Sabah-born Aussie minister recalls family history in maiden visit to M'sia
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who was born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, recalls her family history in her maiden visit as a minister to the country.
In her keynote address during a networking brunch in Kuala Lumpur today, Wong said it was an “extraordinary privilege and honour” for her to visit Malaysia as the Australian foreign minister.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who was born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, recalls her family history in her maiden visit as a minister to the country.
In her keynote address during a networking brunch in Kuala Lumpur today, Wong said it was an “extraordinary privilege and honour” for her to visit Malaysia as the Australian foreign minister.
“I doubt my Poh-Poh (grandmother) could have ever imagined it. Her name was Madam Lai Fung Shim. She was of Hakka descent,” she said.
Her grandmother and the rest of the family were in Sandakan when war came to Malaysia, said Wong, who is the first Asian-born member of an Australian cabinet.
Most of the family died in the war, and Wong said her grandmother was left to care for her children alone in the “hardest of circumstances”.
“She was barely literate. She was loving and humble and the strongest person I have ever known.
“In times of struggle, I think of her and what she had to endure.
“Her determination to survive, and to save herself and her children, is something from which I draw strength every day,” Wong said.
She then recounted how her father, Francis Wong, was a bright student who managed to earn a Colombo Plan scholarship to study architecture at Adelaide University.
It was this opportunity that defined his life, she said, and helped him climb out of poverty and open doors to other opportunities.
Wong said that it was in Australia where her father met her Australian mother and where they got married.
Her parents later moved to Kota Kinabalu, where Wong was born and grew up for the first eight years of her life.
“Dad brought back with him knowledge and skills. He became a notable figure in Kota Kinabalu, designing prominent civic buildings – although sadly, I am told many have been replaced.
“The value of that education has never left him. He always told me: ‘They can take everything away from you, but they can’t take your education’,” the foreign minister said.
In her address today, Wong also spoke of strengthening ties between Australia and Malaysia and exploring new areas where the two countries could further cooperate.
After her visit to Kuala Lumpur today, Wong will be heading to Kota Kinabalu, where she will be spending most of her visit in Malaysia.
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