Puan Sri was full of good qualities: Harris
Published on: Thursday, October 13, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Mohamed Salleh described late Sabah Publishing House (SPH) Chairman Puan Sri Yeh Lim York Sham as a gentle, determined and hardworking woman who was shy of publicity but generous to the needy."She and the late Tan Sri Yeh Pao Tzu were an unbeatable team. What Sabahans must remember is that they were there when Sabah needed them because if not for their two highly respected newspapers (Overseas Chinese Daily News and Daily Express), Tun Razak's (then late second Prime Minister) wish for Berjaya to win the elections would have been impossible," he said. "She was fully supportive of her husband both in business and in politics. She even used to campaign for the party. ADVERTISEMENT "I knew that in those days she used to help her husband in the OCDN newsroom as well when they were short-handed," he said, acknowledging the late Puan Sri's role as Sabah's first Chinese woman journalist."From my association with Tan Sri I found out that she treated the workers just like her family and that this was why many ended up working for them for years. She struggled for his papers (OCDN, Sabah Times and later Daily Express) and when the time came, they struggled for Sabah as well. If not for their sacrifice, seriously Berjaya would not have been able to come to power," he said, after paying his last respects to Puan Sri at the Fook Lu Siew funeral parlour, Wednesday."I am happy that the newspapers under their care continue to be the most respected in Sabah, with Datuk Clement Yeh at the helm. "My friends abroad tell me they get their news about Sabah mostly from Daily Express online. ADVERTISEMENT All this is a credit to the efforts started by the late Puan Sri and her husband. They (papers) must continue to play their role for the good of Sabah," he said.After acquiring the OCDN which was set up in 1936 soon after the war, Tan Sri Yeh and three others pooled their resources to start the Sabah Times as the first locally-run newspaper in the early 1950s. The others included late Tun Fuad Stephens, late Datuk GS Kler and Chong Pak Nam. Stephens became the first Chief Editor of the Sabah Times and went on to become Sabah's first Chief Minister upon independence in 1963 and later Governor.
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Yeh then went on to start the Daily Express. Puan Sri played a supporting role by distributing the papers by pick-up herself. Harris, who drove to the venue, was accompanied by his wife Puan Sri Rupiah and close friends. Puan Sri Yeh passed away peacefully on Tuesday aged 85.