Community Development Minister.
The minister said such integration would effectively market the country’s diverse tourism products. “We cannot be working alone in our own little compartment. If you’re talking about agriculture products, you have to know where the products are and then we can integrate them together. We are promoting the products together,” she said. “For example, if there is a Halal exhibition, we can help promote (the event and the products) to the world. This would save cost and be very productive.”
During the event, Women, Family and Community Development Ministry staff presented Dr Ng a cake, a portrait of herself and bouquets of flowers for her birthday, which fell on Friday. Dr Ng was accompanied by her husband Dr Chin Chee Sue during cake cutting ceremony.
Joachim Fischer, editor-in-chief of Tourism-Insider, has known the new Tourism Minister since her time as in the Malaysian Tourism Ministry as Deputy Minister. He said: “This powerful woman will bring back the tourism in Malaysia. She is very strong and has shown her power in the time when she was Deputy Minister. Many people in the MTPB and in the whole tourism industry in Southeast Asia will now feel a fresh storm: Congratulations on this not so easy new job!”
A short introduction of the new Minister of Tourism (by The Star online)
Her name may sound cutesy and her bubbly personality disarming, but underneath it all is a steely resolve. Since becoming Wanita MCA chief and a deputy minister in 1999, Datuk Ng Yen Yen has gone from strength to strength. As election fever rages, Kee Hua Chee chats with her about the events that helped mould her dynamic personality.
With her dynamic personality and impeccable dress sense, Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen invariably makes an impact whenever she enters a roomful of people. And of course there is that ability to shift from English to Bahasa Malaysia, to Cantonese, Hakka, Mandarin and her native Hokkien when she speaks.
Born and bred in Kota Baru, Kelantan, she was among the first few women to graduate as doctors from Universiti Malaya in 1972. She joined the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in 1975 and rose through the ranks after 20 years to become Wanita MCA deputy chief and MCA national deputy secretary. In July 1999, she became Wanita MCA chief and by year’s end was elected a Member of Parliament for Raub and appointed Culture, Arts and Tourism Deputy Minister.
Dr Ng was made Deputy Finance Minister. Besides her party and government positions, the youthful-looking, wears other hats too. For one, she is the president of the National Council of Women’s Organisations of Malaysia (NCWO), an umbrella organisation for women’s NGOs. As a medical doctor, she is also well-suited for her role as Governor of the Malaysian Children Resources Institute, an NGO that looks after abused children.
“A few assume I entered politics in 1999 and became all three (Wanita chief, MP and deputy minister) in one go. Obviously in politics you cannot do that. You have to start from the grassroots and prove your worth as you go along,” explains Dr Ng.
“And if you are truly committed, then you have to give up your career and become a full-time politician. I decided to devote myself completely in 1995, so I closed my clinic in Temerloh. I couldn’t practise as a doctor and be in charge of Wanita MCA at the same time.”
The early years
When she was posted to Mentakab, Pahang as medical officer, she realised many rural women were ignorant about children’s health.
“They didn’t know the importance of inoculation or immunisation against tetanus or diphteria. Young children were suffering unnecessarily. I saw how high the mortality rate was and decided I had to educate these mothers. They needed to know how to look after their family’s health as the young generation will inherit our country.”
On her own initiative, she organised local health seminars, embarked on immunisation campaigns and gave talks on preventive care. Soon she realised she needed a platform to further her reach.
“As a doctor, I treated patients on a one-to-one basis. It was not easy to get people to attend my talks so I needed a more effective platform, the MCA. In 1974, MCA was mostly Chinese speaking and there were few English-speaking branches. Certainly not in Raub,“ recalls Dr Ng. „So I started an English-speaking branch as I wasn’t very proficient in Mandarin. At that time, there was gender bias so I had to rope in my husband Dr Chin Chee Sue. He was chairman and I was secretary.“
Becoming a doctor
Her parents were primary school teachers and not well off. The last thing on her father’s mind was for her to become a doctor, considering he was prepared to accept a dowry for her hand in marriage at 17! “One day, I came home and saw chickens, baskets of food and marriage paraphernalia. I asked my mum what was going on and she said, “Oh, someone has come to ask our permission to marry you to their son.“
“Luckily for me, my mother turned down the offer, insisting I should continue my education. That was a narrow escape. I might have become a bored housewife!” grins Dr Ng. “To this day, I don’t even know who I was supposed to marry. I thank my mother for her decision because she believed in education.”
Dr Ng got herself into the first batch of science students in Sekolah Menengah Zainab in Kota Baru. „But at that time, there were no Pure Science classes and my headmistress discouraged me, saying no girl had passed before.”
