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Free Malaysia Today
26-05-2025
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Remains of the day: a childhood paradise being chewed up by progress
I was back in the old kampung on Penang island recently for my grandson's 'aqiqah' prayers, a religious rite many Muslims choose to make for their young. My son was holding it for his son. I was just there for the ride. It's been a good ride, too. At an age fast approaching what many call the 'seven series', I have finally been blessed with a grandchild, born, of all days, on Malaysia Day last year, who bears a name that'll put some pressure on which way his moral compass will point. So much pressure! Back in the good old bad old days, the only expectations that kids faced was that we should survive into our teens so we could be married off quickly, to then become grandparents in our 40s, before dying in our 50s. As simple as such expectations were, quite a number of us didn't make it past childhood. We all had stories of relatives who lay in those small graves at the local cemetery. Life was nasty, brutish, and short. As my kids would say, I exaggerate much. We weren't born into a war zone, although there were fears wars could come a-visiting from Vietnam, which wasn't that far away. There were hardly any natural disasters, and the politics of the time, while not short of charlatans and crooks, was quite mild. Tough as life was, most of us felt things would get better. We didn't think of growing up to become a prime minister: we were happy enough to get a job that came with a pension. My mother's only expectation for me was I'd get a salaried job, so I didn't have to toil the land or the sea as did most of my peers and elders. The track to Pantai Ah Sen My grandson is too young to listen to my tales, especially the tall ones. But he will, and any time I can kidnap him from his parents and the other grandparents, he's going to have to listen to them, and I don't care how much I have to bribe him for it. On this trip he got to tour the hills and beaches around my kampung following the famous hill tracks to Pantai Esen, which more and more outsiders are now getting to know. It's actually Pantai Ah Sen, named after the old guy who used to live there, but I seem to be the only one who cares about this. A view of Pantai Esen on the southeast coast of Penang island, with Pulau Rimau in the background, and an artificial island being built to the right. (Cmglee/Wikipedia pic) The track is now easier than it was years ago, widened now to accommodate the recreational ATVs – infernal machines that spew fumes and make enough noise to wake up the long-departed Ah Sen. That's not good news if you're one of those who's been taking the track, either being carried by your parents or on your own two feet, since the 1950s. There goes the neighbourhood – although most of the nutmeg trees Ah Sen planted are still standing. Visitors walk by without even knowing or caring that they are nutmeg trees. Of course I care: I've been 'plucking' nutmegs off these trees (without permission) since I was yay high, and I'm too old to change my ways. I'm sure Ah Sen wouldn't mind. But Ah Sen must be turning in his grave if he could see what else is happening now. A 2,300-acre (930 hectare) artificial island is coming up off Pantai Esen in Permatang Damar Laut, Penang. (HundenvonPenang/Wikipedia pic) In the shadow of a man-made island Just off the shores of our kampung is a huge reclamation project to create the largest artificial island in Malaysia. They're busy day and night, with all the attendant light and noises. This island will fill up the entire bay in front of my kampung. It's not an extension of our coastline, it's a stand-alone piece of real estate with its own roads and rail transit, and its own postcodes, and presumably also 'seaview' posh bungalows, while all of our kampung, bungalows or not, will just get to stare at their back sides. And smell the raw sewage, which now flows out into the sea with nowhere else to go, stinking up the beaches. Given the enormous scale of the reclamation, that problem will just get even worse as time goes by. The beach, now dirty and stinky, used to be where I used to sneak away to do boy things, like swim and fish and ride sampans, or just lie about watching ships enter Penang port through the south channel. Occasionally we'd even get turtle eggs, which wasn't a very big deal back then. Tearing down a kampung Some houses are being taken down to make way for new roads to service this new island. My old kampung house is unaffected – so far. But we hear that the whole row of houses in front of ours will be cleared up for new roads, too. Hooray for raw sewage and traffic noises soon. Anyway, the little grandson is being indoctrinated into being a kampung boy with whatever bits of kampung we've left – which isn't much. Further programming will be activated when he can walk: he'll feel the dirt and get to know the trees and the rivers and seas and the fresh air. Said punishment will continue until he accepts his lot that, twice removed as he is, he's still a kampung boy. The family in front of our house, descendants of the old Chinese man who