Excerpt from an article in Malaysia Chronicle, A Christian woman in Malaysian politics - YB Hannah Yeoh...
'Hannah’s Experience in Politics in the last five years
Hannah never had any ambition that involved politics. At the age of 28, she joined DAP in PJ Utara mainly to support her friend Edward Lim. Her role up to 2008 was to arrange for food and drinks for the opening of Tony Pua’s service centre. She does not know many leaders or political issues. Like many young people, she was only concerned about her job and serving in church. She did not know the difference between a Member of Parliament, a State Assemblymen and a Local Councilor. If you do not know the difference between these, you have to find out so that you will not vote for the wrong person and for the wrong reasons. Hannah joined politics because she wanted to fight corruption and race-based politics.
Why politics?
> Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.
> Fight corruption
> Fight race-based politics'
'In 2002, after completing her law degree in Australia, Hannah came back and did her chambering for nine months locally, and was admitted to the High Court in Malaysia. She made plans to return to Australia, because like many young people, she did not enjoy Malaysia. The nine months of chambering was tough, with very low pay, and she wanted to head off Down South.
Hannah decided to do her CLP in Tasmania so that she can work in Australia and leave Malaysia for good. She was also in a relationship back then with her boyfriend in Australia, and like many young people, she just wanted to be with him. She wanted to work in Australia and serve there, earn some money to send it home to her parents.'
'Six months later, after completing her CLP in Australia, Hannah secured a good job as a lawyer in a renowned firm in Tasmania. All her friends from other fields have Permanent Residence (PR) but no job. She was the complete opposite. She had a job but the government refused to give her a PR. She became very bitter and angry. She thought she could get a PR as she secured a job, but the government pointed out that there were many other Australian law graduates without a job, so why should it be given to a Malaysian girl. So, she had to work hard to proof herself.
Hannah’s employer decided to end this conflict with the government by withdrawing her employment. Therefore, her dream came to an end. She had to come back to Malaysia and face reality; she had to be apart from her boyfriend and she lost her job there.'
Marriage
Hannah got married in January 2008. Parliament was dissolved in February 2008. The then Prime Minister, dissolved Parliament on February 13 amidst rumours on the date of the election. Even now, there have been many rumours about the next general election and people are speculating the date for the 13th General Election. Just remember that it can come upon us anytime, so we need to be prepared.
In February, when Parliament was dissolved, Hannah got a call from Edward. Edward told her that DAP asked if she could be on standby for election to be a candidate for Subang Jaya. She consulted her husband, who told her to say “yes” to be on standby, and to arrange a meeting to find out more about what being on standby meant. They spoke to the parents, and both Hannah’s father and father-in-law said that now is the time to do something for this country. A meeting was arranged, and Hannah’s husband secretly prayed that God would close the door if this was not His plan, but if it was God’s will, it will be confirmed that very day that the seat would be hers to contest for.
Lies
Hannah received her confirmation at the meeting, and in two weeks she had to prepare for the campaign in Subang Jaya. Up to that time, she still did not know the difference between the roles of the Member of Parliament, State Assemblymen and the Local Councilor. She did not know much about Subang Jaya, even though she had lived there all her life. Therefore, she had to study the issues, and be aware of what is happening. She had to study the incumbent administration and what they championed and fought for, and in turn, decide what she was going to champion or fight for the people of Subang Jaya.
It was a tough two weeks before nomination day, and she felt very anxious. She was not used to walking into a busy restaurant to shake everybody’s hand, moving from table to table to ask people to vote for her and give her a chance. She had to go to the pasar malam to shake the traders’ hands and everybody’s hand. Outside schools, she had to wait for the parents to pick up their kids, and hand out leaflets to them, asking them to vote for her. She also had to speak at ceramahs, something which she hated because she did not think that she was a good speaker. It was really daunting for her to speak for the first time at a ceramah to campaign as a candidate for Subang Jaya. During that time, the prominent people from her party came to Subang Jaya to endorse Hannah as a candidate.
Almost immediately, people started spreading lies about Hannah on the internet, saying that she has no time to serve the people as she just got married. Hannah also vowed at that time that she would not make any personal attacks on her opponent. It was quite tough, but she decided that as a Christian, if she did that, she would not be glorifying God. She will challenge them on their policies, but she will not direct any personal attacks.
Many people who had known Hannah for a long time came to speak at her rally, including her father-in-law, her school teachers and even her pastor. By the grace of God, she secured a two-thirds majority, and she won with a margin of 13,851 votes.'
More:
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=53332%3Aa-christian-woman-in-malaysian-politics-yb-hannah-yeoh
Note: I first met Hannah Yeoh and the late Edward Lee, at a DAP national convention in KL (they sat behind me). I think 'Edward Lim' in the article could be a typo error, and should be Edward Lee. The confusion could be because Hannah's political secretary is Edward Ling, who I presume came into the picture later.
