Chin Eng on The Go

Chin Eng on The Go

Future Journalist has proven himself to be a real 'anak jati'

By Sharmilla Mohan

There are a lot of perceptions on how we should portray our identity as true Malaysians. One young lad has proven himself to be the best example of a true ‘anak jati’. He is Oh Chin Eng, 22, who is currently pursuing his degree in journalism in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kampar.

Born with two other siblings, this Penang born guy is the eldest son for Oh Kean Beng, 47, and Lee Seok Luan, 46.

Being an active student in both primary and secondary school, he was participative in most co-curricular activities such as forums, public speaking, photography competitions, debates, marching band competitions and many more. Besides that he held many posts in school such as the deputy head prefect, head section leader of PBSM, Commander of Board of Prefect and many more. His achievements in all those activities were uncountable. After completing his Form 6 education, Chin Eng worked for Universiti Sains Malaysia as a research assistant in heritage and cultural aspect in collaboration with the Penang Heritage Trust.

This down-to-earth bachelor describes himself as an appreciative person. He appreciates the food that he gets to eat every day, his circle of friends and everything that revolves around him. He also regards  himself as sensitive, sentimental, adventurous, sweet and cute, with two of the latter told with a grin in his face.

When asked about what three things that he never leaves behind when he steps out of the house, he answered that it would be his pen, hand phone and his digital camera. Those were the most essential things for him more than his wallet.

Most of us do write diary when we are free after a hectic day, but Chin Eng does it his way. He jots down whenever he feels like doing so in the notebook that he carries along with him. He even has his desktop filled with many documents till the extent that he sometimes has to spend time searching for the important ones.

Having photography as his passion, Chin Eng definitely has a bright future in the photojournalism field. According to him, his accomplishment in making it through until the national level in the photography competition in 2003 is what that inspired and motivated him to be more involved in photography.

When he was asked about which picture of his that he feels is the best among all and cherishes the most, he said “It is hard to point out which is the best. Every picture tells a different story. Every picture captures what we see and feel in life every single day.” Chin Eng also regards Steve McCurry of National Geographic as one of the best photojournalist that he looks up on.

When asked on how supportive his family has been with his choice of career in future, he said that they accept what he does. He added that they do worry and care for what he does, but they just don’t express it all the time.

Chin Eng cynically regarded himself as a ‘carepochi’ or also known as the act of being nosy. This is because he likes to go out and venture any new happenings, accidents or so on. One of the important events that he has attended is the 2008 election campaign at the Han Chiang College, Penang. This event was a turning point for the Malaysian political system as Pakatan Rakyat won more parliamentary seats than usual.

Besides that, he was also the first student journalist to reach the tragedy scene whereby three of the UTAR Kampar students drowned at the Batu Berangkai waterfalls. Chin Eng took the pride of being the one who torched Menteri Besar of Perak, Dato' Seri Dr. Zambry, into the jungle until they reached the place where the bodies were found.

Other than that, Chin Eng was also present to give moral support during the protest against the arrest of SIn Chew Press reporter, Tan Hoon Cheng.

In addition to that, Chin Eng also went for the ISA rally on the 1^st of August 2009 which was held near the Sogo Shopping Complex in Kuala Lumpur. According to Chin Eng, tear gas and water cannon were released during the rally. Despite all this, he was pumped up to be present and show his support.

So far, Chin Eng has met numerous famous personalities throughout his experience of attending uncountable events. He has met Sharifah Armani, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Soo Koon, Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, Lim Swee Tin, Afdlin Shauki, Beh Lee Yi, Nicole Ann David and even former prime minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.


As Chin Eng is aware of most political matters in Malaysia, his opinion mattered on who he thinks is the most respectful leader in Malaysia. Chin Eng firmly told that it can only be Malaysia’s 4^th Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Chin Eng personally loves Mahathir’s vision, contributions, ideas and analytical thinking.

Being a very patriotic person, Chin Eng agrees that Malaysian younger generations are not patriotic enough. If they were, they will all be very united, not going to the extent of discriminating people of other races and religions. He was quoted saying “Deep inside their hearts, they still have that stigma, the same mind set. If they are told to write an essay on patriotism, the outcome would be outstanding but in reality, I doubt it that they have the same passion and patriotism feel towards their country.”

What is actually his all time goal? Chin Eng stated that we live only once, thus we must try everything out. He added that we may not be excellent in a scale of 360°, but that should not be used as a rationale on why we should be so timid, shutting ourselves out from the real world.

According to him again, we achieve something out of every single effort that we make.

This young man with so much of achievement to be proud of, feels that recognitions of his works by others are his best achievement so far.

When a question on how he build his confidence was thrown to him, he deliberately answered, “I’m unsure if I’m confident or not. I just grab every opportunity that I obtain and work hard on it. I believe that no matter what I do, I just want to deliver my level best.”

This talented all-rounder expressed how fresh he feels this year. He is keeping his fingers crossed with the dream to organize his very own, solo photography exhibition by the end of this year.