Happy 90th Birthday Tun. Dr. Mahathir & my first personal encounter with Dr. M!

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Happy Birthday Tun Dr. Mahathir & My first personal encounter with him that drove me to a decision to either Go Big or Go Home!

Dear Tun Dr. Mahathir,

Happy 90th birthday to the most inspirational & captivating 90 year leader old I have ever known.
May god bless you with many, many more fruitful years!

Cheers,
Kid

I would like to take this opportunity to share my first personal encounter with our beloved former Prime Minister whose encouragement literally drove me to Go big or go home!As to when I went, I leave it for your own judgement.

kidchantundrmahathir
Photography started out as a hobby and passion for me. I graduated from Curtin University of Technology with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree. I could not have imagined that what started as a sabbatical from my corporate job, would one day turn into a full fledged professional career for myself. I had the following incident to thank for driving and inspiring me to achieve something out of it.

The Incident: As a blessed young photographer in 2002, we were honoured to be commissioned as the official photographer to the wedding of the then Chief Justice's son Azlan Tun Dzaiddin to the then Grand Chamberlain's daughter Sharifah Nurafazan Syed Danial.

After taking the formal group shot of which included His Majesty the King , HRH Sultan of Selangor, HRH Yam Tuan of Negeri Sembilan & Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Haji Badawi , the then Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir mohammed walked right up to me.

He asked if I was working for the hotel or doing business on my own. Slightly shocked and a bit nerve wrecked, I answered in English that I was doing business on myself. He commended me and encouraged me to strive harder. It was then, I caught a vision that my hobby could be much bigger that what it may be.

Till today his encouraging words still rings in my head and it my heart. I hope my children will know that not only did Dr. M have a big hand in shaping our Malaysia into a modern and dynamic country; he also help shaped their daddy’s future.

For that, I am eternally grateful to this visionary.
Kid Chan
*This encounter was first published and share with History Channel's Photo For the Future Campaign.