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The Day of Hero Teo
Over the past two years, too many good things have happened – which I think is too good to be true. Someone told me that when good or bad things are meant to happen, you just can’t stop them flowing.
The World Parkinson’s Day celebration which was launched by our caring Minister of Health, YB Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, on the 11th April 2009, was certainly the most successful and memorable Parkinson’s event in this country. That was really a historical moment in the Parkinson’s care in Malaysia as the Minister of Health had directly responded to the plights of the local Parkinson’s community.
I was barely recovering from the first episode of euphoria caused by the World Parkinson’s Day 2009 celebration, when I was suddenly thrown into the second episode of euphoria – during the Malaysian Parkinson’s Day 2009.
Even before the event, somehow I knew that it would be a successful one. But, I didn’t expect it to be so meaningful and dramatic as it turned out to be on that afternoon of 9th May 2009, at Royale Bintang Hotel, Seremban.
The Malaysian Parkinson’s Day falls on 8th May every year, which is the birthday of the late Mr. Lloyd Tan Pao Chan, the founding father of the Parkinson’s support group movement in Malaysia. The event that was held in Seremban was the second annual celebration. The first celebration was held on 10th May 2008, at Crystal Crown Hotel, Petaling Jaya.
The Malaysian Parkinson’s Day 2009 was a historical moment in the Parkinson’s care in this country as it was the very first time that three local Parkinson’s books were launched simultaneously, under the theme “Voices of Parkinson’s”. The three books were:
- “A Glimpse of the Past” (by the late Auntie Susie Chandy, a Parkinson’s patient who has passed away in February 2008)
- “Hero Teo – Chronicles of a Parkinson’s Fighter” (by Mr. Hero Teo, a Parkinson’s patient)
- “Parkinson’s, A Better Tomorrow” (by Dr. Chew Nee Kong)
Proceeds from the sale of these books will be donated to the Lloyd Tan Parkinson’s Trust Fund, which provides financial assistance to Malaysian Parkinson’s patients who need brain surgery.
The ballroom was fully occupied. About 500 people attended the event. Mr. Hero Teo was present at the event together with his wife, three daughters and other family members. The late Auntie Susie Chandy was represented by her two daughters, Ann Marie Chandy and Susan Chandy.
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Understanding Parkinson’s – The 500-strong audience listening to the lecture presented by Dr. Chew Nee Kong. |
The event started at around 2.40 pm with the medical lecture by Dr. Chew Nee Kong, the Medical Advisor of NSPS. Dr. Chew presented a comprehensive review of Parkinson’s care in Malaysia, and stressed the need for improvement in the quality of Parkinson’s care, especially the lack of brain surgery service in this country.
Subsequently, Dr. Chew introduced Mr. Hero Teo, Ann Marie Chandy and Susan Chandy to the audience. “Mr. Hero Teo and Auntie Susie Chandy are two of the most outstanding Parkinson’s patients in Malaysia. Both of them have strong personality and optimism which helped them to cope with their brain disorder for years. Auntie Susie was well-known for her frequent overseas trips – she travelled to India and Australia despite being wheelchair-ridden and severely disabled. She refused to be overwhelmed by her illness. Mr. Hero Teo is unique in his own ways. He started the first Parkinson’s blog (www.heroteo.com) in Malaysia. He is also an outstanding Parkinson’s patient in this country, who overcomes his illness through strenuous physical exercises such as boxing. Due to their extraordinary personality, both of them have been a source of inspiration to the MaIaysian Parkinson’s community,” said Dr. Chew.
At 4.00 pm, the Guest of Honour arrived – YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin, the Honorary Patron of NSPS and wife of YAB Dato’ Seri Utama Haji Mohamad B. Haji Hassan (Chief Minister of Negeri Sembilan). She has been very supportive of NSPS, as evident by her presence at the Malaysian Parkinson’s Day 2009 despite her busy schedule (she had attended another function in that same morning and was scheduled to participate in yet another function in the same evening).
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Grand welcome – YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin (centre) being welcomed by Ms. Nadhrah Mohd Kassim (Treasurer of NSPS; second from right) and Mr. Abdul Rahim Zakaria (Committee member; far right). YM Raja Datin Seri was accompanied by Ms. Gharizah Hashim, the President of NSPS (third from left). |
That was not all. In her opening speech, YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin also pledged that she would donate a total of RM7,000 to NSPS: RM5,000 through the Negeri Sembilan state funding and RM2,000 through PEKERTI (she is the President of this welfare association, which is run by wives of the people’s representatives and senior officials of Negeri Sembilan). The Malaysian Parkinson’s community and NSPS will always be grateful for YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin’s generous contribution and concern.
