WHEN Howard Lee decided to leave the United Kingdom where he had spent the better part of his teenage years and subsequently a successful career in the restaurant business to come home in the hopes of becoming a politician, those around him thought he was crazy.

What others had called insanity, for Lee it was the ultimate leap of faith and a calling to serve his country.

“I had a home and a business in the UK and I sold it all and came back to Malaysia,” the 38-year-old told The Malaysian Insight.

“My parents were dead set against me being in politics. Even two weeks in the run-up to the 13th general election in 2013, they were against the idea.”

At the age of 12, Lee was sent to the UK to attend secondary school. He went to a town on the east coast of England called Great Yarmouth and completed his secondary education and community college there.

While in school, Lee worked full-time in various kitchens, learning the tricks of trade before becoming a chef himself.

Although he had the opportunity to go to university, Lee instead decided to climb the corporate ladder. He worked in a company that acquired failing and ailing pubs and turned it around.

Then in 2008, he came back to Malaysia to sort out his passport and also to visit his father who was ill at the time. His return coincided with the 2008 general election.

“That was when I got involved with a campaign which resulted in Pakatan Rakyat forming a state government.

“In 2009, I went back to the UK to get back to normal life, but it was not normal after that.”

Upon his return to the UK, Lee found out that the Pakatan Rakyat-led Perak government had collapsed after the defection of three assemblypersons.

“I was reading an article in a news portal and cried. It was a victory that was snatched. Something broke and I needed to go back. The real tipping point in the decision was my father falling ill.”

So in 2010, he packed up and came home, at great personal loss to him – his wife divorced him.

“I would say leaving the UK is one of the main reasons for the divorce, but I’m now remarried to someone who is also actively involved in politics.”

Though his first profession was as a chef, Lee said the skill sets that are required to be a chef and a politician are inextricably connected.

“Chefs and politicians are quite compatible. Chefs are perfectionists and whether they succeed or not is dependent on others who are tasting their food.

“It’s the same with politics. Whether you are left, right or centre, it depends on the people. You can be the most perfect politician and people may still not like you.

“Or you can be the most corrupt and there will still be people who love you. Chef and politician are not too far off, the currency in both professions is opinion,” Lee explained.

His first run at office came in 2013 when he contested the Pasir Pinji parliamentary constituency in Perak. He won the seat and has retained it since.

In 2015, he was elected a DAP Youth wing (DAPSY) central committee member and  Perak DAPSY chief.

In 2018, Lee was elected national DAPSY chief. Most recently, he was appointed Pakatan Harapan’s Youth chief, following the death of its incumbent Shazni Munir due to Covid-19.

“The challenge now is to do the same job (as the late Shazni) but do it differently. I can only wish I could put as much into this role as Shazni, he gave it his all.”

His focus now is to return the confidence of the people in terms of democracy.

“People are angry and at the same time hungry and have no job. They don’t care who is going to be the next government. They just want to fill their bellies.

“The larger threat is of people losing faith in democracy. If the people lose confidence in the power of the people, what is going to happen?

“The primary objective now is rejuvenating the confidence or clawing back some of the loss of confidence.” – October 3, 2021.