made salted eggs there, have been neighbours for 50 years. Whether they'll continue to be our neighbours will depend on whether their address has been deleted and replaced with roads on some traffic master plan. If that happens, I'd probably have to go further to buy fresh salted eggs from them, because I haven't come across anything that tastes as good. Another neighbour runs a coffee factory, which appears to be safe, meaning my supply of kampung-style freshly-roasted ground coffee is not under threat – for now. I met many childhood friends. They've all retired, from fishing or farming or some salaried jobs somewhere. Many of their houses have sprouted numerous extensions, as children and grandchildren came back to share their lot amid the sky-rocketing property prices of Penang. Influx of newcomers Because of that, and because of the many newcomers who migrated to the island for jobs at the many factories and businesses near the Penang airport, my kampung appears more and more crowded by the day. The days of having our own 'bungalows' with 50 to 100 meters of separation from each other are long gone. Soon, not even the rich people who'd be buying the seaview properties on the reclaimed island would know how it feels to live amid swaying coconut trees while the sea roars just yonder. My grandson is not likely to know, either. By the time he's all grown up, everything will just be concrete and glass and tarmac, even if he could afford those seaview bungalows. I'm of course trying hard to believe that being one of three generations of men to walk the hills together will mean a lot to him, when in reality it means a lot only to me and perhaps to my son who was also born there. Anyway, Penang being Penang, my eldest daughter and I put on an undisclosed but substantial number of kilogrammes from some serious eating, while complaining non-stop about the decline in the quality of the food and the inclined slope of food prices. But that's a Penang tradition. We were already complaining decades ago about the quality and the prices, before the age of influencers and foodies, when the beaches were clean and turtles landed regularly. But we're also less shy about how much weight we put on for our gluttony. Today, that's none of your business! Go to Penang with your own children and grandchildren and spin your own tales. Soon there'll be nobody else left alive to call you out for your exaggerations. The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
Borneo Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Borneo Post
Sabah, Sarawak hold key to Malaysia's political future - analyst
A YouTube screenshot of James (left) being interviewed by host Khoo Hsu Chuang. KOTA KINABALU (May 13): Give the East Malaysians what they want or risk losing the elections, warned political analyst Professor James Chin. In an interview on the @DoMoreTakeChargeOfYourLife YouTube channel, Prof James, who is from the University of Tasmania, shares his thoughts on why he thinks this is so. The Political Landscape of East Malaysia Starting off with the basics of Malaysian politics, it has always been understood to be a Barisan Nasional (BN) type of politics, where the core party is United Malays National Organisation (Umno), while other component parties such Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) collectively add to BN's strength. Some argue that this model fell apart in 2018, but it had actually occurred in 2008, when the elections showed that without support from the Members of Parliament (MPs) from Sabah and Sarawak, Umno will fall from power. 'That's the reason why when Najib came into power in 2009, one of the things he did was to make sure that the Speaker and Deputy Speakers came from Sabah and Sarawak. 'And more importantly, he made sure that we get this thing called Malaysia Day, a public holiday and a recognition of the formation of Malaysia,' said James. This was when everything changed, as people suddenly realised that the East Malaysian states are crucial to political stability at the federal level. Since prior to 2008, it was always understood that Sabah and Sarawak were basically a fixed deposit for BN – Umno. Another big change happened in 2018, when BN-Umno fell out of power. This was another crucial time for Sabah and Sarawak because this allowed Sabahans and Sarawakians to break away from the BN model. On the night BN lost power, the most important thing is not so much that then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was trying to stage a coup or whatever, but it was when BN component parties left the coalition to form Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS). 'This sent a very strong signal that you guys can do whatever you want on the Malayan side, but you cannot rely on us in Sabah and Sarawak to just follow along. 