MCA’s Chew stays upbeat while battling breast cancer

 

Former deputy minister Chew Mei Fun says she considers herself lucky the cancer was detected at a regular check-up. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Former MCA secretary-general Chew Mei Fun is determined to beat breast cancer since being diagnosed with the disease in December.

Word of her condition got out when Chew appeared at a breast cancer awareness charity event recently.

In an interview with China Press, Chew said it was important to keep a positive outlook on life when dealing with cancer.

“We will all eventually die someday, but this doesn’t mean that we should give up. Instead, we should seize every opportunity to survive, especially with new advancements in medicine,” she was quoted as saying.

While she was not sure if she would be fully cured, she told herself that she needed to be an obedient patient, follow her doctors’ advice, and believe in science instead of trying fake medicines.

She said she considered herself lucky in having the disease detected during a regular health check-up, as it allowed her to begin treatment early.

She had gone for a check-up as a precaution, after losing her sister to cancer during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chew, who is 57, said a tumour was removed from her left breast when she was 40. In 2019, her doctors detected small tumours in her chest area, but believed they would go away by themselves.

At the latest check-up with a mammogram, her doctors confirmed that she had Stage 2 breast cancer. Chew has since completed six rounds of chemotherapy and must undergo further rounds of adjuvant and radiation therapy.

A former deputy minister for women, family and community development, Chew said she had no plans, adding that it was better to give younger and newer faces the opportunity to shine.

Chew is currently obtaining her doctoral degree from Peking University, with a focus on Malaysian history and race issues, from a religious perspective. - FMT