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| This tribute is published in the above handbook. See notes below for more information on the Soo Ewe Jin Scholarship Award. |
EWE JIN had been a dear friend since 1979 when he joined The Malay Mail a few months after I did. We got on very well quickly even though a six-year age difference separated us. He was 20 and I, 26. Being similarly from Penang and Penang Free School helped to bolster the friendship that lasted 37 years.
A bit insecure then, but well-read, and full of ideas and initiative, he was quickly recognised as a strong potential to move up the ranks. His early skills as a writer and sub-editor had been honed at the now-defunct The Straits Echo. However, his interest in communications, journalism in particular, was a life-long one. Few children in our days, for example, read the newspapers every day. Few of us, on our own, developed an interest in current affairs. He did, and it showed in his work.
We spoke a lot during those years at The Mail — about work, how to deal with life, and just about anything else that came to mind. His insecurity started to disappear later when he found the two rocks of his life: God and his wife, Angeline Lim. After Ewe Jin and Angie met, I observed a special glow in them and thought they had found a perfect match. Their faith in Christ became the bedrock upon which their lives together was built.
There were times, I thought, that the decisions Ewe Jin made could put them in financial straits. However, each time I advised him to take the path of greater “security”, he would tell me God would provide, and He did! What flowed from his faith to him and his family were gushes of abundance, not so much in material terms but the stuff of everyone’s life dreams — loving family[1] and friends, welcome acts of generosity and the reciprocity of others, respect and admiration as an example and mentor, very focussed missions in life, and a deep sense of reason and compassion.
I could always count on Ewe Jin for help at various stages of my own development: At The Malay Mail, I started to read his mannerisms. Whenever something was amiss, he would come over, with a face slightly twisted and a “tsk, tsk” at the tip of his tongue, to tell me or one of the other approachable seniors.[2] After we revamped Malaysian Business from a monthly to a bimonthly in 1984, he was still at The Malay Mail. He would volunteer to sub and write part-time for us whenever we were short-handed — which was very often. The late Shaik Osman, the editor then, was very grateful for his help.
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| This book is a compilation of one of the best-read columns in The Sunday Star. See Note [3] below for more info. |
As ISIS started to play a bigger part in national affairs, I thought Ewe Jin would be a great asset to our team. At ISIS, our publications team, at various times, included the late Salim Abdul Rahim Kajai (former editor of Berita Harian, fondly known as Pak Salim), the late Chew Lay See (former journalist from The Malay Mail) and Dorothy Teoh (from The Star who later became editor-in-chief of The Edge). Knowing the team he was to work with and the aspirations of the organisation, Ewe Jin decided to join us.
As expected, he injected news and human interest into our work, most notably interviewing celebrities who passed through ISIS. He spoke, for example, to Oscar-winning Killing Fields actor Haing S Ngor who was later shot dead in Los Angeles in 1996.
Little known to others, during our ISIS days and in the early 1990s, Ewe Jin and I (with Tan Boon Kean on two occasions) were approached by people to initiate or revamp a number of publishing projects. One was to try to revive The Straits Echo. Another was to start a political weekly with the support of people like Tan Chee Khoon. The third was to start a business weekly. The first two didn’t get past a few meetings. The third resulted in the formation of The Edge.
In 1992, after I had left ISIS, Tong Kooi Ong wanted to start a weekly newspaper expressly to provide more information on the capital markets in Malaysia. This would help in their development. Three of us, Boon Kean, Ewe Jin and myself, were tasked to produce a concept paper. Boon Kean drew up the business plan while Ewe Jin and I worked on the editorial processes, production and design.
When the time came to present the paper, Ewe Jin, with a full-time job then, declined to join us. Ipso facto, he was not offered a directorship of The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd when we started. However, when the The Edge was launched in September 1994, I managed to persuade Angie and Ewe Jin to join us. He spent two years with us, and at the time he left, he was our Executive Editor.
Ewe Jin subsequently joined The Star. On reflection, it was one of his best moves. It was there that he managed to find his true calling — to be confidante of the likes of Wong Chun Wai and Wong Sulong, both of whom have high regard for him; to meet and cultivate the friendship of people of influence; to continue to counsel the younger journalists; and to write a column that would be widely-read and highly-impactful.[3] It was also The Star that provided for him not only in his early years there but also in his times of greatest need — throughout his entire journey with cancer.
To be struck with cancer at 40 was a big blow to him. On reflection again, and bearing in mind acutely the pain and suffering he and his family went through, I think his life’s mission was galvanised by this disease. It was his Cross to bear and he bore it with bravery without losing sight of the need to serve with compassion — setting an example for the rest of us on how to suffer yet cherish life; sharing his journey (via a book that was published six times)[4] so that others, sufferers and care-givers, can draw inspiration from it; and loving life for the small things it offers. It is the life of a true Christian.
- This tribute is published in “A handbook for recipients of the Soo Ewe Jin Scholarship Award”. According to The Star, April 7, 2017: “With [Angeline] Lim serving as benefactor, the Soo Ewe Jin (SEJ) Scholarship has been set up under the umbrella of the Star Education Fund and the Yayasan Universiti Sains Malaysia. It will sponsor one undergraduate every year pursuing a Bachelor in Communications (Journalism) degree at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which is renowned for producing top-notch journalists. A Trust Deed for setting up the scholarship was signed by Star Media Group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai, USM Vice Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Asma Ismail and Lim at Menara Star” on Friday, April 7, 2017.
[1] The Soos, Ewe Jin and Angie, are blessed with two children, Kevin and Timothy. Kevin, born 1987, is doing his doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He is married to Evelyn Yarzebinski. Tim, born 1990, has a Master of Arts from Macquarie University in Sydney. He works at an advertising agency in Kuala Lumpur.
[2] The approachable seniors included KC Boey (chief sub-editor then, who later became editor of The Malay Mail and Malaysian Business before leaving for Australia), Chua Bok Chye (assistant chief sub-editor) and Monica Moey (senior sub-editor). He was, at that time, terrified of The Mail’s fierce editor Chua Huck Cheng. They have since become quite close.
[3] His column, “Sunday Starters”, has been published in a book, Soo Ewe Jin: Sunday Starters: Reflections on Life, paperback, 360 pages, Star Media Group, 2015.
- Lim Siang Jin is one of three people who manage this WPS blogsite. Read more about him here.