'So that's the reason why in politics today, no matter how you play the numbers game, you always have to look at what's happening in Sabah and Sarawak,' he said Although the 112 parliamentary seats were required to form the government then, to obtain real political stability required 148 seats with support from Sabah and Sarawak. Prior to 2008, nobody mentioned the Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63), as most people considered 1957 as the independence date for Malaysia. Only after the controversy on the agreement that people started realising that the count doesn't start from 57, but 63, which is the real date of Malaysia's formation. The Fragmentation of Political Voices The above reasons showed how Sabah and Sarawak are very important to the political stability of the country moving forward, with the 50 plus parliamentary seats considered as East Malaysian fixed deposit for the ruling BN coalition at the time. However, these 50 MPs do not speak as one voice, with fragmentation existing between Sabah and Sarawak. 'On the Sarawak side, the block is actually quite solid as they had around 32 seats. It is in Sabah that you don't get a solid block. 'Having said that, there are certain issues where all the MPs, regardless of which party they came from, will come together. For example, MA63,' said James. This is the reason why the upcoming Sabah state elections is crucial, because what Sabahans are trying to do under Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor's administration is to create their own version of GPS. If GRS does well in the elections, they are hoping to transfer that success to the next general election, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has to call in two years' time. The Future of Sabah Elections In terms of Sabah politics, political parties' labelling is not really important, except maybe in urban areas where the Democratic Action Party's (DAP) rocket is a very strong symbol. Another important issue is regarding illegal immigrants (PTIs), who mostly came from the Mindanao regions of the Philippines and Indonesia and have resided in Sabah for many decades. Looking at the latest census figures, what is really interesting is that even the Malaysian government itself acknowledges that one-third of Sabah's population was not born in the state. 'But if you speak to researchers who are working on the ground in Sabah, they will tell you that 50 percent of the population are now people who were not born and raised in Sabah. 'If we want to be crude, it is arguable that the Sabah we see today was not the Sabah we saw at the time of independence in 1963, when the Kadazan-Dusun were the majority. 'Now, the Kadazan-Dusun are basically a minority in the state. Sabah is now a Muslim-majority state, and looking at its electoral politics, the native population have lost their balancing power,' said James. Looking at the Sarawak GPS model, it currently dominates local politics with 80 out of 82 state seats, while the remaining two seats are held by DAP. The idea in this is to localise politics and create a very parochial political culture. This sort of model appears to be very popular in Sarawak. And looking at the four parties that make up GPS – Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak Peoples' Party (PRS), Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP) – a unique thing they share is that they are local Sarawak-based parties not found outside the state. 'So that's the reason why on this side, people are a bit afraid, because they feel that if Sarawak keeps going this way, they will never get a chance to penetrate there. 'For example, these BN parties have a big headache because they don't actually have any ground presence in Sarawak. They have ground presence in Sabah, which they previously didn't. 'But what people forget is that the only reason they went to Sabah is because the local champions in Sabah, who represent Umno's interest group, turned against them. 'In 1991, Peninsular-based parties such as Umno and MCA entered Sabah because they had no choice, but in Sarawak, that never happened,' he said. Coming back to the main question – what do Sabahans want? Sabahans, at least the political elite, want to replicate the GPS model where it's a local-based coalition, and kick out all the other non-Sabahan parties. Unfortunately, they cannot do this in Sabah because its politics is based on personalities. The Sabah elections this time will be quite interesting due to the spectre of high-level corruption hanging over the top administration, referring to the series of videos implicating several government assemblymen of bribery. 'So forget what the political elites want. What about the people themselves? 'What Sabahans want is very similar to what the rest of Malaysians want – political stability, economic prosperity, and a future for their children. 'But the problem in Sabah is, as I've said, the politics revolves around personalities, so all these things cannot happen,' he said. Sabah's economy has not been doing very well and it is one of poorest states in Malaysia, despite the fact that Sabah and Sarawak are major oil and gas producers. Since 1963, Sabah has gone through about 20 chief ministers. It is also the only state which experiments this top political position through the rotational chief minister system during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's time. This system is unique because it allowed three voting blocs – Muslim Bumiputera, non-Muslim Bumiputera and Chinese – to each get a two-year term as the chief minister. However, today's people have mostly forgotten about this system. 