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Devoted to Parkinson’s – YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin, the Honorary Patron of NSPS, is always appreciated and remembered for her strong commitment to Parkinson’s support group movement in Malaysia. |
As always, Ms. Gharizah Hashim, the charismatic President of NSPS, presented a captivating speech. She extended her gratitude to YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin for being with the Parkinson’s community to celebrate the second Malaysian Parkinson’s Day. Ms. Gharizah also paid tribute to the late Mr. Lloyd Tan for pioneering the Parkinson’s community work in this country.
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Malaysian Parkinson’s activist – Ms. Gharizah Hashim has been the pillar of strength for the Malaysian Parkinson’s community. |
As I listened to the President’s speech, my mind drifted back to year 2003, when the Parkinson’s movement was officially started at Negeri Sembilan. Ms. Gharizah was already the leader of the Parkinson’s support group movement then. Since 2003, she has been the major driving factor in the local Parkinson’s support group movement. In fact, the rapid growth of the NSPS has been phenomenal – it is certainly one of the most successful NGO’s in the country. I have to acknowledge that Ms. Gharizah is a top Malaysian Parkinson’s activist.
The climax of the event was the official launching of the three new Parkinson’s books by YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin, who was invited to sign on the books.
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A Better Tomorrow – YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin (second from right) launching the Parkinson’s book which was writen by Dr. Chew Nee Kong (far left). |
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A Glimpse of the Past – YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin (second from right) launching the Parkinson’s book which was written by the late Auntie Susie Chandy, who was represented by her daughter, Ann Marie Chandy (far right). |
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Hero Teo – YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin (third from right) launching the Parkinson’s book which was written by Mr. Hero Teo (second from right). |
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Power of the “Voices of Parkinson’s” – The three books can change the mindset of Malaysians and convince them that they have to do more for the Parkinson’s community. In the background is a poster of the late Mr. Lloyd Tan, the founding father of Parkinson’s support group movement in Malaysia. Mr. Lloyd Tan has indeed continued to inspire the power of the “Voices of Parkinson’s” in Malaysia. |
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Parkinson’s family – The Chandy and Hero Teo families: Susan Chandy (far left), Ann Marie Chandy (second from left), Mr. Hero Teo (far right) and Mrs. Hero Teo (second from right) and the rest of the big family. |
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Thanking the Patron – Ms. Gharizah Hashim (third from left) presented the three Parkinson’s books to YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin (fourth from left). Also present were Dr. Chew Nee Kong (far left), Ann Marie Chandy (second from left) and Mr. Hero Teo (far right). |
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Thanking the hero – YM Raja Datin Seri Salbiah Tengku Nujumuddin (second from right) presented a token of appreciation to Mr. Hero Teo (far right) for his generosity in donating RM41,000 (the printing cost of the three books) to the Lloyd Tan Parkinson’s Trust Fund. |
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Tribute to mummy – Ann Marie Chandy sharing with the audience how her late mother struggled to cope with her life despite being devastated by Parkinson’s. |
However, nobody can deny the fact that it was Mr. Hero Teo who stole the limelight, and made the Malaysian Parkinson’s Day 2009 so meaningful and complete. He dominated the second half of the event – the audience and even the entertainer were “hooked” on Mr. Hero Teo. It was definitely the day of Hero Teo.
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Heroic speech – Mr. Hero Teo unexpectedly gave an impromptu speech after his book was launched. Even his family members (many of them were on stage) were stunned by his courage and captivating speech. |
Prior to the event, I had prepared a very short speech for him to be read out, as I was worried that he would “panic”. Mr. Hero Teo is actually a quiet and shy man, who may not be able to take the pressure of being in the limelight. If you knew him well, you’d expect him to finish his speech in less than 2 minutes and hurriedly leave the stage. In fact, I found out that prior to the event, he had even suggested to his wife that she should deliver the speech on his behalf.
But what happened on that day was way beyond expectations. He decided to give an impromptu speech, and had completely forgotten about the short speech that I had written for him (kept inside his pocket). All of us, especially I, were pleasantly shocked by his courage. He shared with the audience his personal experience in coping with his illness, and emphasized on the importance of maintaining a good physical fitness through a strict exercise program. He described how surprised some people were when they discovered at the gym that he had Parkinson’s – we usually do not expect a 70 year-old Parkinson’s patients to carry out strenuous physical exercise such as kick-boxing! In total, his speech lasted 15 minutes, instead of the mere 2 minutes that was planned originally.
I was extremely happy to listen to his motivating speech. It has been almost 6 to 7 years since the last time that I saw a Parkinson’s patient gave such a long speech during an official Parkinson’s event. Due to the social stigma associated with Parkinson’s, it is actually rare to find a Parkinson’s patient who has the courage to go up to the stage and face the general public. In fact, one of the reasons why I had invited Mr. Hero Teo to deliver a speech on that day was because I believed that such events are specifically meant to raise awareness of Parkinson’s, and therefore Parkinson’s patients should be encouraged to speak up on the stage.
