Lim Guan Eng: Call Me Saudara, I'm No Datuk Seri

It was a long day for Minister Lim and we were glad he would give us just a sliver of his time, at 10.45pm nonetheless, to have this interview.

His rock, his source of inspiration and strength, wife Betty, stood close by, looking on intently as her husband answered question after question in rapid succession regarding everything from track record to future plans in his role as a new Minister in the Pakatan Harapan government

But as we settled in for what we believe would be his last engagement for the day, he started to ease up unbuttoned the proverbial cuff.

We got the ball rolling by asking him what Betty has to say about the publicity blitz they are going through now. “She would probably say I am doing too many interviews”.

Cue laughter from both in front and behind the camera where his entourage was standing.

And it was in this candid tone, this relaxed manner, that we continued to speak for close to half an hour, on many a thing; how a healthy body leads to better productivity and thus public-private partnership effort is needed to produce green areas for this purpose; why we all need to speed things up to embrace the Digitalisation of the economy and the 4th Industrial Revolution, and the dynamics of the future of Malaysia with a brand new line up of executives.

At the end of the interview, one cannot help but to think that this Johor born Penangite (yes, go ahead and Google it, a fact that he is very proud of) is going to rattle the cage and demand for a swifter and more efficient change in how things are done in the nation’s capital.

As what we said to him before signing off, we look forward to keeping track of the wonderful progress and promises he has made. Watch this space.