Memories that remain close to the hearts

KUCHING : The questions were short, the answers had to be clear, and by the end of the interview, Wilfred Yap had a job.

It was 1993, and he had applied to become a legal assistant at Wan Junaidi & Co. Advocates, where his first meeting with Head of State, Tun Pehin Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, left a lasting impression.

Wan Junaidi (left) chats with Yap (right) over a meal.

Wan Junaidi, then Batang Lupar MP, struck him as a serious man who did not speak unnecessarily.

“I must have done reasonably well because Tun offered me the position on the spot and immediately asked me when I could start work,” Yap recalled.

More than three decades later, he still remembers that directness, which became familiar whenever work was assigned and a prompt follow-up was expected.

For Datuk Seri Syed Hamzah, his current senior private secretary, one of the earliest instructions was also among the shortest.

“Hamzah, remain loyal,” he said as the words stayed with him through more than two decades alongside Wan Junaidi, beginning with their first meeting in 2004.

Wan Junaidi had just been named the Santubong parliamentary candidate when he arrived at the election operations centre alone, without bringing his team from Batang Lupar.

Hamzah later began helping at the parliamentary service centre before accompanying him to Kuala Lumpur in 2008, when Wan Junaidi became Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker.

Working closely with him meant learning to watch the clock.

Hamzah remembers a principal who was punctual himself and expected those around him to show the same respect for time, despite Kuala Lumpur’s traffic.

It also meant never assuming that an instruction had slipped his mind.

“He gives an instruction today, and he can ask about it again a week or a month later,” Hamzah said.

A letter sent to an agency could return as a question long after it had left the office, and Hamzah needed to know exactly where it was.

Was it on the minister’s desk, with the secretary-general or director-general, or had it reached the district officer?

If 10 letters went out in a week, he had to keep track of all 10.

Even with many other matters occupying him, Wan Junaidi would remember what he had asked for, leaving Hamzah little room to lose sight of an assignment.

Fahmi (left) shares a meal with Wan Junaidi (right) during their years working together.

Fahmi Mustafa, who began working with him in 2013 during his tenure as deputy home minister, developed another familiar reflex.

Whenever Wan Junaidi called, he would usually answer after just one ring.

“At one point, I carried my phone with me everywhere, even into the washroom,” Fahmi recalled.

He wanted to be within reach whenever he was needed, and carrying the phone became such a habit that he now remembers it with humour.

There were also mornings when the team could sit together before the day gathered pace.

At around 8:30 am to 9:00 am, Wan Junaidi would have breakfast with his officers at the office, where conversations moved between the daily schedule, outstanding tasks and the food before them.

Wan Junaidi (third right) and his late wife, Datin Seri Feona Sim @ Norjanah (third left), with Fahmi (left) and others during a function.

The meal gave everyone regular time with a busy principal and became a tradition through Fahmi’s years working with him.

He remembers nasi dagang Terengganu, mee Jawa and nasi lemak served on banana leaves among Wan Junaidi’s favourites, along with bingka ubi and kuih kole kacang.

Fahmi became his food “go-to person”, recommending dishes that sometimes found their way onto that list.

“When it came to food, we rarely disagreed,” he said.

Lunch was usually taken at the office too, unless an engagement or another reason required them to go out.

For Fahmi, much of their time together unfolded around those familiar surroundings, with shared meals woven into busy working days.

Syed Hamzah shares memories of more than two decades alongside Wan Junaidi.

For Hamzah, another enduring picture is of Wan Junaidi with something to read or write.

At home, in the office or on a flight, a spare moment was often given to a book or his writing.

Hamzah admitted he might fall asleep during a journey, but Wan Junaidi would often remain occupied from take-off to landing.

His enthusiasm could follow him into conversation, where names, dates and events came readily to mind.

Hamzah likened him to a walking encyclopaedia, drawing on both his reading and experiences from different stages of his life.

Close family friend, Winston Lim has found himself on the receiving end of that knowledge, particularly when the conversation turns to Chinese history and legends.

Wan Junaidi would sometimes assume Winston knew the characters and stories just as well, while sharing his enjoyment of ‘The Legend of the Condor Heroes’ and Chinese kung fu dramas.

Winston, who admitted he was not an enthusiastic reader, could only laugh at how much his friend knew.

“He sometimes unknowingly puts me to shame about how much I don’t know about Chinese history and legends,” he said.

For Hamzah, conversations could stretch for hours when a subject caught Wan Junaidi’s interest.

Yap (third left), Wan Junaidi (fourth left) and Fauziah (fourth right) with staff at the law firm.

The man Yap first encountered through short, precise interview questions could become an expansive storyteller when there was something he wanted to share.

Fahmi remembers learning as much from watching him as from listening to his advice, accompanying him through different ministries and offices over about 11 years.

He saw how carefully Wan Junaidi considered a matter and how persistently he followed it through, but his recollections also return to the smaller details of being there each day.

There were schedules to discuss over breakfast, food recommendations to exchange, and a phone he made sure was never too far away.

“It may seem like a small and funny thing to others, but to me, these little routines were part of my everyday life throughout the years I worked with TYT.

“And in the end, it is often these small moments that become the memories we hold closest to our hearts,” Fahmi said.