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Mr. Ngo Tok Ui

Mr. Ngo Tok Ui and his wife, Alice Liew Nyuk Fah

Winning the Hearts & Minds of the People

Iti rearea teitei kahikatea ka taea, a Maori proverb, meaning “Even the smallest bird in the forest can reach top of the tallest tree”, is an apt description of how far Sarawak has come since it gained its independence within Malaysia 40 years ago. The period during the 1960s was a period of great excitement
but also a certain degree of trepidation.

Great excitement because Sarawak had finally won the struggle to be self-governed by its own people, and trepidation due to the communist insurgents who were initially against the formation of Malaysia.

Today, we live in a vibrant, peaceful and economically viable nation, the fruits of the hardships of yesteryears. For the people who lived and grew up during those yesteryears, there are many tales to tell. Let us hear the story of Mr. Ngo Tok Ui who not only witnessed key moments during those challenging years, but who, in his capacity as a civil servant, also contributed his skills, abilities and talents in the efforts to develop Sarawak into a progressive State that it is now.

A Little Background On The Man…

“I finished Form 6 in 1962. This was before the Formation of Malaysia. At that time, there were a lot of scholarships being given out by the Commonwealth under the Colombo Plan from countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and United Kingdom (UK). Some of the courses offered were in Engineering, Law and Medicine,” recalled Mr. Ngo Tok Ui. Taking the opportunity of furthering his studies, Mr. Ngo applied and received a scholarship to study Public Administration in Carlton University, Ottawa, Canada. This was in September 1963.

Due to financial constraints, Mr. Ngo depended on the scholarship money to sustain him during the 3 years he was in Canada. He majored in Political Science and Economics, and upon graduation, came back to serve the people under the Sarawak State Government in 1966.

His tenure with the Sarawak Civil Service actually started before he left for his studies in Canada. Mr. Ngo underwent three months of training as a Sarawak Administrative Officer (SAO) and was seconded to the Treasury Department and Secretariat.

The Ngo family has three generations serving in the civil service - beginning with Mr. Ngo Tok Ui’s father who worked in the Technical Division of the Public Works Department, and then Mr. Ngo Tok Ui himself. The tradition continues with his youngest daughter who is currently working as an Administrative Officer in the Human Resource Management (HRM) Unit of the Chief Minister’s Department.

Mr. Ngo (second from left) as the Acting District Officer of Lawas

The Government Postings He Undertook…

It was not long after Mr. Ngo’s return from Canada in 1966 when he was posted to Sri Aman (used to be called Simanggang) as an SAO. “In Sri Aman, I was seconded to the Land & Survey Department as the Land Settlement Officer,” elaborated Mr. Ngo. “That time was a transition period for Malaysia with the Expatriate Officers still around to hand over the responsibilities,” he continued.

As the Land Settlement Officer, Mr. Ngo was in charge of settling land rights amongst the natives who were mainly Ibans in that area. The job required him to go right down to the ground to adjudicate land disputes. Because of language barriers, he had to depend on one Penghulu and two Tuai Rumahs as Iban translators to assist him in settling the land disputes - a sensitive issue even today.

Besides having to deal with disputes amongst the people, there were also the dangers posed by communist militants in 3 of the 5 Divisions of Sarawak then. The 1st , 2nd and 3rd Divisions had high communist activities particularly in the areas of Kuching, Serian and Simunjan (1st Division), Sri Aman (2nd Division), and Sibu, Kapit and Sarikei (3rd Division). The 4th and 5th Divisions were considered peaceful areas.

“I did not feel much fear in those days. I came back with ideals and was fired up with the spirit of nationalism and nation building. At that time, all the graduates have this spirit to serve and build the nation,” said Mr. Ngo. “Thus, whatever the government says, we will do our best to achieve. The government had the confidence and trust in the graduates to do the job,” he added.

His next posting, in 1967, took him to Lawas where he became the Acting District Officer (DO). As the Acting DO, Mr. Ngo had to handle many different areas including immigration, national registration, marriages, licensing and so on. It was a multi-faceted job. According to Mr. Ngo, the main purpose why
the government sent graduates to far away areas to work was to allow them to gain experiences from these places.

After a few years in peaceful Lawas, Mr. Ngo’s third posting brought him back to one of the hot spots of communist activities -Simunjan, where he was also the Acting DO. Despite the tense atmosphere from confrontations between the Field Forces and communist militants, and curfews set by the Rajang Security Command (RASCOM), feelings managed to bloom between Mr. Ngo Tok Ui and the daughter of the Kapitan of Simunjan, Alice Liew Nyuk Fah, who eventually became his wife.

