Koh Tsu Koon (born 26 August 1949; ) 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.
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.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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).
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. GERAKAN leaders reportedly encouraged Koh to leave Penang to contest the Simpang Renggam parliamentary seat, a GERAKAN safe seat in Johor.
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. Koh's resignation followed GERAKAN Secretary-General Teng Chang Yeow's earlier resignation as Penang Barisan Nasional Chairman and GERAKAN Secretary-General.
Election results
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%"
|+ Penang State Legislative Assembly
!|Year
!|Constituency
!colspan=2|Candidate
!|Votes
!|Pct
!colspan=2|Opponent(s)
!|Votes
!|Pct
!|Ballots cast
!|Majority
!|Turnout
|-
|1990
|rowspan=3|N19 Tanjong Bunga
| |
| (Gerakan)
|align="right" |7,585
|52.40%
| |
|Gooi Hock Seng (DAP)
|align="right" |6,573
|45.41%
|14,474
|1,012
|74.75%
|-
|1995
| |
| (Gerakan)
|align="right" |13,087
|69.46%
| |
|Lim Kit Siang (DAP)
|align="right" |5,384
|28.57%
|18,842
|7,703
|77.79%
|-
|1999
| |
| (Gerakan)
|align="right" |12,111
|67.52%
| |
|Wong Hang Yoke (DAP)
|align="right" |5,250
|29.27%
|17,937
|6,861
|73,20%
|-
|2004
|N22 Tanjong Bunga
| |
| (Gerakan)
|align="right" |8,985
|73.01%
| |
|Lim Cheng Hoe (DAP)
|align="right" |2,761
|22.44%
|12,306
|6,224
|73.33%
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%"
|+ Parliament of Malaysia
See also
- Members of the Dewan Negara, 12th Malaysian Parliament
- List of people who have served in both Houses of the Malaysian Parliament
References
External links
- Y.B. Senator Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon Website
|-