... continued from page two She knocked some sense into me finally and looking back I can see what a stupid thing I did. I swear I will never go back to that kind of life." Don is the first to admit that his life is comfortable and he is enjoying his lifestyle to the fullest. "The group of friends I mix with are very intelligent people, most of them have gone to university. But I think my job is more exciting than theirs. I have also fared better than most of them in terms of monetary gain," he says, with another wide beam. However, he won't go as far as to say he is successful. "Nobody can put a benchmark to what success is all about. I am quite contented with my achievements. I am sure there is more to be achieved but I don't set myself a goal to achieve. If there is a goal to achieve and if I put myself to it I will achieve it but I don't pressure myself into doing it." As it is he is happy with what he is doing though it is stressful. A typical day may mean an 18-hour stretch attending to administrative work and entertaining or doing the social rounds in the evening. "I hang out in other people's clubs because I also need to know what my competitors are doing. Another reason I walk the clubs is sometimes my regulars see me and they look at me as Barn Thai. That reminds them that if they want to go for a drink the next day it'll be to Barn Thai!" I am not surprised anymore that he told me when we were arranging for the interview that he is not a morning person. But sometimes he shocks his staff by going to work early as in about ten o'clock. Saturday is purely golf, his current passion. Though he wouldn't want to be a professional golfer he definitely wishes to play like one. His handicap? "My wife and two kids! (Laughs) No...actually it is 20." His other passion is tim sum. "My wife hates to go to Hong Kong with me because its tim sum all the time. Even if I'm overseas I would look for the nearest Chinatown to have it." Yet another passion is indulging in a game of mah jong on Sundays, something he picked up from his mother. "I enjoy the game and it's not like it is really gambling because winning or losing is among the same circle of friends." He also likes to collect ties and prefers casualwear. His only vice is drinking too much. When he first started Barn Thai he was boozing every night but now he has cut down on the habit. As for women, he admits there are a lot of temptations in his line being a club owner but he is careful not to get involved. "When I started this club my Thai partner who is a bachelor said it was a great way to meet women but when you have a club you don't want to be known as the guy who takes away your customers' girlfriends. You don't want that kind of reputation if you want them to come back again and again." Don thinks that being Scorpion has something to do with his knack to make friends easily. He has lots of fun with his buddies and every year, for the last three years, they have gone Down Under to watch the Indy car races. Regrets? "Regrets I have a few, ha...ha..." he sings. "No, not actually but I wish I have more time to spend with my kids. Gary is eleven and Timothy is five. I call them `Search' and `Destroy'. I reserve Sundays for them and no matter how sloshed I get on Saturday night I force myself to get out of bed to take them out for lunch after they come back from church. My kids are complaining of too much tim sum also." He adds that his wife whom he has been married to for eleven years and children are Catholic and they go to church to pray for him. "I tend to buy a lot of toys for my kids and my house looks like a mini Toys `R' Us. Perhaps I do it out of guilt for not spending enough time with them and perhaps it was I couldn't get what I wanted when I was young." His parents were very strict and though he lived five minutes from the beach he can't swim because he was never allowed to go there. He loved playing football too but he never owned a pair of football boots. His father would never buy him one. Last year was a very sad year for Don when it came to Chinese New Year. It was the first time he didn't go back to Penang because his parents had moved in with his sister in Singapore and there was no one to go back to. "I've got used to it now. I didn't go down to Singapore this year because I thought it was time I had my own family reunion." Of late, something that has hit Don deeply because of his mother's recent bypass operation is the realisation that he has never been close to his parents. "I see my wife hugging my in-laws just to say good-night but because of my upbringing I can never do that to my mum. To a certain point I regret that. My wife tells me it is never too late but it is hard." "I went to Singapore when my mum was in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). She was sedated and I went up to her just to hold her hands. It felt funny." However he tries his best to have a close relationship with his children. Whenever he is home he insists that they hug and kiss him goodnight. He believes in death in the sense that one's life on earth is predestined by fate. "I always tell myself if I'm going to die tomorrow I want to die a happy person. That means I have achieved as much as possible in that short span of time. As far as the future is concerned, if I'm going to live on, god willing, let me enjoy my life." One thing he is certain is he is never going to be a multi-billionaire or even multi millionaire because he says his focus is not there. "I'm not that aggressive to be one. Let me tell you that people at that stage do not live a happy life. As it is I have so much stress and I do not need more." Most important to him now is his family is looked after, his children have a future and he is happy for what he is doing. "If I can bring happiness to a lot of people: my staff, people who come to my club to listen to the music that I bring in, I am the most contented in the world." That's the man Don Liew is - sensitive, warm, bubbly, expressive. the full story | back | main | top | other people | back to mir