From Simunjan, Mr. Ngo was posted to become Acting DO of Sarikei, a post he held for 5 years (1971-1975). Married and with a young baby daughter, he moved with his family to Sarikei - a place that was considered the hottest spot for communist activities. RASCOM had set up curfews from 6pm to
6am under its areas, and when necessary for the safety of the people, 24 hours curfews were also imposed. Mr. Ngo was the Chairman of the District Security Committee of Sarikei, and as such, he received daily security briefings, updates and “Mourning Prayers” from the police and military on recent communist activities occurring in Sarikei.

“We were very much involved then in waging a psychological warfare to defeat the communists’ threats to our young country’s stability. The government would drop leaflets expounding the gains from independence within Malaysia,” said Mr. Ngo. To also counteract the communists, Civic Action Groups (CAG), led by the SAO’s, were formed. The members of the CAG teams were made up of officers from various departments such as Information, Agriculture, Police and so forth. It is the responsibility of the CAG to go around explaining government policies, the do’s and don’ts, as well as bringing up any problems faced and generally acting as a link between the public and government.

“The job of the civil service is to win the hearts and minds of the public towards the government,” he clarified and continued thus, “Therefore, Public Relations (PR) is important. It is important to be helpful and friendly to the people so we can work well with them on behalf of the government.” Mr. Ngo Tok Ui’s fifth outstation posting took him to Serian. By that time, the Declaration of Sri Aman had already occurred which was on 21 October 1973. A

Although peace reigned in the State and curfews were abolished, people were still closing their shops by 6pm. What Mr. Ngo remembered distinctly in
Serian was experiencing a bad flood in the area. As the Acting DO, he chaired the Relief Committee and helped relocate people affected by the high waters to relief centres or evacuation sites.

After the above postings and as part of the government’s strategy to constantly upgrade the skills and knowledge of the civil servants, Mr. Ngo Tok Ui was sent for further studies at Birmingham University, UK, where he did a one-year post-graduate course in Development Administration. Upon returning from the UK, he was posted to the Ministry of Housing as the Principal Assistant Secretary (PAS).

In 1982, Mr. Ngo was supposed to be posted to Kapit as the Resident but because of his wife’s serious medical condition at that time where she was hospitalised for a few months, the posting did not go through. Instead, he was posted to the State Financial Secretary’s Office as the Under Secretary, Finance. From 1985 to 1989, Mr. Ngo was posted to Sibu as the Resident. In Sibu, he chaired the committee for Sarawak’s 25 th Independence Celebration within Malaysia.

After Sibu, came his posting as the Assistant Secretary, then as a Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment & Public Health, and finally as the City Secretary of Kuching City South Council (MBKS) until his retirement in 1999.

Welcoming the Deputy Chief Minister (centre) on his visit to Simunjan in 1970

His Views On The Civil Service…

Mr. Ngo Tok Ui saw the role of the Civil Service in three phases.

The first phase covers the period before the Declaration of Sri Aman in 1973. “The main role of the Civil Service was winning the hearts and minds of the
people. Government was people-focused, i.e., caring and is there to serve the people. There was a good spirit of cooperation between the government
departments, whether from federal or state,” he commented.

The second phase was after the Declaration of Sri Aman when peace and harmony reigned in the State. It was the phase of vast and rapid developments. “Government was development- focused and was spending more on development projects -building of schools, facilities, water supply, electricity, community halls, feeder roads, estates and many more - all for the better livelihood of the people,” stated Mr. Ngo.

District and Divisional Action Committees (DACs) were set up to help coordinate, record and monitor project proposals. There were regular meetings held between committee members to discuss the status and progress of these development projects. At this stage, the government played a major role in the development of the State but as the private sectors slowly grew and expanded, they too began to play a big part in developing Sarawak.

As the corporate world started coming up, e.g., financial institutions, education, medical and legal professions and businesses, the State leap-frogged into the era of Total Quality Management (TQM) and globalisation. This brings in the third and present phase, the knowledge-based era (K-era) where the government is focussing on a knowledge-based society and a knowledge-based economy.

Mr. Ngo (left) receiving the Long Service Medal from the Chief Minister (centre) in Sibu

“Continuous learning has become the norm. Biotechnology, Information & Communications Technology (ICT), the internet, a borderless world, regional markets are the way of life of the people and businesses now and in the future,” Mr. Ngo remarked.

Therefore, the civil service needs to be in tandem with the technological advances and knowledge of today and tomorrow in order to raise their standard to greater heights and serve the people efficiently and effectively.

“Last but not least, I would like to thank the government for the trust given me to be responsible in serving the State and do a good job,” expressed Mr. Ngo Tok Ui.