Sibu veteran journalist receives My Hero 4.0 Award
KUCHING: Veteran journalist Peter Wee was recently named one of the six winners of the 2023 My Hero 4.0 Award initiated by the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The award-winning newsman from Sibu is known to give his best to reach out to those in need, particularly the underprivileged, without asking for any reward in return to play his part in preserving social harmony.
Throughout his journalism days, he has taken the initiative to work on investigative reporting as a means to help individuals address their hardship.
Wee, who was also named an ‘Ambassador of Unity’ in conjunction with the award, said he will continue to do his good work.
He was nominated for the award for saving the lives of two young girls whom he had come across playing outside the window of a commercial lot.
“I was on my way to work when I saw other drivers slowing down and using their phones to take photos of something. When I looked up, I was shocked to see two kids playing outside the window of a shoplot unit on the third floor.
“When I got to the commercial block, I saw that almost every shop was closed. The people I was able to approach seemed reluctant to help out of fear for getting into trouble.
“Left with little choice, I knocked on a neighbour’s door and was informed that the mother of the two girls was napping. After that, I banged the door until the mother responded and told her to grab her girls inside,” he said.
Despite advising the mother to install safety measures on the window, Wee was disappointed to see nothing was done during a follow-up visit to much later.
He then alerted the Social Welfare Department, who dispatched an officer to visit the family to better understand the situation as well as provide counselling to the parents.
Although his act of helping the two girls was the main reason he won award, the selection team dug deeper into more of his good deeds, among them reaching out to a 16-year-old girl who was found sleeping at a five-foot-way after sniffing glue; and saving a young boy from being forced by his father to beg for donations in front of a bank.