Pledge to empower Negri youth with education and job creation
SEREMBAN: When the studies of B40 children ground to a halt during the movement control order because they didn’t have mobile devices, Felicia Wong Yin Ting used her connections to rally corporations to donate around 50 devices for them.
“My heart broke when I saw that they were left behind,” said Wong.
Having come from humble beginnings, she knows how important education is for one to break out of the poverty cycle.
“Mum studied until Standard 2, then quit school to bake siew pau to help her family. Dad studied till Form 1 and became a carpenter.
“Life was hard, money was tight, but my parents prioritised education for my sister and me. Their sacrifices paid off, as we both graduated from university.”
With a degree in Chinese Studies from Universiti Malaya, Wong started out as a teacher, then became the principal at Matrix International School which she had set up with the pioneer team.
Education being her forte, it is one of the main pillars in Wong’s election campaign as the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Seremban parliamentary seat.
Her manifesto includes setting up a library in every state constituency for primary school pupils, “because literacy helps them understand lessons better,” she said.
Wong wants character-building programmes for secondary school students, “to help them learn their strengths, so that they can choose the right stream in Form Four.”
For post-spm youths, she wants to set up a platform that collates all grant options for higher education, skills training and seed money for business.
“This is to show them options because knowledge is power,” she said.
In an interview with The Star, Wong, 43, surmised that it was probably her project to provide mobile devices to B40 students which was executed at lightning speed that caught the eye of MCA’S leadership – hence the decision to pick her to stand in GE15 despite joining the party only two years ago.
Wong shared that former Negri Sembilan mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan’s brand of progressive, compassionate and handson politics had made quite an impression on her.
During her time as principal of a private school, Mohamad sponsored 25 B40 students from rural Rantau from 2015 to 2018.
“These 13-year-olds, despite scoring 5As in UPSR, arrived at the residential school with almost zero ability to speak in English.
“Tok Mat requested that I send him their report cards.
“Initially, I thought: ‘Yeah, sure, the busy MB is going to look at these.’
“But he went through every report for every student – three per year over five years – and would quiz me if their grades dipped.
“And his joy was real when they excelled in English, and could compete in public-speaking contests, and emcee events.”
It was then that Wong, a Seremban native, saw first-hand how politics could change lives in a big way.
Wong is in a five-cornered fight for Seremban against incumbent and DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke (Pakatan Harapan), Mohamad Jani Ismail (Pejuang/gta), Fadli Che Me (Pas/perikatan Nasional) and independent Izzat Lesly.
To win over the electorate of 157,000 (52% Malays, 32% Chinese and 14% Indians), she also pledges to set up a wholesalers’ hub.
“It will create a buzz for Seremban, as well as plenty of jobs.
“The many unsightly abandoned buildings in town can be repurposed for this,” she said and added that job creation was vital so that the people of Negri would not need to seek employment in Kuala Lumpur.
Three years ago, Wong opted for new challenges and now runs a biodegradable products business, producing paper straws and food packaging.
Her message to voters: “I am pro-development and service-oriented. Women have more empathy and patience. We are more meticulous when it comes to planning and overseeing execution.”