By Michelle Chun
Ong Sook Yee cannot pinpoint exactly when she got lost. “It was a gradual feeling that grew over time, and one day I woke up not knowing what I was doing on this earth. I didn’t know why I existed,” she says.
Sook Yee, who also goes by Sooky, grew up in a staunch Buddhist family, but in her own words, believed that there was a God somewhere out there.
In 2010, she moved to Melbourne to pursue her undergraduate studies. There, she fell into depression. It was a season of emptiness. “I was just living day to day, soulless and without a purpose,” she says gravely.
After graduation, she returned to Malaysia still in a fog. The days went by without start or end until someone invited her to church.
Back then, Sooky remembers, she had a fear of “Jesus”, sentiments shaped by past interactions with Christian relatives that were not pleasant.
When she stepped into church, however, she remembers thinking, “This feels like home.” It was a strange, unnerving feeling; she did not know what it meant.
“I was still depressed and done with life. Money wasn’t an issue; I had friends and work was going well, but the void in me was screaming for purpose. It seemed like I had everything, but felt like I had nothing. One day in 2016, my depression peaked and I decided to end my life,” she said.
One night, as she lay in bed, overwhelmed by thoughts of ending her life, God met Sooky.
A strange sensation cocooned her, followed by an audible voice. “Without God, life has no purpose.” As the six words sank in, Sooky felt a huge weight lift off.
“I felt I was set free in that very moment, and immediately gave my life to God, right there on my bed. I cannot explain why I did what I did; I only know I had a supernatural encounter,” she says simply.
Transformed, Sooky developed an insatiable hunger for God. She was desperate to know this Almighty One who had rescued her from herself.
She threw herself into studying God’s Word, attending church and serving. It was also a time of reordering as God removed old hurts and wrong beliefs.
However, she held off on telling her father of her conversion, worried about how he might react.
As Chinese New Year neared, Sooky knew she could wait no longer, as she did not want to participate in the Buddhist rites.
“When I broke the news, his question was: Of all religions, why Christianity? Why Jesus?” The only thing I could say was, “Don’t you want your daughter to be happier than she was before? I’m so much happier now.”
Her father listened in silence, but the next day, he told her that he accepted the decision.
A year later, the company she was working for downsized and Sooky found herself at a divine crossroads: look for another job or fulfil her dream of becoming an entrepreneur.
“I’d always wanted to start a business, but my dad (a businessman!) was never keen. He felt salaried jobs offered less stress and more stability, so he turned down every business plan I had,” she grinned.
However, when she pitched a faith-based business selling enamel pins, her father listened in silence at first and then said, “Not bad, your idea.”
Her mother then told Sooky that all of the ang pow (red packets) she had received as a child had been saved in a fixed deposit account, and could be used as capital. In November 2017, Sooky started Prince of Pins, a play on words for her Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
To date, Prince of Pins has sold hundreds of thousands of pins and other products to clients in Malaysia, Singapore and other nations. Each design is crafted with prayer and purpose, filled with biblical truth and the desire to bring Him glory.
God has also continued to reveal His plan as she obeys step by step. In 2020, she married the love of her life, Joel, with whom she runs Prince of Pins and Curatebypop, a custom gifts outfit. “Marriage is 10/10,” she said with a laugh.
Last March, they also co-founded AWAN, a home living brand selling bamboo bedsheets.
“Ever since I gave my life to God, life hasn’t been the same year to year. He peels away layer by layer, from my dependence on self to the need to perform, and even my struggle with wanting to please others,” she mulled.
God has been the bedrock of Sooky’s life. His love pulled her from the abyss of death, planting her feet on solid ground. His Word has become her life’s blueprint, her go-to manual when seeking wisdom for life’s decisions.
More recently, the Lord has been impressing upon Sooky’s heart to reclaim the social media space. “Whenever I feel a prompting from the Lord, I piece it into a devotional post. Social media is messy with lots of unnecessary content out there.
If we’re not advancing, we’re losing ground. It’s time for us to claim the ground and introduce God’s love to others,” she said.
For Sooky, the truth remains the same as the night she first heard God’s voice: without Him, life has no purpose, and with Him, it has meaning beyond measure.
