How they started from zero

This is my lovely mum the weekend before last. :) We were supposed to go out to do some shoes shopping, but we ended up talking... again. :) :)

After graduating from Lincoln's Inn, she returned to Malaysia in year 1977, and started her 9 months chambering in Skrine & Co. During the time, they will not retain you unless you can bring in business for example, your dad is a bank manager who can direct all the bank loans to the legal firm. So naturally, she knows she will not be retained in Skrine. She already did her search and gotten a job offer from a small legal firm -Hussein Ong & Yee.

One day, a lady from Skrine approached her to ask whether she was interested in working in Hisham, Sobri & Kadir. One of the partners in Hisham called up Skrine to ask for recommendation, they were looking for a young lawyer to take care of all their conveyancing files. Mum said she was a little reluctant because she thought she wants to handle litigation cases too. Well, if you know her, she hates to go to court now. Haha. Anyway, she gave the Hisham interview a try and she loved it! The one reason that made her decide to join Hisham was that they had a very nice office, open concept. Hahahahahaha... actually, I think this is so me. :P Well, cut long story short, she joined Hisham after completing her chambering in Skrine.

Not long after she joined, the housing development project in SS15 was handled by Hisham and then with the benefit of 1% staff discount, and with the help from parents, she & my dad purchased a 2 storey terrace house in SS15. :)

He came back to Malaysia in year 1978 after graduating, a year later than her because he started his degree a year late. :) He did his chambering in Shook Lin & Bok (the one my brother used to work in). He then joined a small firm - CS Tang & Co. He got along very very well with the colleagues and clerks in CS Tang.

One day, he was approached by a group of chinese businessman in Muar from the Hokkien Association, telling him about scenarios where they were being taken advantage of by the non-chinese lawyers. These chinese businessmen, who knew him from young (he cleaned their house as part time jobs when he was schooling), they encouraged him to open a legal firm in Muar, to protect the rights of the chinese people. Most of them are illiterate and they were longing to have a chinese lawyer in town whom they can place their trust in. They even offered to loan him a sum of money interest free, to start his firm in Muar.

He gave some thoughts to it and decided to build his career in Muar. Of course, mum fought with him because they just bought the house in SS15 and that Muar is too far away from her hometown.....cut long story short again, at last she agreed to go back to Muar with him. :)

He resigned from CS Tang & Co. and with the loan from the chinese businessmen (RM16,000), opened Ng Seng Kang & Partners in Muar, on 1st April 1981. The office was located at 1st floor, above Public Bank at the 1st street of Muar. He stayed in the old wooden house in Sungai Abong with his mum & siblings. Later, he purchased a 2 storey semi-D in Taman Murni. During that time, Johor's weekend falls on Thursday and Friday, while KL's weekend is Saturday & Sunday. Therefore, on Thursdays, he would take the bus to travel to KL, and go into CS Tang & Co. to follow up on his old files.. without charges. I was so impressed when mum said this, my dad was such a responsible man... and so loving.. because the staffs in CS Tang secretly told him the lawyer who replaced him was really snobbish. My daddy... :)

One time, he surprised mum by buying her a white honda on her birthday. It was raining when he arrived at Happy Garden. She was only joking when she said she wanted a car, and he really bought one for her! :) Try imagine a tall handsome young man, with curly hair, dressed in white shirt & black slacks, holding an umbrella, standing in front of a brand new white Honda at the gate... I am sure mum's heart melted. :)

When he has some conveyancing files, he would bring the files up to KL so that mum can draft the letters and agreements and let his staff type them out. That's how they help each other out. Waiting for the business in Muar to grow, and by April 1982, mum also resigned and joined Ng Seng Kang & Partners. My brother was only 2 years old then, so he stayed with grandparents in SS15.

