SIBU: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Lanang potential candidate for the coming parliamentary election, Kelvin Kong, has proposed that the Sibu Hospital be renamed Wong Soon Kai Memorial Hospital.
Kong, 45, opined that the name change was necessary to commemorate the late Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr Wong Soon Kai (Soon Kai) who passed away last 22nd March.
“The late Soon Kai was an outstanding medical doctor as well as a prominent and caring politician,” Kong explained, adding that he deserved to be remembered by having Sibu Hospital named after him.
Kong further pointed out that Soon Kai was a great doctor and a committed leader who had made a lot of sacrifices and enormous contributions for the improvement of medical services and the overall development of Sibu.
“It is an undisputable fact that Soon Kai was very much respected and loved by all the people from different political, cultural and religious backgrounds.
“I believe there is nothing more appropriate than naming the Sibu Hospital after Soon Kai,” Kong added.
He said this in a press statement on Sunday.
The son of a Chinese migrant from Minqing County in Fuzou, Soon Kai was the first Sarawakian to graduate as a surgeon in Britain in 1959.
Earlier he and his wife Dr Jane Yong had graduated as doctors from the King Edward VII College of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Singapore in 1947.
Soon Kai served as a government doctor for 15 years before entering politics in 1974.
Kong also described Soon Kai as an irreplaceable doctor and politician in Sibu who was a role model to him.
“When I was just a little boy, my late father Kong Sheau Hon, who was former chairman of SUPP Naman sub-branch, often told me good tales about Soon Kai.”
“Since young I was already very much influenced by Soon Kai’s high morality, his loyalty to the party and Barisan Nasional,” Kong emphasised.
Citing the 1987 Ming Court incident as an example, Kong said it was because of Soon Kai’s loyalty and his own unwavering political convictions that helped to avoid a serious political crisis threatening the survival of the Sarawak Barisan Nasional.
Kong also said it was worth mentioning about the fact Soon Kai was instrumental to the establishment of Sibu Hospital which began operation in 1994 when he was a minister by proposing and fighting for its construction.
He said Soon Kai at one time also proposed to name Sibu Hospital after the late Lau King Howe who contributed the land to build the first hospital in Sibu.
“This wish of Soon Kai was not fulfilled, but the Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum was later established in replacement,” he pointed out.
Kong made an earnest appeal to all the people in Sibu, regardless of their political affiliations, religious and cultural differences, to stand united in pushing for the realisation of renaming Sibu Hospital to Wong Soon Kai Memorial Hospital.
Separately, Kong also urged the state government and Sibu Municipal Council to speed up the process of naming the Lau King Howe Road and to permanently preserve the existing Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum.
