As soon as I returned home, in 1972, I went to the training centre in Kuching demanding for a job! Since I did not finish the diploma the officer could not offer me any job and gladly released me from my scholarship bond. He asked for my address; but I told him that I was homeless and that I was migrating next month to Canada for good and did not have an address yet. I promised to let him know as soon as I have an address! Actually I was staying with my elder sister, Rose in Dragon School, Serian. I kept a very low profile for a while, just in case the government still wanted me to pay them 25K for breach of contract. Smile!
Then my other sister, Cecilia in Seria, wrote a letter to say that she was confident that she could find me a job with BSP. She arranged an interview for me with her boss, Mr. Pollock. In the end BSP could not offer me a job; but instead he arranged a job interview for me with Yee Chew Chai of SSB Lutong. In 1972, SSB was expanding their operations offshore and needed to recruit hundreds of new workers to develop the oilfields on the continental shelf: West Lutong, Baram, Tukau, Boronia, Central Luconia, Samarang and Erb west. In fact, at one time we were so busy that we were operating seven offshore oil rigs,[22] including a drill ship, Danwood Ice and a heavy land rig, Deutag 10. During peak periods in the early 80's Shell employed more than 3000 workers.
Meanwhile, in 1972, I was knocking around with Chan Hong Kee in Brunei waiting for the SSB job interview. We were spending a lot of time at the Lumut Long House and at the Panaga nurses quarters. Hong Kee had this great big orange car; an Opel Commodore borrowed from his brother, Hong Nam[23] in Miri. We sent it to Wearne Brothers in Seria for a tune up. Then we tried to do the ton with it on the Brunei high way. It went up to 105 mph when the pedal was floored completely! It certainly was a high performance car. We used to take a car load of Panaga nurses to go Yum-cha in Bandar Seri Begawan. The record was 45 minutes, Panaga to Bandar! After we trashed it, we came back to Miri looking for another car. The road at Sungei Lima was flooded and it was bad. The Opel Commodore looked a real mess when we reached Miri.
We sent it for servicing, a wash and polish at the Kiat Siang service station behind the Miri theartre. The proprietor, Lim, refused to accept payment for some strange reasons which we were unable to understand at first. Any way we returned a clean car to Judy.[24] She claimed that her car was never the same again! Soon after that she sold the Commodore to Tua-tao the fish monger and bought another new car, a Mercedes 500SE. I wonder why Judy would not lend us this car?!
The Opel Commodore was bought from a lottery ticket seller. One day this man[25] won the car in Sarawak for selling the ticket which won the first prize of the social welfare lottery. The prize was a brand new Opel Commodore. He was not quite sure whether it was genuine or not. So he brought the ticket stub to try to sell it to Dr. Chan above the Chartered Bank on High street. Hong Nam was a very shrew business man even then. He was willing to take a gamble. He told this man to wait for a while in the clinic’s waiting room. Immediate he called the social welfare lottery board in KL, confirmed that it was genuine and immediately wrote out a cheque for half the amount. The man accepted! It was a win-win situation for all. After 5 years’ use, the car still fetched the cost price![26] Malaysia is surely a land of great opportunity for all the early Colombo Plan graduates like him. One of his school mates, Abdul Taib Mahmud became chief minister and Dr. Chan was once the finance minister of Sarawak. He replaced Sim Kheng Hong when that old man finally retired.
After sixth form in St. Joseph’s Kuching, Dr. Chan went to Sydney U to study medicine under the Colombo Plan scheme. He returned to work as a doctor for the government. They sent him to work in Limbang hospital. He bought his first car, a Volkswagen beatle. Judy was a Peace Corps volunteer working in Limbang and it was a very small town. On completion of his 5 year bond, Dr. Chan opened one of the first private clinics in Miri. It was originally called the Star Clinic, situated above the old Chartered Bank on High Street. He changed the name to Chan Clinic. Later on, as the town expanded he moved to his own premises on Brooke Road, opposite the pork market. As his business expanded, he employed a locum[27] and joined the SUPP, standing for election as a candidate for Council Negeri. His political career was very successful. Today he is a Tan Sri and the deputy chief minister of Sarawak.
