If you haven’t been living under a rock, you most likely know who Hannah Yeoh is. Extremely well-known and popular in the political scene, Hannah Yeoh wasn’t always the advocate she was. Did you know that she actually had no interest whatsoever in politics and was even an unregistered voter at some point?
After a whirlwind romance and some inspiration by a schoolmate, she was thrust into politics rather abruptly, and she only has two words for this: God’s plan. 😇
Hannah Yeoh’s Fast-Track Dating, Proposal, And Marriage
Hannah graduated from the University of Tasmania, Australia with a Bachelor of Laws LLB in 2003. She was a practicing lawyer for a while, but in 2007, she had quit law and was helping her father with his event management company, as well as church ministering.
Earlier in January 2007, a close pastor-friend had prophesied that Hannah would receive a marriage proposal in June the same year, but as May came round, Hannah laughed it off. She was still single then, and nowhere near being in a relationship. No relationship, how to get proposed to? Well, they say love finds you in the most unexpected ways, and here is how it went down. 😍
Photo Credit: Hannah Yeoh TwitterIn June, she was preaching for the first time ever, and her husband-to-be at that time was part of the audience. He was instantly enamoured with her, as God had been showing him visions of his future wife preaching in church. That man was Ramachandran Muniandy, and they were already friends at that time.
After that, he encouraged her to “pray about the next stage in her life”. Within the same month, he proposed to her, and she accepted his proposal after ten days of praying about it. Six months later in January 2008, they tied the knot! ❤
Hannah Yeoh’s Calling To Politics
Ramachandran and Hannah’s whirlwind romance was all guided by God, and Hannah didn’t see why God wanted her to experience all of this in such a short period of time yet, but it was about to be clear very soon. Edward Ling, her schoolmate, had an interest in politics, and he had a belief in politics’ role of effecting change. He had joined the Democratic Action Party (DAP), and he inspired her to join just to support him. That was her first taste of politics. 😊
Photo Credit: YMIA month after her marriage, DAP had chosen her to contest for the Subang Jaya state seat for the election, in which Edward was her campaign manager and she won overwhelmingly despite contesting against a veteran. In 2013, she was re-elected with another role: she was sworn in as the Speaker for the Selangor State Assembly, making her the first female speaker and the youngest in any legislative assembly in Malaysia, at the age of 34. (If that isn’t serious female inspo, I don’t know what is!) 😍
Most recently, she became a Member of Parliament for Segambut after GE-14, as well as Deputy Women, Community, and Family Development Minister. Congratulations, Hannah! Besides that, she also hold a number of positions in her party DAP: Member of the Disciplinary Committee, Vice Chairman of DAP Selangor, Vice Chairman of DAP Wanita Malaysia, and Chairman of DAP Wanita Selangor.
Hannah Yeoh’s Push For Change
Photo Credit: SAYSAs a Chinese Christian woman in Malaysia, it wouldn’t be easy to make changes, but Hannah managed some. She had her main focus on fighting against corruption and race-based politics, and throughout her time in politics, she had done a lot in pushing “for more checks and balances in the political system” by strengthening the role of PKR (DAP) in Selangor.
One of the things she did was to introduce “Opposition Time”, a platform which enabled opposition leaders to speak up in the State Legislative Assembly before every House adjournment. Besides that, she also fought to get lands for people who wanted to build places of worship, and she eventually succeeded. 🙌
“Becoming Hannah, A Personal Journey”
Photo Credit: Good ReadsIn 2014, Hannah published her autobiography, and that was the title. Her autobiography is about her life story as a normal Malaysian woman who underwent tremendous transformation through her faith as a Christian, as well as her journey into politics. Not altogether surprisingly, someone had to play the “religion” card, and accused her of trying to convert her readers to Christianity. Thankfully, the matter was resolved.
On her personal life, Hannah still sets aside time for her two daughters, and she and her husband take turns each night to tuck them into bed. What a sweet family! 💕
🌸🌸🌸 If Hannah’s story has taught us something, it really is that everything happens for a reason. You wouldn’t be where you are today if certain things hadn’t happened, and if you feel like you’re not where you should be yet, be patient. Be patient and work hard, and know that all will work out well! 💪
Based on Hannah’s story, what else have you learnt? Share your thoughts with us! 😁
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