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.

“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 innoculation 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 (Old Victorian) 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.

“I said ‘Never mind, I will learn my way through? So I hired a tutor from SIC (Sultan Ismail College), but to pay him, I had to give tuition classes to my juniors! In hindsight, everyone thinks it’s so funny I had to give tuition to pay for tuition but my parents couldn’t afford it otherwise.?

After Form Five, she moved to Kuala Lumpur to do her Form Six at the Victoria Institution.

8,571 dance their way to new record

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 8,500 people – led by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor – danced their way into the Malaysia Book of Records yesterday.

The Muhibbah Dance Fiesta at Dataran Merdeka was held in conjunction with the country’s 50th National Day celebrations. A total of 8,571 dancers – mostly women – took part in the event, breaking a 2003 record of 7,325 dancers.

Step lightly: The women in multi-coloured T-shirts dancing into the record book at Dataran Merdeka yesterday.
The event was jointly organised by the Persatuan Tarian-Tarian Rakyat Malaysia and the Wanita MCA’s Caucus for Chinese Women Leaders and Women NGOs, with the support of the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry.

Rosmah, wife of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, said it was nice to see women of all races mingling through music and dance.

In her speech, Wanita MCA chairman Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen said the event signified the strength and spirit of today’s women.

Datin Seri Wendy Ong (wife of Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting), Datin Seri Masnah Muhamat (wife of Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim) and Datin Seri Indrani (wife of Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu) took part in the event.

Also among the dancers were Datin Seri Ann Chan (wife of Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy) and Women, Family and Community Development parliamentary secretary Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, who is also the event’s organising chairman.