Wee known for commitment to help people in need

Many find Wee’s interpersonal skills remarkable. — Filepic

PONTIAN: His keen interest and past experience in community work and helping new villages helped Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng in the pursuit of a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) four years ago.

His research supervisors expressed hope the former MP’s knowledge and expertise would be useful to the development of community work.

“He is very passionate about community work, especially in helping new villages he chose as research area for his studies, ” said Universiti Utara Malaysia Prof Dr Phang Siew Nooi.

“He is very concerned about the community, especially the poor who were left out in the country’s mainstream development and growth.

“He wants to bring them together for the overall development of the country. I think his interest grew when he was the political secretary to the Housing and Local Government Minister from 1999 to 2008, ” said Prof Phang.

Prof Dr Samihah Khalil, who was Wee’s reseach supervisor, concurred.

She said he was known for his passion in new village development.

“He envisions a better direction for the new villages and that they should not be left behind in the Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) agenda, ” she added.

TN50 was an initiative for national development from 2020 to 2050 and was launched in 2017.

During that time, Wee was the Tanjung Piai MP and was pursuing his doctorate studies in UUM after completing his Master of Public Management by research as one of the 20 MP students at the university’s College of Law, Government and International Studies.

“Despite his busy schedule, his commitment to the research work was high. He was able to balance his work schedule with research duties, ” said Prof Samihah.

Describing the PhD endeavour as “no child’s play, ” Prof Phang lauded Wee’s deep interest in the topic, which was what kept him going through the years.

“Doing a PhD needs a lot of commitment, hard work and interest. It is very important to keep them going through the long years.

“His interpersonal skills are remarkable and people warm up to him easily, ” she said.

Recalling that she was quite hard on Wee sometimes when it came to research reports, Prof Phang said he somehow delivered and remained cheerful and positive despite the stress of serving his constituency while juggling life and studies.

“It was a difficult balancing act but he did it, ” added Prof Phang.

She said Wee’s experience and academic credentials would enable him to do his job well in serving not only in Tanjung Piai but Malaysians in general.

Prof Samihah noted that Wee displayed a strong “national service” attitude towards his life and work.