Damansara Utama Assemblymen, Nibong Tebal MP

Tech junkie
MY MP: Nibong Tebal
Name: Tan Tee BengParty: PKRAge: 36Marital status: MarriedNumber of children: Two daughtersConstituency: Nibong Tebal, Penang Education: LLB (Middlesex University, London)Profession: Stockbroker and politician
PKR’s Tan Tee Beng is the new MP for Nibong Tebal.
How much time do you spend on the computer?
It used to be three hours a day but no time now!
Do you blog? Do you have a website?
No. I am not too good with the computer.
Do you play any musical instrument, dance or sing?
Nope. I am a very boring guy!
What kind of music do you listen to? Favourite song?
Classical and oldies. Memory and Don’t Cry For Me Argentina are my favourites.
Are you into movies? Favourite movie?
Love movies. Before I got into politics, I watched an average of two movies a day. Braveheart with Mel Gibson is still my favourite.
What do you read? What was the last book you read?
I read a lot, that’s for sure. The last book I finished was a book in Chinese on the secrets of Malaya and Singapore during World War II.
Are you into English Premier League football? What’s your team and favourite player?
That’s how I pass my time. I love Arsenal and will always be a Gunner! I supported them in the late 80s and even went to all their home matches at Highbury in 1993 when I studied in England.
If not football, what’s your favourite sport?
I play badminton too but just had my shoulders operated on last November, so I have to rest for another three months before I can play again.
What do you play? Who is your favourite sports star?
I used to play tennis during my school days. My favourite sports star is Dennis Bergkamp of Arsenal.
Coffee or tea?
Nothing but Chinese tea for me. Since I was three, I was already a tea drinker.
Got a nickname?
No, sorry to disappoint.
What languages can you speak?
Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia and English. Dialects such as Hokkien and Cantonese. I can understand Teowchew and Hakka.
What is the gadget you can’t do without?
I buy the latest models of gadgets such as handphones, PDAs and laptops. I love to have all the new features but I never learn to use them until I buy the next model. I just want to have the latest. Bad habit! But I don’t rely too much on gadgets because if you lose them, you lose all your data.
What’s your favourite food?
French snails.
You have a weakness for...
Anything to do with IT!
What car do you drive and how long have you had it?
I change my car every one or two years. I love cars! I am driving a Volvo, almost two years now, so I will be changing soon.
What is your contribution to environmental conservation?
Err... I smoke a lot so... well actually, I am very environmentally friendly because I don’t use plastic bags. Whenever people want to put my goods in plastic bags, I always refuse and even advise them on refraining from such practices!
Name an idol that you look up to and why.
Dr Sun Yat-Sen. He is the greatest guy in Chinese history.
Any phobia? Scared of spiders, enclosed spaces, etc?
No, I have never been scared of anything except for cockroaches and my wife!
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Cheah not intimidated by hard work
By TAN KARR WEIkarrwei@thestar.com.my
My ADUN: Damansara Utama
Full name: Dr Cheah Wing YinParty: DAPAge: 53Marital Status: MarriedNumber of children: Two sons aged 21 and 24Hometown: Kuala LumpurCurrently residing in: Bandar Sri DamansaraEducation: Victoria Institution '75; MBBS, Universiti Malaya '79; DPM (Psychiatry), University of Melbourne '88; MBA, General Business Administration, University of Bath '99Profession: Consultant PsychiatristConstituency: Damansara Utama (under the Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary constituency)Email: wingyin1954@yahoo.comService centre: In the process of getting a service centre. For now, he meets up with people on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at the Maharia restaurant in SS4 (8pm to 10pm) and on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the Busy Corner restaurant in Damansara Jaya (8pm to 9.30pm)
Cheah: 'I think it was through my father that the political consciousness for the underdog rubbed on me'
HARD and long hours of work are no stranger to Dr Cheah Wing Yin, the new state assemblyman for Damansara Utama.