Link
'Hannah’s Experience in Politics in the last five years
Hannah never had any ambition that involved politics. At the age of 28, she joined DAP in PJ Utara mainly to support her friend Edward Lim. Her role up to 2008 was to arrange for food and drinks for the opening of Tony Pua’s service centre. She does not know many leaders or political issues. Like many young people, she was only concerned about her job and serving in church. She did not know the difference between a Member of Parliament, a State Assemblymen and a Local Councilor. If you do not know the difference between these, you have to find out so that you will not vote for the wrong person and for the wrong reasons. Hannah joined politics because she wanted to fight corruption and race-based politics.
Why politics?
> Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.
> Fight corruption
> Fight race-based politics'
'In 2002, after completing her law degree in Australia, Hannah came back and did her chambering for nine months locally, and was admitted to the High Court in Malaysia. She made plans to return to Australia, because like many young people, she did not enjoy Malaysia. The nine months of chambering was tough, with very low pay, and she wanted to head off Down South.
Hannah decided to do her CLP in Tasmania so that she can work in Australia and leave Malaysia for good. She was also in a relationship back then with her boyfriend in Australia, and like many young people, she just wanted to be with him. She wanted to work in Australia and serve there, earn some money to send it home to her parents.'
'Six months later, after completing her CLP in Australia, Hannah secured a good job as a lawyer in a renowned firm in Tasmania. All her friends from other fields have Permanent Residence (PR) but no job. She was the complete opposite. She had a job but the government refused to give her a PR. She became very bitter and angry. She thought she could get a PR as she secured a job, but the government pointed out that there were many other Australian law graduates without a job, so why should it be given to a Malaysian girl. So, she had to work hard to proof herself.
Hannah’s employer decided to end this conflict with the government by withdrawing her employment. Therefore, her dream came to an end. She had to come back to Malaysia and face reality; she had to be apart from her boyfriend and she lost her job there.'
Marriage
Hannah got married in January 2008. Parliament was dissolved in February 2008. The then Prime Minister, dissolved Parliament on February 13 amidst rumours on the date of the election. Even now, there have been many rumours about the next general election and people are speculating the date for the 13th General Election. Just remember that it can come upon us anytime, so we need to be prepared.
In February, when Parliament was dissolved, Hannah got a call from Edward. Edward told her that DAP asked if she could be on standby for election to be a candidate for Subang Jaya. She consulted her husband, who told her to say “yes” to be on standby, and to arrange a meeting to find out more about what being on standby meant. They spoke to the parents, and both Hannah’s father and father-in-law said that now is the time to do something for this country. A meeting was arranged, and Hannah’s husband secretly prayed that God would close the door if this was not His plan, but if it was God’s will, it will be confirmed that very day that the seat would be hers to contest for.
Lies
Hannah received her confirmation at the meeting, and in two weeks she had to prepare for the campaign in Subang Jaya. Up to that time, she still did not know the difference between the roles of the Member of Parliament, State Assemblymen and the Local Councilor. She did not know much about Subang Jaya, even though she had lived there all her life. Therefore, she had to study the issues, and be aware of what is happening. She had to study the incumbent administration and what they championed and fought for, and in turn, decide what she was going to champion or fight for the people of Subang Jaya.
It was a tough two weeks before nomination day, and she felt very anxious. She was not used to walking into a busy restaurant to shake everybody’s hand, moving from table to table to ask people to vote for her and give her a chance. She had to go to the pasar malam to shake the traders’ hands and everybody’s hand. Outside schools, she had to wait for the parents to pick up their kids, and hand out leaflets to them, asking them to vote for her. She also had to speak at ceramahs, something which she hated because she did not think that she was a good speaker. It was really daunting for her to speak for the first time at a ceramah to campaign as a candidate for Subang Jaya. During that time, the prominent people from her party came to Subang Jaya to endorse Hannah as a candidate.
Almost immediately, people started spreading lies about Hannah on the internet, saying that she has no time to serve the people as she just got married. Hannah also vowed at that time that she would not make any personal attacks on her opponent. It was quite tough, but she decided that as a Christian, if she did that, she would not be glorifying God. She will challenge them on their policies, but she will not direct any personal attacks.
Many people who had known Hannah for a long time came to speak at her rally, including her father-in-law, her school teachers and even her pastor. By the grace of God, she secured a two-thirds majority, and she won with a margin of 13,851 votes.'
More:
http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=53332%3Aa-christian-woman-in-malaysian-politics-yb-hannah-yeoh
Note: I first met Hannah Yeoh and the late Edward Lee, at a DAP national convention in KL (they sat behind me). I think 'Edward Lim' in the article could be a typo error, and should be Edward Lee. The confusion could be because Hannah's political secretary is Edward Ling, who I presume came into the picture later.
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