The semi-D house that he purchased was not yet ready, so both of them stayed in office. They slept on mattress under their table, they bathed in office toilets, they did their laundry there too. Mum said she will dry out the clothes on the chair backs after office hour and by morning the clothes aren't 100% dry yet, she had to fold them, and place them in a corner where she knows by noon the sunlight will shine in, on the clothes. :) Our grandparents (mum's side) came visit them before, and they too stayed overnight in their office.

Of course my brother misses them a lot, whenever they come to Subang (weekends) to visit, he always threatened that he will "追mummy (go after mummy)" so that she can't leave. :) Grandpa used to drive him round and round SS15, and then told him, "we lost them, they're too fast". He would refused to get down from the car, whenever grandma opens the front car door, he climbs to the back and vice versa.

Finally, 6 months later, the semi-D house was ready, but without electricity and water. Still, they moved in. They lived with candle lights at night, sleeping on a carpet. Every morning, he will take with him 2 pails, walked to the kampong (village) opposite to fill the pails with water for their morning shower. Few months later, electricity & water was finally provided. :) Slowly, they buy furnitures and build a home. :) Of course then my brother stayed with them when the house was finally ready.

One day, they were notified by the landlord to move out from their office, as Public Bank intended to rent the 1st floor for their office. The tenancy agreement has another 1.5 years to go but the landlord insisted them to move out asap. Dad was disappointed and decided that he must own his own office building so they won't be pushed back and forth like this. They started looking for a shop lot to purchase, and set their eyes on a simple shop lot selling for RM40k. But when the shop lot owner (kopitiam owner) found out that the interested buyer was a lawyer, she raised the price to RM80k. Dad hated people who takes advantage of lawyers, so he turned down the offer. Later on they set their eyes on a building lot at 4th Street, a newly developed street. The corner lot was reserved by the owner (Lau), one of the richest man in Muar for his own office use. Dad gave him a call and he also favoured him and said "If you want to buy, I will sell to you." They bought the corner lot (5 floors) for RM550k. They had the confidence that they could service the loan if they manage to rent out all floors. Well, of course life is not a bed of roses, the ground floor was rented out, the 1st floor was for own use, and the 2nd floor upwards... wasn't that easy... :)

So their office was finally shifted to the 4th Street, i.e. Jalan Ali by 1st Oct 1985. 10 months after I was borned!

It's funny I found 2 grammar mistakes in this notice handwritten by dad. :) All these while I thought he's good in languages, but I guess his strength lies in Chinese and Malay language. As for English, mum is the master. :)

I "WOW" so much when mum told me this story. They really started from zero! I wonder how come they could be so confident especially when they set their foot down to purchase the RM550k building! If you ask me now, I don't even think I could afford a RM550k house. Imagine, our dollar was stronger back then, their RM550k building could be our RM2mil building. Mum said both of them just did it with blind faith. I can't believe it, I have such amazing parents. :) Of course they've made some wrong decisions along the way, but I'm sure the right decisions were more.

The terrace house in SS15, their 1st property, but was always rented out over the past 30 years. But, next year, Joshua and I will be buying this house from mum, at a 2/3 price. Mum said 1/3 is mine so I only have to pay 2/3 (my sibling's share). I am indeed enjoying what my dear parents has invested in. To a certain extent, I'm glad they were risk takers. Well, courage is all you need when you're starting from zero, isn't it?

This is grandma (dad's side), behind was the wooden house dad grew up staying in.


I believe this was at the High Court in KL. :) My dad is the one in white in the middle.


The rented old office.


The new office. Not new to us anymore. We grew up in this office. Homework, eat, sleep, play, tv...


Our house at Taman Murni. Home sweet home. :)


I remember once we were walking into a Chinese biscuit shop, and we saw an old man sitting at a corridor, selling biscuits in his basket. Mum told me, that when dad was young, he used to be sitting or squatting down next to this very same man (he's a friend of daddy), selling biscuits too. Dad didn't have a choice because he was from a poor family, but he has the courage to make a change in his generation. I never knew how blessed I am until I hear the full story from mum.

Thank you daddy. :)