I grew up in a small town in the state capital of Sarawak surrounded by greenery and not much else, so life was pretty much laid back for an energetic teenager like me. But everything changed when I was 12 and my grandmother got me my first BMX.
From that point on, that bike became my adventure. I rode fast, I rode far, I did tricks and went everywhere with it. I even turned down invites from really pretty girls just so I can pour over imported BMX magazines at the local magazine shop. One day I discovered this idyllic fishing village in Bintawa, an area surrounded by mangroves where houses were built on stilts, of course it’s not a fishing village anymore these days, but back then that was where I used to ride and had my first ever experience in an adrenaline filled race.
By the time I turned 17, I discovered go-karts and it was love at first sight. I saved for two whole years before I could afford my first beat-up used go-kart. There was a small town call “Bau” 22 kilometres away from Kuching city and it was a place popular for its two beautiful limestone caves – the Fairy Cave and the Wind Cave. There was also a gold mine in the past which has been turned into a beautiful blue lake. Once a year Bau will turn into a race track and I was just in heaven. I competed in my first go-kart race there and during that race, there I was thinking I was the fastest man on earth when I just ‘lost’ the kart. I made a wrong move and the kart and I just flew, right through the garbage bins, straight into the little coffee stall next to the track. I think the uncles and aunties there were so used to ‘flying karts’ that they took one look at me, saw I was ok and just went on with their coffees. But, that incident didn’t stop me from karting, it just made me better at avoiding garbage cans.
Ten years later, I got interested in jet skis and in Sarawak, the best place for that was at the Sarawak River. Along the waterfront there were shop houses selling handicrafts, food vendors and even an esplanade with views of fantastic 19th-century landmarks: the Astana, former palace of the White Rajah and Fort Margherita, which was built to thwart pirates. The river also offered a breath-taking view of the sunset. It is a long 120km river offering various perfect spots for jet-skiing. It was here that I started to compete in jet-ski competitions and I even used to go around looking for crocodiles, spotting a few along the way.
Then in 1988, I left my hometown to study architecture and music in London. While I was there, my passion for motorsport blossomed further, especially with so many great go-kart circuits there. I supplemented my passion for motorsport by working part-time, as a marshal or a dispatch or working in a restaurant, just so I would have enough money to kart or participate in track days all around UK.
It took me three years before I saved up enough to join the Jim Russell Racing School in Donnington Park. I became one of the top three students there and received a sponsorship to race in the Formula Vauxhall, which I did from 1991 to 1993. The remainder of my years in UK were filled with races in Formula Vauxhall and Formula Ford.
I came back to Kuching in 1995 and racing back then was still quite expensive, so I gravitated to competing in jet-ski races. I still had passion for track racing, it was still the end goal and I never gave up my dream. So I concentrated on work, I set up various businesses, I got married, had children but as soon as I could afford to, I started racing again and before long, I set up my own race team and a business related to motorsport. This is something I plan to continue until I achieve my dream of competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours, and when I get there, I will think of a new dream.
