Her lifestyle, including her working life, truly reflects a faithful disciple of Christ who brings glory to God. This was the sentiment of family members, relatives, friends, colleagues and patients who mourned the early departure of Dr Yao Sik King, aged 64 years, to her heavenly home on 13 December 2015.
There are many lessons we can learn from this humble servant of God, born as the elder daughter of the late Reverend Datuk Yao Ping Hua and Datin Luk Suk Hwa, the wife of Dr Leong Lin Chong and the mother of Hsin Ru, Hsin Yi and Chuo Sheng – three children who are cast in the same mould.
Since November 2014, Sik King had been suffering from a rare and very aggressive type of cancer – cancer of the salivary gland duct. Despite two separate operations, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and alternative medicine therapy, the cancer recurred. In the last few months of her life, she aligned herself to the reality that God was not granting her cure (physical healing) from the cancer. But her faith in God remained strong despite experiencing constant and excruciating pain.
In the eulogy delivered during the funeral service at Faith Methodist Church, Kuching, on 15 December 2015, her daughter Hsin Ru stated that her mum never wavered from her belief in God’s promises and God’s love during her battle with cancer. Dr Leong had to give her almost daily intravenous injections of strong pain-killer drugs to sedate her because of her pain. Consequent to the operation in her neck region, she could not swallow solid or liquid food, and had to be fed with liquid food through a nasogastric tube.
Hsin Ru also shared how her mum loved the time before bedtime when she joined her family in praying the Lord’s Prayer and singing the Doxology. What a beautiful testimony of the devotion of the family to God in times of crisis! The Lord’s Prayer is a reminder to submit to God’s will and to forgive others just as God has forgiven us (Matt.6:9-13). The Doxology affirms praise to the Trinitarian God by all earthly creatures and all heavenly hosts, for our God is worthy of our praises.
Dr Yao Sik King loved her parents deeply and constantly honoured them. She attended to their medical needs. She tirelessly nursed her mother when Datin Luk was recovering from heart surgery and also her father in the last months before he died from liver cancer. Sik King set a fine example of loving care of parents for her own children, who have emulated her in their care for her during her prolonged illness.
She was a loving wife. When Dr Leong suffered a heart attack in Kuala Lumpur and was admitted to hospital for emergency treatment, she was constantly at his bedside for a whole week before allowing herself to rest.She was a loving mother who practised “tough love”, even though there were rare occasions when she forgot to pick her children in time from school because of her preoccupation and dedication to her work. She would apologize profusely to them on those occasions.
Dr Yao Sik King retired from the Malaysian federal government service in 2004. She was the Sarawak State Director of Health in 2004-2007 – the first woman to hold that position. Before that, she served as the Director of Planning and Development Division in the Ministry of Health in Kuala Lumpur, where she did her best against all odds for nation and state. Prior to the federal posting, she was the Deputy State Director of Health for the Hospital Programme, being responsible for oversight of all government hospitals in Sarawak. Before she assumed state level responsibilities, she was firstly the Hospital Director of Rajah Charles Brooke Memorial (RCBM) Hospital and also manages the Sarawak Leprosy Control Programme, which she improved and strengthened. Then she became the Hospital Director of Sarawak General Hospital, the state referral hospital in Sarawak. In that position, she played a major role in the renovation and upgrading of the Sarawak General Hospital to better serve the public.
As an administrative leader in government health services, she was at all times amicable, kind, friendly, courteous, gentle, approachable and caring. In the eulogy, her daughter described her having “a reputation for being tough and no-nonsense, but getting things done.” Dr Yao did not tolerate corruption. In financial management, she adhered closely to the government financial regulations. She set a good example for others by refusing to accept gifts from contractors during Chinese New Year and other festivals. She was firm and resolute in doing what she thought was right. She was pragmatic and wise in the deployment of financial resources (both operating and development fund) under her control and she did her best to avoid wastage of resurces.
As the Director of Planning and Development Division in Ministry of Health, she was in control of development fund for Ministry of Health institutions throughout Malaysia. She was wise and meticulous in the allocation of development fund to the states according to their priority needs, and in apportioning funds annually according to the capability of implementing agencies such as the Public Works Department in the states. One lady doctor colleague of Dr Yao Sik King in the Planning and Development Division of Ministry of Health read in the news about the demise of Dr Yao. She flew to Kuching from Kuala Lumpur on the second day after Dr Yao’s death, just to pay her respects and see her for the last time. This lady doctor described Dr Yao as a friendly, gentle, approachable, firm and professionally competent “boss”.
Dr Yao Sik King also left behind a legacy in the form of a book entitled “Heritage in Health: The Story of Medical and Health Care Services in Sarawak”. She was instrumental in the compilation and eventual publication of this historical documentary, which early beginnings were sponsored by the Borneo Post. She took the initiative to gather some 80 retired key medical and health personnel together to share, discuss and contribute to the documentation of the history of development of the health services in Sarawak. The book covers the transformation of Sarawak’s medical services from British colonial days through its early independence when medical and health services were simultaneously under state and federal jurisdiction, and into the new millennium that saw the State Health Department “federalised” or incorporated as an integral component of the Ministry of Health, Malaysia.
In her article entitled “Caring Leadership” in this book, Dr Yao Sik King stated: “I ascribe to the conviction that everyone of us, irrespective of rank or expertise, as long as we are part of the healthcare provider workforce, we must make it our bounden duty and aspiration to always provide caring services to all whom we serve, regardless of race, creed or colour.” She said a good leader should be a caring leader and a servant leader, who has the natural feeling of wanting to serve others first and who makes sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. In the article, she described 10 key elements in Servant Leadership:
• Listening receptively to what others have to say
• Acceptance of others and having empathy for them
• Foresight and intuition
• Awareness and perception
• Having highly developed powers of persuasion
• Ability to conceptualise and communicate concepts
• Ability to exert a healing influence upon individuals and institutions
• Building community in the workplace
• Practicing the art of contemplation
• Recognition that servant leadership begins with the desire to change oneself.
She also believed that a caring leaderdoes the following:
• Strengthens the cohesion of every worker’s service and value
• Builds staff commitment and energy in a way that helps the workers to address daily workplace challenges
• Motivates staff through thoughtfulness and gives recognition
• Seeks out the uniqueness in each person and adapts to their varied needs
• Acknowledges staff for what they have done
• Challenges staff to stretch their talents
• Gives staff a chance to voice their concerns.
Truly Dr Yao Sik King is the epitome of a servant leader who really cares. SHE WALKED HER TALK.
Upon her retirement, she became a valuable assistant to her husband in his clinic, ministering to the patients and administering medications to them. She was kind, courteous, friendly, compassionate and a good listener. She is and will continue to be greatly missed by her patients as well as her husband and family.
Dr Yao Sik King acted out her faith in her sacrificial love for others irrespective of their race, religion and social standing. She had discharged her varied responsibilities as a daughter, a wife, a mother, a friend, a government leader and a healer in exemplary ways that truly give glory to God, fulfilling the character of a true Christian “…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31) She was truly a disciple who had brought glory to God. Praise be to God!
By Yao Sik Chi
Faith Methodist Church, Kuching