Fond memories of three decades at The Perth Mint
Hui-Lee Foo is one of only a few current employees who has celebrated two anniversary festivities at The Perth Mint.
The Perth Mint accountant now has fond memories of not only the 125-year anniversary celebration this year, but also the centenary celebration in 1999.
“The centenary celebrations were quite big and well organised,” Hui-Lee recalls.
“I remember a parade through the city recreating the gold deliveries of the early times, and a Hotham Valley steam train outing for employees and families.”
Hui-Lee shared some snapshots of the fun, including pictures of her sons Hanson and Hauson, who were aged 9 and 6 at the time.
The cute little boys in the photos are now 34 and 31, and the younger has a daughter of his own.
“Both my sons are now engineers, and they had the benefit of six months working in the CD to fulfill their industry training requirement for their university study,” Hui-Lee says.
“As a family we were grateful for that. It was a wonderful opportunity for them.”
The Mint was Hui-Lee’s first job in Perth after moving from Malaysia in 1994. She was from a data processing background but joined the Mint as a credit controller, working with the minted products marketing team.
She then moved into accounting roles, first as an assistant accountant for minted products marketing, then moved to treasury, depository and shop and exhibition, and had the opportunity to study part-time online for accounting qualifications through Curtin University. She now has masters and CPA (certified practising accountant) qualifications to her name.
“I’ve always had wonderful support from my managers, and the Mint helped cover the cost of study which was a big help. It is a challenge studying while working full-time and looking after the boys while my husband working FIFO in the mining industry.”
Hui-Lee recalls the finance team being very busy through the centenary year mainly because of the high volume of sales from the highly successful Sydney 2000 Olympics coin program.
She still works with the treasury and depository teams, and is preparing for more celebrations when she reaches the amazing milestone of 30 years with the Mint on 25 July.
