Shoes still too big for me — Richard
Posted on July 20, 2011, Wednesday
Richard Wong
KUCHING: Former Limbang assemblyman Richard Wong said the shoes of his late father Datuk Amar James Wong Kim Min were still “too big” for him to put on even to the day of his demise on Monday.
“My father is a very special man and his shoes are too big for me until today. Not many people can achieve what he had done and if not because of him and a few others, Sarawak would not be what it is today,” he told reporters at the family’s residence in Jalan Temgah here yesterday.
Richard, who arrived here from Singapore yesterday morning, said no one could deny that his late father had contributed tremendously to the nation and state and therefore agreed that it would be appropriate that his (Datuk Amar) works be exhibited for public viewing.
“We would be very grateful if the government can do that because I think my father deserves that kind of accolade for what he had done for Sarawak,” he said.
Richard said his late father was very happy with the ‘Datuk Amar’ award that the state conferred on him for his contribution to the state.
Richard was in Taipei (Taiwan) when he came to know about the death of his father whom he described as ‘always a great friend’ and a guiding light throughout his life.
“He taught us a lot like always respect the elders and try not to make promises that we cannot keep and I will
always remember that,” he said.
Richard said he also believed that his late father was happy when he (Richard) followed him into active politics although that did not last long.
“I started following my father in 1970 when I came back for a holiday from London. He was an opposition leader then and I accompanied him to parliament but I was not yet active in politics until the late 1990s.
“Only then that I became more involved in it and when my father stepped down I volunteered to stand in Limbang, got elected and became an assemblyman for five years. That was before the seat was split into two electoral areas and in the election following the delineation of electoral boundaries I was not re-nominated. But, I am sure he (father) was still happy although I could not continue serving the people in Limbang not because of my own fault but just because I was not re-nominated,” he said.
Earlier, Richard said he first came to know about the sad news (of his father’s death) after one of his sisters called telling him that their father had been admitted to Normah Medical Centre (NMC) for a mild heart attack.
“A few minutes later, I called my brother asking him about our dad’s condition and he told me that he (their father) was okay and still managed to joke. I was also informed that the doctor had suggested that my father undergo radiotherapy to see what was wrong with the heart.
“Fifteen minutes after they moved him into the theatre he (Datuk Amar) got a second heart attack which was fatal. That was about 2pm Monday. I flew back from Taipei at 6pm of the same day and arrived in Singapore five hours later. This (yesterday) morning I took a plane from Singapore to fly home,” he said.
