“Tycoon Jeffrey Cheah hasn’t betrayed his motherland by tracing his ancestral roots to China”

 

AN attempt by a rightist to run down the reputation of Sunway Group founder/patriarch Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling who recently made a memorable return to his ancestral hometown of Dongguan has been shot down for lack of sensitivity and understanding for the Chinese culture.

Either that or out of sheer jealousy for the vastness of his “130-billion-yuan (RM77.3 bil) business empire”, Komuniti Kuantan has mocked the 81-year-old Cheah for “ultimately returning to his homeland despite his family having reaped the wealth of the Malaysian soil for three generations”.

“He proudly proclaimed that he’s the third generation to be in Malaysia and is now returning to his hometown to share his success. Jeffrey also proudly stated that he’s a Malaysian Chinese with a wealth of 130 bil yuan,” chided the poster on his Facebook page.

Thank goodness that he (Sunway Bhd) was unable to take over IJM (Corp Bhd) recently. Thank you, Malaysian government.

This is a reminder to all of us that no matter how good their people are, they never consider this (Malaysia) their country and Jeffrey Cheah is proof of that.

For whatever motive, Komuniti Kuantan has from the outset of his FB post demonstrated that has an axe to grind with Cheah who had started the Sunway Group from scratch – from a small tin-mining company in 1974 with a start-up capital of RM100,000 into one of Malaysia’s largest conglomerates.

Heavy rebuttal

Headlined “Jeffrey Cheah Finally Shows His True Colours”, the poster went on to make a somehow defamatory claim that “various dirty tactics were used by Jeffrey with his cronies to make this forced takeover a success but they were unsuccessful”.

“Jeffrey even repeatedly stated that he would become a national champion should the takeover of IJM was successful,” jibed Komuniti Kuantan.

This was when Chinese netizens somehow ganged up correct the misperception of the rightist fraternity towards the long-standing Chinese tradition.

“We respect our ancestors. When China was poor, we sent fridges and TVs to them. We help our bloodline. That’s the root of the Chinese culture,” interior designer Terence Tan schooled Komuniti Kuantan.

“We carry our surname thru [sic] the sons to the next generations. That’s how the Chinese works. We are a little different from (the) Malay culture in terms of naming convention. We trace ourselves generations before. You’ve your son follow your name and it stops there.”

Another commenter viewed Cheah’s antics as that “typical of any businessman”.

“Same like Jensen (NVIDIA president/CEO Jensen Huang) … You make speeches based on what the audience want to hear (and) of course, to build stronger ties,” he justified.

“You want to grow your business internationally and global if possible. You aspire to take it where nobody has taken it before and to bring confidence to investors and consumers alike.”

One commenter outrightly questioned the poster what sin has Cheah committed by wanting to connect with his ancestors.

“What’s wrong with him going back to China and meeting his relatives? Malays in Malaysia also have many relatives in Indonesia. So why don’t you make a fuss?”

Another ticked off Komuniti Kuantan for being “jealous instead of emulating Cheah’s handwork with little or no government assistance” while one thought that the post contains 3R (race, religion, royalty) elements.

“Zahid (Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahos Hamidi) went back to Java and claimed his roots. (The late Tun) Abdullah Badawi went to China and visited his relatives there. So what’s wrong with Jeffrey Cheah went back to visit his roots in China?” rebuked another.

Interestingly, there is even evidence of disgraced former premier Datuk Seri NajibRazak “returning to his ancestral village in Indonesia”.

One commenter even teased the poster to repent for slandering Cheah who was born in Pusing, a small town in Perak.

The bottom line, as one commenter aptly put it, “why the incessant fanning of racial sentiment?”

“What’s wrong with Malaysian Chinese visiting China? They are descendants from there but they aren’t Chinese citizens. Even if they return to China, Beijing will not recognise them.” 

 - Focus Malaysia