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I N S P I R I N G S T O R I E S O F T H E O L D E R G E N E R A T I O N

MR KHOO HAI CHEW

"Whatever you do, you must have the passion and determination."
by Tsai Jing Enr & Lelayani A/P Thanapalan

Mr Khoo Hai Chew during his younger days

Mr Khoo looked very friendly and calm while he was sharing more about his
experiences. He wears glasses, has a slender frame, and looks youthful. His fluffy
white hair was the only sign of his age. Ever since the pandemic began, it was habitual
to see many looking fretful. Words from this wise man did change our conception of
life.

He started sharing stories about his early days, specifically about his education period.
He was raised in a family of six siblings and being the youngest son with a younger
sister, he had such a strong desire to gain knowledge. He even remembered vividly
sharing a single dictionary with his siblings and reading it from cover to cover. He
explained there was not much printing material available back then so he read
whatever was available and he often borrowed books from the libraries. He furthered
his studies at the Universiti Malaya and majored in Mathematics. Then, he worked in
the IT sector. He educated himself by reading manuals to upgrade his knowledge even
during his working period. “It isn’t like nowadays where you can learn everything from
YouTube,” he said in a humorous tone.

With such limited sources, this man devoted himself to get what he wanted to make a better future for
himself. Our heart sank at the thought of how many times we had been lazy and taken everything for
granted because we haven’t even read some of the free books given by our teachers/lecturers.

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