'I think one of the problems we have on the Malayan side is that people don't understand Sabah and Sarawak, and also people here have very, very short memories,' he said. The Challenges of Political Stability In the next national elections, GPS is expected to dominate and use this advantage to get maximum concession with whoever the federal government is, to resolve the MA63 historical grievances. In Sabah, everything will be dependent on the upcoming state elections, which has to be called in the second half of his year. On the Peninsular side, the most important thing is whether Anwar can hold the Unity Government coalition together, which was basically entrusted to him by the King, who asked him to form the government. So in the next round of general election (GE), rather than a three-way fight like the last GE – BN versus Pakatan Harapan (PH) versus Perikatan Nasional (PN) – this time will see basically PH-BN against PN fight. 'If they cannot get a clear majority on this side of the South China Sea, then Sabah and Sarawak will play a very important role in picking whoever will eventually form the federal government, and whoever gets the 148 parliamentary seats will get political stability,' said James. For Anwar's side, the most important thing is to handle the relationship between PH and BN-Umno because they will have to share seats in the coming GE. For PN's side, they only have one card to play, which is the political Islam card. They are expected to go all-out and capture the Malay seats. What is interesting about PAS is that it has already broken out of the four classic core Malay states – Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang – so now they have to go down to the lower half of the Malayan states. If they can sweep through Malaya, even if Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) does not do very well, they could obtain close to 112 parliamentary seats. 'And if PN can get about 100 to 105 seats, it is very likely that Sabah and Sarawak will have no choice but to join with PN,' he said. The Structure of Malaysian Politics Looking back, the country has not really had political stability since 2018. The government fell in 2020 under Mahathir's rule, and the country had two more prime ministers, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and now Anwar, who was elected at the end of 2022. In January 2024, there was the Langkah Dubai attempt to replace Anwar. Only in the middle of the year did Anwar gain political stability, when there was infighting in Bersatu and people defected but the Speaker did not apply the anti-hopping law. 'The Anwar that you see now is not the real Anwar because he did not win the mandate in the last GE. He was given the task to form the government. 'The Anwar you see today is the one trying to hold the coalition together and prepare it to win the next GE. 'If you really want to know what Anwar is really like, you got to give him the mandate in the next GE,' said James. Going further back, Malaysia was formed in a very interesting way. In 1957, one structure was put in place which no other country had. First, there is a written Constitution, but some of the powers of this constitution was restricted to the Conference of Rulers, outside of the constitution. Second, ethnic identity was tied with religious identity. A Malay person in Malaysia must be a practicing Muslim, which is defined in the Constitution. 'Which means that from day one, Malaysia has always practiced racial/identity politics. You can't run away from that,' he said. The second real restructuring of Malaysian politics occurred after the 1969 racial riots. Then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein had the idea how to move the country forward, which was by creating BN in 1973, a completely new political structure. Malaysians of today are currently living in the era of this political structure created by Abdul Razak, but modified extensively through strongman Mahathir, who was in power for more than 20 years. This structure is basically based on seeking power through race and religion. It's a winner-take-all system. Even though the Constitution has been amended hundreds of times, it is not possible to change this portion of it because for the core part, certain things such as Article 153 cannot be amended without the Conference of Rulers' assent. Mahathir during his era had amended the Constitution to fit himself, changing the entire political structure, especially in terms of the civil service and creating a political culture that lives on until today. 'So when you say that you want politicians to get on with it and bring the country forward, it is not possible under the current system,' he said. But what is very clear is that in the next GE, the only vote that is up for play is the Malay votes. For the Chinese votes, the argument is still solidly behind DAP. This leaves the Indian votes as the only other that can be sort of played with. 'In the East Malaysian side, everything will depend on what happens in the upcoming state election. 'So the bottom line is, the next government will be formed by whoever wins the Malay votes and who comes closest to the 112 parliamentary seats,' he said.