Cheah started his career as a houseman at a government hospital soon after graduating from medical school. The rough and tough regime of a busy government hospital had so toughened him that nothing it seemed could be more demanding and daunting. He had grown accustomed to working round-the-clock and having only one meal a day.
“I usually have a glass or two of water in the morning and I only eat dinner. No breakfast or lunch,” he said.
Such an intimidating regime has obviously prepared Cheah well for the challenging role he now has as a state assemblyman. He needs all the energy and endurance to go through the day with his hectic schedule as the people's elected representative, on top of his full-time job as a consultant psychiatrist.
Cheah's day starts at 6.30am, sometimes responding to invitations by his constituents to attend their activities.
Besides having his own specialist clinic in SS2, Petaling Jaya, Cheah is also a consultant psychiatrist at the Sunway Medical Centre, Tawakal Hospital and the Tung Shin Hospital, attending to cases from 9am to about 5pm.
“It's true what they say. A doctor's life is a dog's life,” he said.
Cheah said his meetings with residents associations would usually take place at night, from about 8pm.
He has always been interested in politics but never considered active participation because of his obligations to take care of his family.
“I grew up in Bukit Bintang. With blood and tears, my dad saved enough money to buy a house on Jalan Barat, near Jalan Imbi. There were plans to develop the piece of land where our house was and the residents fought tooth and nail to protest. We lost the case but it was an instance of a political process coming right to your doorstep. It made me more aware about politics,” he said.
As psychiatry focuses on the micro perspective of a society, Cheah took up an MBA course in general management in 1998 to better understand the macro scale of the country and how it was run.
With a feeling that he should contribute to the political scene, he helped out in the election campaigns of DAP parliamentary candidate Ronnie Liu in 1999 and 2004.
“We would roll up the flyers and put them into the back of my Prado. Two people would be at the back, tossing the scrolls into houses while I drove. It was quite fun,” he reminisced with a grin.
A surprising side of the soft-spoken Cheah is his interest in football and his passionate support for the then underdog Manchester City team years ago, a fact that alluded to a side of him that is sympathetic towards the underdogs.
Cheah said his father was a member of the Communist Party before the Chin Peng era so he knew of their struggles back then.
“I think it was through my father that the political consciousness for the underdog rubbed on me,” he said.
He decided the time was right for him to enter active politics this year since his elder son had graduated from university and his younger son was in the process of completing his degree in valuation and property management.
He was nominated by the DAP leadership to contest in Damansara Utama in the just-concluded 12th general election. He defeated TV newscaster Victor Gu of the MCA by a majority of 15,355 votes, polling 24,881 votes to Gu's 9,526.
For leisure, Cheah enjoys travelling to small towns like Bentong and Karak, staying in budget hotels and having his meals at the local eateries.
StarMetro: How much time to do you spend on the computer?
Cheah: My son teases me for being a dinosaur. He's helping me set up a website and start a Facebook account. I'm starting to use e-mail more now because many people prefer to send me e-mails.
StarMetro: Do you blog or website?
Cheah: I'm in the process of setting up a blog.
StarMetro: What languages can you speak?
Cheah: English, Bahasa Malaysia and Cantonese. I'm learning Mandarin now. I hope that one day, I would be able to read the Chinese newspapers.
StarMetro: What’s your favourite food
Cheah: I like omelettes with chopped long beans. On the rare occasion that I do indulge in breakfast I really love having two or three halfboiled eggs and dip steamed bread in it. Another thing that I like is a sandwich with peanut butter, bananas, cheese and kaya in it.
I have a weakness for Chinese tong shui (sweet dessert soup). It's something very sentimental because when I was younger, my mother used to make it when our family went on weekend trips to the Weld Road swimming pool. I'm still hoping my wife would make it for me every weekend but... (laughs)
StarMetro: What was the weirdest thing that happened to you when you were campaigning?
Cheah: I didn't encounter anything weird. Something pleasant, in fact. A woman called me on the morning of polling day. I don't know where she got my number from but she was telling me that she would be voting in a few minutes and she would be voting for me. It was very encouraging.