Tuesday, 7th February, 2012 | 9:32 am
Our President - YB Datuk Liew Vui Keong, JP
The man who wins one's spurs - that is how you would describe V K Liew who gained admission to the central leadership as a result of his own achievements in the Party.
Even during his student days in England, VK, who was only in his late teens, decided to earn his own livelihood by doing part-time jobs to get through his studies and life in a foreign country.
From a bell boy in a hotel to dirty work in the hospital, the 'kampung' boy from Kota Belud, who had his early education at Chung Hua School Kota Belud and S. M. Arsad Kota Belud, worked as hard as he studied to earn some extra pounds and shillings so as not to rely too heavily on his family.
He even became a mini cab driver, a job he described as "the most challenging of all" simply because he was a foreigner in a foreign country.
"When I took the job I had already completed my diploma in business and finance as well as my law degree but I needed the extra income."
"Besides, it was already difficult to get jobs in England in those days... It was the most challenging job of all for me because I had to rely on street directories to get me around a city like London which I think had a population of about seven to eight million then," he said.
On the other hand, being a mini cab driver gave him an opportunity to see every corner of the big city and meet all kinds of people. Well, including those bad ones unfortunately.
On few occasions he found himself cheated by passengers who apparently wanted a free ride.
But on the flip side of the coin, he made some good friends too.
His cab-driving experience around unfamiliar and sometimes unfriendly territories in the city of London proved valuable in later years as he tried to find his way through the competitive legal and political arenas.
But VK, an ex-All Saints boy who went to study in England at a tender age of 17, has always have that fighting spirit and confidence to rise in any occasions no matter how difficult they can become.
This in-born character of him was already visible when he was actively involved in debates and speech presentations as early as in his primary school days.
Today, it's either in the courtrooms or in politically-related occasions.
And he is as good a fighter in the physical sense as in verbal. At one time, his love and passion for Thai kickboxing took him to Naratiwat in Thailand where he stayed there for several months to learn the skill and art from the local kickboxers.
But kicking his way up in his legal practice and political career is the last thing VK would want to do.
Instead he is a strong believer in working as a team, again proven by his many involvements in organisations especially in the Sabah Students' Union in the United Kingdom during his university time in which he once served as the Secretary General.
Coming from mixed marriage family, VK is also multi lingual as he can speak most of the local as well as the Chinese dialects.
On the home front, VK is a loving husband to his wife, veterinarian Dr Lindai Lee and a caring father to their four beautiful children.