Borneo Post
25-04-2025
- General
- Borneo Post
Quiet serenity: Memories of 1960s Kuching
A postcard from the era shows the Kuching Waterfront facing the old Ban Hock Wharf at Gambier Road, back in 1960. KUCHING, the capital of Sarawak, underwent significant changes in the 1960s as the country transitioned itself to self-governance and then became a founding member of the federation of Malaysia in 1963. In 1960, I was just 10 years old and in Primary 4 at St Thomas' Primary School, which was a missionary school operated by the Anglican Diocese. I recall a certain peaceful calmness and serenity in my beloved hometown. We had resided somewhat 'in the countryside' in those days, even though the distance was just two miles or so for me to get to school daily. The small, deserted winding road that trailed up and down the Golf Links, then onto Pearses' and then up left to Pig Lane (now Park Lane) landed us up on the hilltop where the magnificent Hokkien Free School stood (the Chung Hua School No 1 is there now). Then we would pass the Kuching Prisons on the left, imposing and strangely eerie all plastered in white. In my mind's eye, I always envisioned the 'gallows' whenever I used to pass it as a boy. Opposite it were a row of shops that had housed the Teochew Association as well as our regular florist – Tan Florist. Mathies Road cuts in to curl 45 degrees upwards towards the mansion of my grand aunt, who had married Tan Sri Wee Kheng Chiang. At the foothill was the Borneo Hotel, bought by Francis Yong for his Japanese wife. An old postcard from Sarawak Information Services depicts the Malaysia Day celebration at Central Padang in Kuching, in 1963. Then, came the row of old dilapidated single-storey shophouses, all desolate looking and with wooden thatches and shingles for roofs. Further down was the Fata Hotel, built by the Yii family in 1936, making it one of the oldest hotels in the city. Facing it was the Ting & Ting Supermarket, which opened in 1957 and was owned by the Ting family, who were originally from Sibu. It closed its doors on June 29, 2019. Around the triangular 'square' (Sah Kat Poh was the Hokkien nick for it) of what would be the 'traffic roundabout' were a row of four shops that belong to the Anglican Diocese, the entrance to St Mary's School and a row of concreted shops, which started at one end with the 'Tiger Garden' coffeeshop (so called because of the big Tiger beer hoarding on its massive wall) and Kwong Beng stationery just next to T&T's supermart. Today, a number of thriving eateries, nightspots and boutique cafes line this small area of deep downtown, attracting revellers from near and far. In the 1960s, our regular haunts and 'playground' were just to the east of this 'square'. For there stood the Rex Cinema, where all the first-run box-office Hollywood movies were shown. We were awestruck from the likes of John Wayne's 'The Alamo'; Paul Newman's 'Exodus'; 'The Magnificent Seven'; 'North to Alaska'; Elvis' 'Flaming Star'; to the stupendous 'Spartacus' – and these were only from that one year alone, 1960. In our time, there was no popcorn on sale at the cinema's entrance; instead, we had 'kachang puteh' and 'kong -tng' (hard candy) which were sold at the gate by Ah Poo Chek, an old man who had rented a house from my grandfather and stayed just a stone throw's from us in the 1950s-1960s. As youngsters, we would have first picks of his goodies as he was preparing to 'start the evening business' at the Rex. At the rear of Rex Cinema itself were a number of food stalls, one of which had excellent 'laksa', the other very delicious satay and 'Mee Jawa'. The drinks stall served the best 'angtao peng' and 'ABCs' of that era. There would always be crowds of customers, students playing truant and civil servants who did the same. Towards the left of the Rex Cinema was a bookshop, the Mayfair, run by 'Ampai Teck' ('Detective Teck') and towards the end of the block at night was one of the best 'kolo mee' sellers from the 1960s – a family whose noodles I still enjoy to this very day. Back in the day, we simply called his father then, 'Boh Geh' (No Tooth) – for obvious reasons! Over six decades, he and his family has produced one of the best, most authentic 'kolo mee' of Kuching's – his children Ah Yong now operates at Golden Corner of Ban Hock Road; and daughter-in-law at Top Ten of Jalan Song. Just across the road at the proper food court known as 'Siong Ung Kong' (formally the forecourt of the Hong San Si Temple at the end of Ewe Hai Street) would be operating the other even more