PETALING JAYA, Oct 1 — A dedicated lawyer by profession, Tun Michael Chen Wing Sum is also a man of humble principles and moral values.
And despite being recently conferred the nation’s highest award Seri Setia Mahkota, the 85-year-old still maintains his modest and soft spoken self.
“I am just a commoner from a very small village in Perak, which was then a mining town at the foot of Cameron Highlands.
“Never did I expect to come this far, and getting a Tun-ship was beyond dreams,” said MCA’s former deputy president.
Chen, who had begun furthering his studies in philosophy and education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said he is a man of simple means and values due to him modest background.
Met at his office here, Chen, who established his legal practice in 1964, keeps his office plain and contemporary with natural hues of green and brown.
“We need not spend unnecessarily on luxury that we don’t need or cannot afford.
“When clients come to see me, they are here for my brain and insight, not to see a fancy decorated office,” he said.
He had always wanted nothing more than to lead a life as a lawyer, least of all venture into politics.
With his newly awarded title, Chen hopes to contribute more towards the younger generation and has also provided pro bono services.
“I still serve as a director in some companies and I am also the legal adviser for several associations. This basically keeps me busy.
“For a layman like me, it is only with the help of God that I can get such a high honour. I never thought I would be conferred Tunship,” he said.
Chen said although Malaysia is progressing well, he finds there are still a lot of social problems that need to be addressed and it is up to the older generation to help guide and advice the youngsters.
He said he hopes to be able to play his part in reforming the social order and social thinking for Malaysia to be better.
“The world is not the same as it used to be and as the population is growing, the world is getting smaller, which leads to a lot of social problems.
“A lot of thinking needs to the corrected and we cannot keep on blaming the government for all the wrongs if we ourselves are not hardworking enough and united as a nation,” he said.
Chen began his working career as a journalist in a local Chinese daily in Penang for over two years at the age of 24.
He used to cycle to work as a reporter and took the bus when working as a lawyer while at the same time sending money back to his parents to help support his six siblings as he was the eldest.
In his free time, Chen enjoys reading books on philosophy and education aside from his law materials.
“Before I took up law, I thought the best I could do was to become a teacher.
“But my interest changed when I went to law school, and there was nothing more I wanted to be than a good and decent lawyer,” he said.
While studying law in Lincoln’s Inn, London, in 1961, Chen was approached by then MCA president Tun Tan Siew Sin to become the MCA chief secretary, in which he turned down despite the high pay.
Chen attended the same law school with former prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein but had never met before until entered politics.
“I was offered RM2,000 and at that time, that was a really generous pay. But I was more interested to practise law, so I settled with a monthly salary of RM500 as a lawyer,” he said.
Chen entered politics with some reluctance: after turning down Tan, he did not want to disappoint him again when he was approached to contest in the 1964 election.
“Luck has always been on my side. The Damansara constituency was an unfavourable seat for MCA and a Socialist Front stronghold where no one else wanted to be a candidate.
“But I felt obliged to not let Tan down and accepted the offer. After nomination, no one thought we could win,” he said.
With little confidence and hope, Chen stood in the election and changed his campaign strategy by going house to house for 45 days after work at 4pm.
Following his unexpected victory, Razak asked him the same year to join as parliament secretary, but the offer was declined at first, before he agreed to stay for one term, which marked his beginning in public service.
“I promised to work for five years, and he (Razak) honoured it,” said Chen, who helped bring Razak closer to the Chinese community.
Chen lost the Damansara constituency in 1969 due to the strengthening opposition, but luck was again on his side when the Hulu Selangor seat was vacant in 1972, in which he was elected for following a by-election.
Between his career in law and politics, Chen as housing, local government and new village minister from 1973 to 1979, served as Port Klang Authority chairman for 16 years and held director’s post in numerous private companies.
He served as Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1986 and member of the Senate from 1997, and was Senate president from 2000 to 2003.
“That is how I served the government.
“I had the privilege of travelling to over 60 countries and 300 cities in the world, but I still think Malaysia is the best place to settle down,” he said.
On Sept 9, Chen was among the three to receive the Tun-ship of the 2017 federal awards, honours and medals in conjunction with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V’s birthday.
Chief Justice Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif and former Cabinet member Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu were the other two conferred the award.
