For the late Tan Siew Sin, M’sia was paradise

KUALA LUMPUR: The late former Finance Minister Tun Tan Siew Sin (pic) hated to be away from Malaysia for long that he was even willing to fly in and out of Hawaii.

His daughter Datin Paduka Tan Siok Choo said every time that Tan, who was also former MCA president, went overseas, he wanted to return as soon as his engagement ended.

“One time, he had to give a talk in Hawaii and it was scheduled in the afternoon. So, he flew in the morning and left the same day!” recalled Siok Choo.

She said most of the holidays that her parents took with her and her two sisters, Siok Eng and Siok Lee, were to local attractions.

“He always made it a point to take us to the hill stations, such as Maxwell Hill, and the islands like Tioman and Perhentian.

Fond memories: Siok Choo has organised a memorial programme for Tan at Wisma MCA.

“He never took us overseas because he wanted us to appreciate Malaysia and to love the beauty that the country has to offer,” she said, adding that her father was a man who lived by his principles.

“Being the finance minister, he never believed in buying overseas property because he felt that the average Malaysian taxpayer might not understand (the move).

“They might think that he had no confidence in the country and that was why he was buying property overseas,” she recalled, adding that Tan hated waste.

“If my mother (the late Toh Puan Catherine Lim Cheng Neo) showed my father what she bought, the first question he would ask is ‘how much does it cost?’

“And when my mother told him the price, he would always say ‘too expensive’. This was his standard answer,” she quipped.

Despite that, however, Siok Choo said her father was very liberal, allowing his daughters to read ro­­mances despite their mother’s hesitation.

“He believed that restraint was the parent of excess. So, he always allowed us to do what we wanted.

“He believed that if you take away the glamour of the forbidden fruit, they are less likely to want to do it,” she said.

This year marks the 100th year of the birth of Tan, for which his daughters organised a memorial programme, the Tun Tan Siew Sin Centennial Anniversary 1916-2016, at Wisma MCA on May 21, the day he was born.

MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai will also launch the Chinese edition of the book Ancestral Home of Tun Tan Siew Sin, which is co-authored by Siok Choo.

Her mother died last Tues­day at the age of 95.