world famous 'kolo mee' – that of Tsai Ming Liang's family. Today, it is known as Ta Wan Kung and they have outlets run by family members at Galacity (one at Heng Ki, one at Fock Hoi); at Wee Kheng Chiang Road and at Mile 4's Lau Ya Chia. At this same food court too was the very popular Sing Kwong 'tua pao' (big dumpling) and 'sio-bee' (or 'siew mai'), which is minced pork in a mouthful. They had relocated to Kenyalang Park Commercial Plaza in the 1980s, and are still there doing a thriving business. In those days, in my young teen's limited world view, there were only four things that had interested me, besides passing my exams. They were music, books, movies and food. Interest in the opposite sex was not really at any place special as I was inherently shy. I had thought of myself as a book and music nerd so no girls would be interested in me, right? For me then, there were a number of interesting places that I had frequented over and over again over that decade: sadly none of them has survived six decades on. Over at India Street, my favourite shops were at Tai Chey and Kwong Heng Lee, both selling record albums and 45 singles. There was also Abdul Majid, which later became Wahid's, and I made a lifelong friend of Abdul Wahid, who for more than three decades had become my trusted and faithful supplier of all sorts of 'yellow' literature. A bird's eye view of Kuching's busy India Street, in this photo taken during the mid-1960s. His brothers were to follow after he left and retired from the books and magazines business. To think that he had started as a purveyor of ladies shoes to my mother and sisters back in the day! At Carpenter Street there was Chiang Wah Onn, where Mr Lee and his spinster daughter Mary had also become lifelong friends: they too had plied me with their 'tools of the trade' by way of publications too many to mention. Then there was Rex Bookstore at Khoo Hun Yeang Street, which was co-owned by Francis Tan and Sim Kheng Lung. Theirs was a more conservative outfit and only sold bestsellers and serious reading material. Mrs Sim was always very friendly. I must not forget the late great Ibrahim Mohd of Toko Mustafa at Gambier Street – he too was a dear friend and taken too soon from us. I really miss him. The bulk of my afternoons was spent at the British Council Library sited just by the side of the old Sarawak Museum. The books that I had borrowed were legendary, I always carted away the most volumes allowed and returned them all read within days. I was a ferocious reader at that age. As a family, we all loved movies, music and reading. Our individual tastes may differ between us five siblings, but we all loved musicals, and historical dramas. Undoubtedly if asked to name some, 'South Pacific', 'My Fair Lady', 'Camelot', 'The King and I', and 'Flower Drum Song' would be among them. During the 1960s, we had a few cinemas: Rex, Cathay, Odeon, Miramar, Lido, Roxy and Swee Hua. During the weekends, there were cheap reruns' matinee morning shows, which cost only 30 cents and 50 cents per ticket. For big-ticket blockbusters like 'The Ten Commandments', 'The Bible' and 'Moses', our schools had sent us all to attend at very special rates. Those, together with the school-year beginning and closing when we had to troop to the respective church services, were the only 'outings' we had as students then. Photo provided by the columnist shows the staff of St Thomas' School in Kuching, in the early 1960s. Food-wise, we had not started that culture of eating out as yet. This was due to two factors, one being there were not many eateries – coffee-shops or food stalls at the time; and local families were just not yet used to the idea of eating out. However I remember that I had my first 'laksa' at Meng Heng on Carpenter Street with my father, and it was most memorable! There was also a 'kolo mee' stall there and we bought some to take home – that too was very delicious. I cannot recall Lau Ya Keng food court from that era, but the two 'kolo mee' stalls at the end of Ewe Hai were popular family favourites then. We would do takeaways frequently. My other fond memories of the era was of course the 'angtao peng' (iced desserts) stalls at the Open Air Market on Power Street; they are still there, although only two are left of the original four or five stalls. The 'sio-bee', 'charsio pao' and soya bean milk were also memorable. I recall a 'char-kuih' (fried turnip) and a 'jiu-hu eng-chai' (squid and leafy vegetable) in a dark thick sweetish sauce. In those days, the stall sold turtle eggs