Lessons from dad helps minister get the job done
Ahmad Husni's school experience is invaluable in his mission to strengthen China-Malaysia ties
When Malaysian Second Minister of Finance Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah was growing up, his father sent him to a school where he had to walk six kilometres every day instead of the one next door.
The reason, his father said, was to teach him discipline and expose him to people from different backgrounds.
Now at the age of 60, the dapper Husni says he still benefits from the lessons his father taught him as he tries to strengthen Malaysia's financial and diplomatic ties with China.
"What we hope is to become the gateway for China in Asean [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations]," said Husni, who continues to look up to his 93-year-old father, who worked in the government's religious affairs division and was the imam at the community mosque.
Husni recalled that his father would give him 15 Malaysian cents each day - after spending 5 cents on food, he would not have enough money for the full bus ride, so he would always have to walk three kilometres to and back from school.
"We were not rich, we were not poor," said Husni, who is the fourth of seven children. The lessons he learned from his family, however, resonate well with his interest in Chinese culture.