Everyone must have been struck by Mr. Hero Teo’s optimism and well-being despite suffering from Parkinson’s – he looked normal, in contrast to the video recording of the slow and trembling man which the audience saw during my lecture. Even the entertainer, Mr. Helmi Gimik, was so moved by his captivating speech, to the extent that a large part of his entertainment show later on, was centered around Mr. Hero Teo.
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Left: Great fan of Hero Teo – Helmi even read out some excerpts from Mr. Hero Teo’s book concerning the benefit of exercises in Parkinson’s. Right: The entertainer and the hero. |
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I think that it was the heroism of Mr. Hero Teo which inspired the excellent entertainer to impersonate Wong Fei Hung, the legendary Chinese Kungfu master and folk hero. Quoting Helmi (not exactly in his own words) – “Exercise such as kungfu can help in maintaining the health of neurons (brain cells) and controlling your illness. I encourage all the Parkinson’s patients to get involved in exercise program as practised by Mr. Hero Teo. With the effective treatment that we have nowadays, Parkinson’s patients should not give up. Parkinson’s patients can be as physically active as Mr. Hero Teo, as all of you have witnessed today”.
I love the way Helmi gave encouragement to the Parkinson’s patients – he did it in a humorous and passionate manner.
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| Chinese Kungfu – Helmi, the talented entertainer, impersonated the Kungfu master Wong Fei Hung by showing the steps of the martial art. He even managed to get Mr. Hero Teo’s son-in-law, Mr. SC Chua, to join him on the stage. |
It was really an entertaining afternoon. Helmi made everyone laugh their hearts out, especially myself. An interesting characteristic of Helmi Gimik is his versatility – he is a very good singer and comedian.
He made Mr. Hero Teo’s son-in-law, Mr. SC Chua, to join him on the stage when he was impersonating Wong Fei Hung. Next, Helmi asked Mr. Chua to put on the traditional Chinese costume and told him, “This beautiful Chinese costume was donated by the ‘President of the Parkinson’s Association of China’. According to the ‘Feng Shui’ concept, once you have worn this costume, you must not take it off at least till tomorrow, so that when you walk into the Seremban town, you are untouchable.”
Helmi has multi-lingual singing capability - he rendered his songs in English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. After completing the English and Malay songs, he sang a Tamil song while dancing away with a graceful lady on stage.
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Helmi can do it in Tamil – Helmi singing a Tamil song while dancing with a graceful lady. |
He also managed to provoke the sentiments of the Chinese audience when he sang “Friend”, a Chinese (Cantonese) song which was made popular by Hong Kong singer Alan Tam back in the 1980’s. Even I became emotional as I heard Helmi’s voice bringing back old memories of my secondary school days in Alor Setar. His pronunciation of Chinese was fairly good. He even managed to encourage Mr. Alex Chin, one of Mr. Hero Teo’s trainers at the gym, to join him on the stage to sing along with him.
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Helmi can do it in Chinese – Helmi demonstrating his versatility by singing a very popular Cantonese song with Mr. Alex Chin, one of Mr. Hero Teo’s trainers at the gym. |
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The second Malaysian Parkinson’s Day was full of entertainment indeed. Helmi Gimik brought euphoria to the entire audience with his wonderful and humorous performance. Next, it was Zamil Idris or “Mr. Sentimental” who touched the audience with his melodious and gentle voice. He entertained everyone by singing a few sentimental songs.
It was a really good combination – Helmi and Zamil added beauty and colour to the Malaysian Parkinson’s Day celebration.
Getting sentimental – Zamil touched the audience by singing one of Celine Dion’s hits. |
Overall, it was a very successful Malaysian Parkinson’s Day celebration. It was a beautiful mixture of community service, history, compassion, entertainment and most importantly, the heroism of Mr. Hero Teo. It was his optimistic and “highly physical” approach to Parkinson’s that made him a hero. He has shown to the world that Parkinson’s patients can still have a good quality of life if they want it.
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| Proud hero – Mr. Hero Teo and his wife (seated), together with his three daughters; Jenny (far left), Jennifer (third from left) and Janet (third from right), and sons-in-law. His unique personality and achievements will always be a source of inspiration to the Parkinson’s community. |
I would like to thank the following friends who have contributed significantly contributed to the event:
Mr. Hero Teo and family
Ms. Ann Marie Chandy and Ms. Susan Chandy
Ms. Gharizah Hashim, the President of NSPS
Mr. Su Lee Chun, Vice-President of NSPS
Ms. Nadhrah Mohd Kassim, Treasurer of NSPS
Other Committee members of NSPS
Mr. Helmi Gimik and Mr. Zamil Idris, the wonderful entertainers
Mr. Zamil Idris and Ms. Aida Hassan, the event organizers who have done an excellent job
Ms. Patricia Ho, always the efficient lady with a big heart.
By: Dr. Chew Nee Kong
1st July 2009
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