too. There were 'rojak' stalls, fried 'kuih tiaw' and of course, the ubiquitous 'kolo mee'! By the end of the 1960s, when we had left secondary school in October 1969, the time of change had started to slowly make itself felt. There was a population explosion of sorts, where there were more cars, motorbikes and bicycles on the road, and a sense of general prosperity could be seen, felt and experienced. We were leaving the 1960s behind, as a brave new 1970 looked us in the face as if challenging us then – are you ready for a brand new era? * The opinions expressed in this article are the columnist's own and do not reflect the view of the newspaper. Federation independence Merdeka old Kuching sarawak
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The fitness philosophy of Mohd Uzir, Malaysia's Chief Statistician
Growing up in Kampung Baru, Sabak Bernam, Selangor, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin always found ways to stay active — including playing badminton in the still hours of the night to avoid wind disruptions. Those early experiences shaped his philosophy towards fitness and taught him the importance of discipline and perseverance. 'We had to play in the still of the night so the shuttlecock wouldn't be affected by the wind,' Mohd Uzir said with a wry smile in a recent interview with Twentytwo13. 'That taught me that there's no excuse not to play sports or stay fit. If there's a will, there's always a way.' Fitness remained a constant as he progressed in life. At Universiti Malaya, where he studied analytical economics in 1986, he kept to a disciplined running routine. He later earned an advanced degree at Vanderbilt University in the United States in 2001, followed by a PhD in economics from the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Despite his hectic schedule, Mohd Uzir always carved out time to run — even if it meant sacrificing sleep. 'I used to run 21km a day, split into morning and evening sessions. I had to wake up early, of course,' said the father of eight. 'When travelling for work, I'd only run once a day. These days, I've scaled back due to workload. Sometimes I jog slowly so I can reply to messages on my phone. 'I wouldn't say I'm addicted to running, but if I skip it, something just feels off.' Going to extreme lengths His commitment to fitness borders on the extreme. On Nov 2, 2024, just hours before an official event with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Mohd Uzir completed a 75km bicycle ride around Penang island. 'It took me 3 hours, 49 minutes, and 25 seconds. I started at 3.05am,' he said with a laugh. 'The route wasn't easy — lots of hills. My staff thought I was crazy since I had an important event with the prime minister later that morning. But I wanted to show that even with a busy schedule, we must make time to exercise.' In another feat, on Malaysia Day in 2022, he decided to run one kilometre for every year of his life. 'I had turned 56 on July 8 (2022), and ended up completing 56.66km in 6 hours, 14 minutes, and 53 seconds.' He's also the driving force behind Fit DOSM, a fitness initiative within the Department of Statistics Malaysia. Last June, he led 19 colleagues in conquering Mount Kinabalu. 'The climb was to motivate the team to stay fit. I wanted to show that if people my age can do it, the younger ones have no excuse,' he said. 'We deal with data daily — we need a healthy body to maintain a sharp mind.' Big dream ahead Mohd Uzir has served in DOSM since 1990 and celebrated his eighth anniversary as Chief Statistician on Feb 14, 2025. Under his leadership, the department transitioned from traditional methods to the use of big data, AI, and advanced analytics. 'Amid economic, social, and pandemic challenges, DOSM ensures that our data is accurate, transparent, and impactful in supporting government policies,' he said. 'These years have been more than just a job — they've shaped me as a leader and as a public servant committed to serving the nation.' Still, there's one personal goal he's yet to achieve — completing a full triathlon. 'I turn 59 this July, and I hope to do a full triathlon before I hit 60,' said Mohd Uzir. 'I've taken part in team events before, doing either the running or cycling leg. But I want to complete all three — including swimming, which is my weak point. I need to train harder for that.' As he continues to take on professional and physical challenges, Mohd Uzir remains an inspiration — not just to his colleagues, but to anyone striving for balance, discipline, and excellence.
