Chow Kon Yew, from Cheras squatter boy to Penang CM

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow opens up on his past, in a classic tale of rags to riches.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow tells of his humble beginnings in a squatter settlement in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

GEORGE TOWN: When it comes to Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, many aspects of his character appear known to the public: he is described as reserved, punctual, and down-to-earth with a sometimes wry sense of humour.

Other parts, however, are less well-known. At a recent dinner event, for example, he surprised the local press with his singing skills, belting out Cantopop hit “Shanghai Bund” while dressed in suspenders and a bow tie to match the retro theme.

Although many know that he is a former journalist, Chow has rarely spoken about his past. But in an interview involving FMT, he opened up about his childhood and his long journey from being a squatter boy in Cheras to becoming the fifth chief minister of Penang.

“I had a hard knock life, staying in a squatter settlement. You know, Chan Sow Lin near Utusan Malaysia and China Press,” he said.

Chow Kon Yeow wows the press with his hidden singing skills.

Chow’s parents were foundry workers who spent their days at a factory near their home. He fondly recalls their address at the time: Jalan Tiga, off Jalan Chan Sow Lin.

He is the sixth sibling among five brothers and four sisters aged 53 to 72.

“One of my brothers is named Chee Meng. If I was named that, then I would be CM for my whole life,” he quipped.

“I thought perhaps I could be a government administrative officer someday. But never a politician. And I never thought I would be a CM.”

Hard work pays

Chow, who is of Hakka descent, studied at the Cochrane Road School. He took his Higher School Certificate, which is now known as STPM, at the Tunku Abdul Rahman College in Setapak in 1977.

However, he failed to gain entrance into any university, which he attributed to the race quota system. He then worked as a draughtsman with a civil engineering company in Petaling Jaya for two years to make ends meet.

Initially, he said, he thought the company had made a mistake in taking him in as he was from the arts stream.

“I had no engineering background. But I did my best. I am a firm believer in hard work, and hard work pays.

“I ended up receiving the best bonuses among the other 10 trainees in the firm.”

After work, he attended night classes on engineering and quantity surveying, little dreaming how useful this would be in his work today. He also travelled on the job, and was once sent as far as Kelantan to do a land survey for a flood mitigation project.

In 1980, he ended up in Penang with the encouragement of his boss.

“My boss told me, ‘This is not the right place for you.’ He said I could do better.

“He told me to apply for university again. And so I did.”

This time, Chow managed to enrol in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social science in 1984. He also got a job and a girlfriend, who is now his wife.

Kit Siang, alarm clocks and tambun biscuits

After graduating, Chow joined the now-defunct National Echo evening newspaper headquartered at Farquhar Street in George Town. There, he worked as a journalist and later, a sub-editor.

“I handled the printing presses as well – I placed articles on the negative plates and put them in the machine. I only went home after the first printing run ended,” he said.

Chow then helped out in the publication of Suara Tanjong, a campaign newsletter in Lim Kit Siang’s bid for the Tanjong parliamentary seat in the 1986 general election.

After Lim won, he began looking for two political secretaries. Chow was called for an interview.

“The sheer fact that I might be working for Kit Siang made me excited to attend the interview,” Chow said. “I took up the offer because he was an awesome politician.”

Chow subsequently became fully active in politics. Although he would eventually run in seven general elections, he lost in his first attempt when he contested the Pengkalan Kota state seat in 1995.

He then partnered with his friends to start a small business at the corner of Dickens Street and Transfer Road, importing alarm clocks and selling tau sar pneah, or tambun biscuits.

“We kept our alarm clocks and wall clocks at the back of the store and sold tau sar pneah in front,” he said.

However, the main business partner died in an air crash in Sarawak in 1997, and in time, the business folded.

“We continued the business for a while, but to cut costs, we folded.

“Two of my business partners helped me raise money to contest in the 1999 polls. After I got elected, I decided to forgo the business for good.”

‘Dad never knew’

Chow was Tanjong MP from 1999 to 2004, and again from 2004 to 2008. He was made MP again in 2018 after a five-year gap. He also won the Padang Kota state seat for three terms from 2008.

He is now DAP’s national vice-chairman and the party’s leader in Penang.

However, he said his father never lived to see his political career take off.

“My father never knew I went into politics. He passed away in 1986, before I started with Kit Siang.”

When asked about his mother, he said only that she had not been keen on him becoming an opposition politician. -FMT

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