Koh Tsu Koon

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Koh Tsu Koon (born 26 August 1949; Template:Zh) is a Malaysian politician. He was the Chief Minister of Penang from 1990 to 2008, Member of Parliament (MP) for Tanjong from 1982 to 1986 and was appointed as a Senator from 2009 to 2015. A year after resigning as Chief Minister of Penang, Koh was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister's Department by Prime Minister Najib Razak. He was famously known for contributing in the Sungai Pinang campaign where he took almost 10 years and failed to complete it.

He was the fourth President of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN), a former component Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition (currently a component of the Perikatan Nasional coalition) and also the first President of GERAKAN not named a candidate in the Malaysian General Election.[1]

Background

Koh Tsu Koon was born in Penang in 1949 and attended Phor Tay Primary School, Chung Ling High School and Methodist Boys' School. He graduated from Princeton University in 1970 with a degree in physics, and obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1977 in Economics and Sociology of Education. He was a Fulbright scholar at Stanford University from 1980 to 1981.

Koh taught at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang from 1975 and rose to become Deputy Dean of Education in 1978.[2][3]

Political career

Koh joined GERAKAN in 1982. He won the Tanjong parliamentary seat during the 1982 general election but lost it to Lim Kit Siang in the following 1986 general election.[4] The following year, he was elected GERAKAN Youth Chairman. Koh was the protégé of then Penang Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu, serving as Lim's Political Secretary and Chief Aide from 1986 to 1990.[2]

GERAKAN leadership

Koh became a Vice President of GERAKAN in 1991 and later Deputy President in 2005. On 8 April 2007, following the retirement of long-serving President Lim Keng Yaik, he took over the presidency in an acting capacity. He was formally elected as President in 2008.[2]

Penang Chief Minister

In the 1990 general election, Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu lost his state seat. Koh, who was a first-term state Assemblyman from Tanjong Bunga, was selected to lead the Barisan Nasional government in Penang, and became the state's third Chief Minister.

Koh served four terms as Chief Minister for a total of 18 years from 1990 to 2008. In the 1995 general election, he was challenged in his state seat by Lim Kit Siang, who unseated the previous Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu in 1990. Koh beat Lim with over 70% of the votes.[4] He stepped down in 2008 to contest the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat during the general election. Koh was said to be pressured into leaving his position as Chief Minister to join federal politics.[5] He eventually lost the parliamentary contest, while the opposition pact led by the Democratic Action Party (DAP) won the state of Penang.

Koh remained visible in the political scene after the election, and even participated in a televised public debate with his successor as Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng.[6] He remained as GERAKAN President, winning the post permanently in October 2008.

Cabinet Minister

Koh joined federal politics when he was appointed as a Senator in the Dewan Negara. This paved the way for Prime Minister Najib Razak to name Koh in his inaugural Cabinet.[7] He was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, in charge of unity and performance management. Koh was put in charge of Najib's Government Transformation Programme (GTP), which includes monitoring the performance of ministries and six national key result areas (NKRAs) through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).[8][9]

Stepping down as Penang BN leader

In August 2011, The Malaysian Insider reported that the Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership felt that Koh should step down as BN Chairman in Penang for the coalition to win back the state government in the 13th general election. It was further said that voters viewed Koh as indecisive and a symbol of the BN leadership which was rejected by voters in 2008.[10] GERAKAN leaders reportedly encouraged Koh to leave Penang to contest the Simpang Renggam parliamentary seat, a GERAKAN safe seat in Johor.[11]

Resignation

On 16 May 2013, The Star reported that Koh officially resigned as the President of GERAKAN. His deputy, Chang Ko Youn, would take over as acting president until the party elections on 26 October 2013.[12] Koh's resignation followed GERAKAN Secretary-General Teng Chang Yeow's earlier resignation as Penang Barisan Nasional Chairman and GERAKAN Secretary-General.[13]

Election results

Penang State Legislative Assembly[4][14]
Year Constituency Candidate Votes Pct Opponent(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
1990 N19 Tanjong Bunga Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional | Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan) 7,585 52.40% Template:Party shading/Democratic Action Party | Gooi Hock Seng (DAP) 6,573 45.41% 14,474 1,012 74.75%
1995 Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional | Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan) 13,087 69.46% Template:Party shading/Democratic Action Party | Lim Kit Siang (DAP) 5,384 28.57% 18,842 7,703 77.79%
1999 Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional | Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan) 12,111 67.52% Template:Party shading/Democratic Action Party | Wong Hang Yoke (DAP) 5,250 29.27% 17,937 6,861 73,20%
2004 N22 Tanjong Bunga Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional | Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan) 8,985 73.01% Template:Party shading/Democratic Action Party | Lim Cheng Hoe (DAP) 2,761 22.44% 12,306 6.224 73.33%
Parliament of Malaysia[4][14]
Year Constituency Candidate Votes Pct Opponent(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
1982 P042 Tanjong rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional | Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan) 22,394 50.42% Template:Party shading/Democratic Action Party | Chian Heng Kai (DAP) 21,560 48.54% 45,317 834 77.16%
Template:Party shading/red | Yeap Ghim Guan (SDP) 464 1.04%
1986 P045 Tanjong Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional | Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan) 15,921 36.57% Template:Party shading/Democratic Action Party | Lim Kit Siang (DAP) 27,611 63.43% 44,463 11,690 73.32%
2008 P046 Batu Kawan Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional | Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan) 13,582 37.06% Template:Party shading/Democratic Action Party | Ramasamy Palanisamy (DAP) 23,067 62.94% 37,292 9,485 78.71%

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ a b c Personal Profile Script error: No such module "webarchive". Y.B. Senator Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon. Accessed 15 June 2010
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  5. ↑ DAP: Dr Koh forced to move The Star. 12 February 2008
  6. ↑ All set for Guan Eng-Tsu Koon debate The Star. 19 August 2008
  7. ↑ Najib names 28-member Cabinet The Star. 9 April 2009
  8. ↑ Subsidy rift: Tsu Koon defends Jala Script error: No such module "webarchive". Free Malaysia Today. 9 June 2010
  9. ↑ Gerakan's Koh defends appointment The Star. 11 April 2009
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Results only available from the 2004 election.
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

Political offices
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check President of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan)
4 October 2008 – 16 May 2013 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Chief Minister of Penang
1990–2008 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by

Template:Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia Template:Chief Ministers of Penang Template:First Najib cabinet Script error: No such module "Authority control".

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