Then my other sister, Cecilia in Seria, wrote a letter to say that she was confident that she could find me a job with BSP. She arranged an interview for me with her boss, Mr. Pollock. In the end BSP could not offer me a job; but instead he arranged a job interview for me with Yee Chew Chai of SSB Lutong. In 1972, SSB was expanding their operations offshore and needed to recruit hundreds of new workers to develop the oilfields on the continental shelf: West Lutong, Baram, Tukau, Boronia, Central Luconia, Samarang and Erb west. In fact, at one time we were so busy that we were operating seven offshore oil rigs,[22] including a drill ship, Danwood Ice and a heavy land rig, Deutag 10. During peak periods in the early 80's Shell employed more than 3000 workers.
Meanwhile, in 1972, I was knocking around with Chan Hong Kee in Brunei waiting for the SSB job interview. We were spending a lot of time at the Lumut Long House and at the Panaga nurses quarters. Hong Kee had this great big orange car; an Opel Commodore borrowed from his brother, Hong Nam[23] in Miri. We sent it to Wearne Brothers in Seria for a tune up. Then we tried to do the ton with it on the Brunei high way. It went up to 105 mph when the pedal was floored completely! It certainly was a high performance car. We used to take a car load of Panaga nurses to go Yum-cha in Bandar Seri Begawan. The record was 45 minutes, Panaga to Bandar! After we trashed it, we came back to Miri looking for another car. The road at Sungei Lima was flooded and it was bad. The Opel Commodore looked a real mess when we reached Miri.
We sent it for servicing, a wash and polish at the Kiat Siang service station behind the Miri theartre. The proprietor, Lim, refused to accept payment for some strange reasons which we were unable to understand at first. Any way we returned a clean car to Judy.[24] She claimed that her car was never the same again! Soon after that she sold the Commodore to Tua-tao the fish monger and bought another new car, a Mercedes 500SE. I wonder why Judy would not lend us this car?!
The Opel Commodore was bought from a lottery ticket seller. One day this man[25] won the car in Sarawak for selling the ticket which won the first prize of the social welfare lottery. The prize was a brand new Opel Commodore. He was not quite sure whether it was genuine or not. So he brought the ticket stub to try to sell it to Dr. Chan above the Chartered Bank on High street. Hong Nam was a very shrew business man even then. He was willing to take a gamble. He told this man to wait for a while in the clinic’s waiting room. Immediate he called the social welfare lottery board in KL, confirmed that it was genuine and immediately wrote out a cheque for half the amount. The man accepted! It was a win-win situation for all. After 5 years’ use, the car still fetched the cost price![26] Malaysia is surely a land of great opportunity for all the early Colombo Plan graduates like him. One of his school mates, Abdul Taib Mahmud became chief minister and Dr. Chan was once the finance minister of Sarawak. He replaced Sim Kheng Hong when that old man finally retired.
After sixth form in St. Joseph’s Kuching, Dr. Chan went to Sydney U to study medicine under the Colombo Plan scheme. He returned to work as a doctor for the government. They sent him to work in Limbang hospital. He bought his first car, a Volkswagen beatle. Judy was a Peace Corps volunteer working in Limbang and it was a very small town. On completion of his 5 year bond, Dr. Chan opened one of the first private clinics in Miri. It was originally called the Star Clinic, situated above the old Chartered Bank on High Street. He changed the name to Chan Clinic. Later on, as the town expanded he moved to his own premises on Brooke Road, opposite the pork market. As his business expanded, he employed a locum[27] and joined the SUPP, standing for election as a candidate for Council Negeri. His political career was very successful. Today he is a Tan Sri and the deputy chief minister of Sarawak.
[22] The other rigs were: Jumbo, Trident 1, Aquadril, Sedco A, Chris Segar and Margie.
[23] Tan Sri, Dr. George Chan, deputy chief minister of Sarawak.
[24] The car belonged to Dr. Chan. He had an account with the Shell service station. He paid Mr. Lim for the car’s petrol and service monthly.
[25] elder brother of Mee Hua towkay in Miri
[26] He had a real bargain there! It was possible because he had the cash and the know how to confirm such a win on the spot. Information is power!
[27] Dr. Chan Toh Hang
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