A HIGHLY distinctive quirk (or talent if you think about it) of Tan Sri Lee Kim Sai’s bigger-than-life character was unveiled in my first private interview with him when he was then labour minister, circa 1988.
First, a brief backdrop to that interview: Lee was such a super press-friendly cabinet minister that he would grant interviews at the spur of the moment, over the phone or when I just happened to turn up, with some of my friendly labour-beat competitors, unannounced at his then-office at Pusat Bandar Damansara.
As per his usual stance, he was animatedly in tune with labour issues of the week, especially in his regular engagements with Malayan Trades Union Congress (MTUC) and Congress of Unions of Employees in Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) militant trade union leaders.
Lee was spunky. He’d fight tooth-and-nail for political issues he embraced and had, in the preceding four years, survived a variable of tough political skirmishes that would have interred lesser mortals.
How’s this for an impressive resume of political battles: Lee, with several MCA stalwarts, took on the then acting MCA president over phantom party membership, then duly expelled from the party, but wrestled back their positions during a contentious party election.
Lee secured one of the three vice-presidencies, was then appointed MCA secretary-general, and after a financial scandal floored the then MCA president Tan Sri Dr Tan Koon Swan over dodgy business dealings in Singapore, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik took up the presidency while Lee ascended to deputy presidency and was appointed soon after as labour minister in 1986.
In the next two tumultuous years, Lee was embroiled in several highly-charged campaigns, questioning the New Economic Policy, Malay political dominance, demanding the Sedition Act penalise any calls to indict minorities as immigrants.
His biggest powder keg exploded in 1987 when he joined forces with DAP to bitterly dispute the appointments of senior assistants and supervisors without Mandarin qualifications in Chinese primary schools.
This wave of events triggered the Operation Lalang dragnet a few months later that detained politicians, non-governmental organisation leaders and journalists, but Lee, a key player in the pitched battles, was somehow left alone, though he helped cool the intensity by exiling himself to Australia.
In between that, the Sultan of Selangor, after Umno implored that he be sacked from the cabinet, stripped Lee of his Datukship, though the title was later restored.
In his political swan song in 1993, Lee challenged Ling for MCA presidency, but walked away after support for his bid flailed. Lee retired from politics in 1996.
Back to that interview I had with Lee. It was the first time I had met up with the man, and I noticed several newspapers on the guest table. One of the broadsheets that seemed to be out of place was Utusan Melayu, the now-defunct Jawi-script paper.
I assumed that Utusan Melayu was one of those newspapers placed routinely in his office. Or perhaps it was for Lee’s Malay guests to read.
When I pointed out to Lee the curious presence of the paper, Lee smiled, as if he had anticipated my predictable query.
Lee grabbed the newspaper and proceeded to read it, first the headlines, then the first paragraphs — fluently.
I was floored at his fluency and felt embarrassed. I would crawl laboriously if I had to read Jawi aloud.
Lee saw my predicament and cackled. He explained that he had consciously picked up Jawi since he was a young man, who came from a poor background, thanks to his frequent mingling with the Malay crowd in Ulu Klang.
There’s little else to be known of Lee in my quick and narrow observation of his span as labour minister. Once he moved out of that office to other cabinet postings, I had no contact with him again.
But in those three years as labour minister, Lee exuded personal charm. Despite their incorrigible differences, trade union leaders like hard-as-nails MTUC president Zainal Rampak had nothing but praise for Lee.
“He was always available to talk to us, meet us and discuss tough labour issues,” Zainal told me decades ago.
“Of course, we disagreed on many issues, but he was open and honest. Sometimes too honest, but we appreciated his candour. No other labour ministers after him are as engaging.”
Let’s get this straight: Lee is a pitbull on issues affecting the Chinese community, just like a Malay or Indian would with theirs, but there is no hint of malice in his words or action.
In fact, given the political animus in his time (or at any rate, current times) for a non-Malay and non-Muslim to command the Jawi script may not be phenomenal, but it reflects his sincerity to sympathetically understand his opponents and, in his own gruff ways, his affection for them.
Rest in peace, dear sir. This little snippet lives with me for all times.
Azmi Anshar is a former NST editor and award-winning commentator who, as a young reporter, covered the labour beat from 1988 to 1992