Yeh Pao Tzu changed my destiny: Autobiographer

Daily Express

3 days ago

Published on: Sunday, July 13, 2025
Published on: Sun, Jul 13, 2025
By: Kan Yaw Chong Text Size: At the book launch: (From left) Yap, Guest of Honour Muguntan Vanar, Chan, CL Chan and Peter Kwan. TAN Sri Yeh Pao Tze, founder of Overseas Chinese Daily News (OCDN) and Daily Express, is the man who shaped his destiny in journalism, newly–crowned Tokoh Wartawan Chan Kwong Yuen, 90, acknowledged. Chan's tribute to Yeh has now been immortalised in his all Mandarin autobiography 'Sixty Years in the Storms of Journalism' which was launched on July 10 at the Dayah Hotel. The book is written in vivid Mandarin, this a translation on the section dedicated to Yeh. On page 19, Chan writes: 'I can say what changed the journey of my life started in my meeting with Yeh Pao Tze who had asked to see me via a third person. 'I cannot remember exactly the date when my father told me the OCDN boss wanted to see me. I said that was strange, how did Yeh Pao Tze know my father is Chan Kwong Choi? 'My guess was through OCDN's interior (Tenom) based stringer, a Mr Wong who must have known me because my father and Wong were fellow Tze Yap, and knew I am the son of Chan Kwong Choi.' 'Either Yeh knew my real name from reports I had filed, or talked to Wong about me, so Wong passed Yeh's word to my father, which seems logical to me. 'I never asked my father much about Yeh's approach, I just went to see him as agreed. 'At that time, the OCDN office in town was located at a lowly-stilted wooden house on Gaya Street.' 'Yeh said at the meeting he had read his reports, and felt that I could be of help, good words to hear. 'In response, I said I wasn't sure if I could deliver since I had never worked in a newspaper before, but he assured me, never mind, you come and try it out, I can teach you. So that's how things were decided. 'That was 1958, after my daily work at the sundry shop finished at 6pm, I would go to the OCDN press in Tanjung Aru. 'At that time, the OCDN press was no grand concrete complex, but merely a single storey but fairly large wooden structure adjacent a bush, which housed the editorial office, proof reading section, paging section and the printing press as well. 'Mr Yeh assigned my role as a wire service reporter, located in a small room at the rear end, with a bed meant for rest. To the right of the door was radio reception spot. 'Facing that radio, I felt like a rat pulling a turtle, I didn't know where to sink my hands into. Sitting beside me, Yeh was unruffled, absolutely concentrating on listening to the radio news broadcast, scribbling symbols for words and phrases at phenomenal speed and then write them into news reports. 'To cover news in those hey days, reporters had no multipurpose smartphones, no way you can tape interviews, you rely on how quick you can jot down a conversation, or remember as much as you can, then file your news reports. 'For speed, you need training. Otherwise, you need a strong memory, or use symbols understandable to yourself because if you try to write down character by character, what is said, you cannot catch up with the speed of the broadcast. But Mr Yeh had the foundation in both speed and self-mastered symbols. 'My beginning in OCDN coincided with eruption of Middle East conflict when war between Israel and Arab countries broke out. Every day, I listened to news broadcast mainly from the Voice of America from Washington, Cairo, Damascus, Tel Aviv, London, Canberra. 'In the beginning I could not use symbols, writing every word that was said meant you could not keep up with the pace of the narration, the only way was resort to the voice recorder, and then transcribe, automatically that delays the writing. It was only after a period of difficult practice that I began to master the task. 'Those days Chinese papers in Sabah did not subscribe to international news agencies like Reuters, AFP, Associated Press, but even if they did, only Pan Asia or Central News Agency Taiwan because they provided reports in Chinese which spared the need to translate. 'So apart from English papers, all Chinese papers depended on radio to obtain international news, especially the Voice of America, the most popular station because of its strong transmission, little or no interference, clear and easy to listen to, unless the weather was very bad. 'After the reports were filed, Yeh would edit and give the heading but gradually, he asked me to write the headings for him to edit. Finally, he let me take charge of international news altogether, headings and all, which gave me an opportunity to demonstrate my talent and that really marked the beginning of my decision to choose journalism as my lifelong career. 'Actually, I never thought that from a goldsmith apprentice to a paper cutter in a printing shop, to a sundry shop attendant, and then one day I would land myself on the journalism route, this was mismatch between my early training and career. 'On the other hand, it also proves that there is nothing impossible under the heaven, only that you don't run away from difficulties, be despondent, self-deprecating and self-abandoning, but do all it takes to learn the trade, forge forward diligently, you can transform you destiny and journey of life. 'The story of Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian boy who landed in New York illegally, and later became a media giant, left a decisive influence on my mindset. 'His fighting spirit, undeterred by setbacks but fought to overcome all odds, his unrelenting drive for facts and depth in reporting and treatment of news became a model for my work and example for learning. 'Now, every journalist in the world, feels a sense of pride in the high calling of the Pulitzer Prize, though they can only look at it from afar.'