Koh Tsu Koon

Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon (born 26 August 1949; simplified Chinese: 许子根; traditional Chinese: 許子根; pinyin: Xǔ Zǐgēn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Khó͘ Chú-kun) is a Malaysian politician. He was the Chief Minister of Penang from 1990 to 2008 and was appointed as a Senator; a member of the Dewan Negara, the upper house of the Malaysian Parliament. In April 2009, Koh was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister's Department by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. He was famously known for contributing in the Sungai Pinang campaign where he took almost 10 years and failed to complete it.

Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon PSM
许子根
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Unity & Performance Management
In office 10 April 2009 – 15 May 2013 Serving with Idris Jala
Monarch	Mizan Zainal Abidin Abdul Halim
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Deputy	Devamany S. Krishnasamy
Preceded by	Shafie Apdal as Minister of National Unity, Arts, Culture and Heritage
Succeeded by	Joseph Kurup
Constituency	Senator
3rd Chief Minister of Penang
In office 25 October 1990 – 11 March 2008
Governor	Hamdan Sheikh Tahir Abdul Rahman Abbas
Deputy	Ibrahim Saad (1990–1995) Mohd Shariff Omar (1995–1999) Hilmi Yahaya (1999–2004) Abdul Rashid Abdullah (2004–2008)
Preceded by	Lim Chong Eu
Succeeded by	Lim Guan Eng
Constituency	Tanjong Bunga
4th President of Malaysian People's Movement Party
In office 4 October 2008 – 16 May 2013
Deputy	Chang Ko Youn
Preceded by	Lim Keng Yaik
Succeeded by	Chang Ko Youn (Acting) Mah Siew Keong
Constituency	Tanjong
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Tanjong
In office 26 April 1982 – 3 August 1986
Preceded by	Wong Hoong Keat (Gerakan—BN)
Succeeded by	Lim Kit Siang (DAP)
Majority	834 (1982)
Member of the Penang State Legislative Assembly for Tanjong Bunga
In office 21 October 1990 – 8 March 2008
Preceded by	Khoo Boo Yeang (Gerakan—BN)
Succeeded by	Teh Yee Cheu (DAP)
Majority	1,012 (1990) 7,703 (1995) 6,861 (1999) 6,224 (2004)
Personal details
Born	Koh Tsu Koon 26 August 1949 Penang, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
Citizenship	Malaysian
Political party	Malaysian People's Movement Party (GERAKAN)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN)
Spouse(s)	Chui Kah Peng (徐嘉平, deceased)
Children	1 son, 1 daughter
Alma mater	Princeton University University of Chicago
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Educator

He was the fourth president of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan), a member of the opposition Barisan Nasional (BN) 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 University of Science, 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 a 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 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 Tanjung Bungah, 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 Kit Siang 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 returned to public office in April 2009, when he was appointed as a Senator in the Dewan Negara. This paved the way for prime minister Najib Tun 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 central government of Putrajaya felt that Koh should step down as BN leader in Penang for the coalition to win back the state government in the 13th general elections. 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	Government		Votes	Pct	Opposition		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1990	N.19 Tanjong Bunga, P.44 Bukit Bendera		Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan)	7,585	52.40%		Gooi Hock Seng (DAP)	6,573	45.41%	14,474	1,012	74.75%
1995			Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan)	13,087	69.46%		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	5,384	28.57%	18,842	7,703	77.79%
1999			Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan)	12,111	67.52%		Wong Hang Yoke (DAP)	5,250	29.27%	17,937	6,861	73,20%
2004	N.22 Tanjong Bunga, P.48 Bukit Bendera		Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan)	8,985	73.01%		Lim Cheng Hoe (DAP)	2,761	22.44%	12,306	6.224	73.33%

Parliament of Malaysia[4][14]

Year	Constituency	Government		Votes	Pct	Opposition		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1982	P.42 Tanjong, Penang		Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan)	22,394	50.42%		Chian Heng Kai @ Chin Soo Ha (DAP)	21,560	48.54%	45,317	834	77.16%
							Yeap Ghim Guan (SDP)	464	1.04%
1986	P.45 Tanjong, Penang		Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan)	15,921	36.57%		Lim Kit Siang (DAP)	27,611	63.43%	44,463	11,690	73.32%
2008	P.46 Batu Kawan, Penang		Koh Tsu Koon (Gerakan)	13,582	37.06%		Ramasamy Palanisamy (DAP)	23,067	62.94%	37,292	9,485	78.71%

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

•  Malaysia :
  • Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) - Tan Sri (1995)[15]

References

1. "Tsu Koon will not contest next election".
2. Personal Profile Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Y.B. Senator Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon. Accessed 15 June 2010
3. "Sdr Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (President from 2007 - 2013)". Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan). Retrieved 15 June 2010.
4. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 29 June 2010. 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 Archived 12 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine Free Malaysia Today. 9 June 2010
9. Gerakan’s Koh defends appointment The Star. 11 April 2009
10. Jahabar Sadiq (14 August 2011). "With Penang in mind, move to unseat Tsu Koon gathers pace". The Malaysian Insider. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
11. "Koh mum on Johor contest". The Star. 15 August 2011. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
12. Bernama (16 May 2013). "Tsu Koon brings down curtain on illustrious 30-year political career". The Star. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
13. S Arulldas (6 May 2013). "GE13: Teng Chang Yeow resigns his post". The Malay Mail. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
14. "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Results only available from the 2004 election.
15. "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat".

External links

• Y.B. Senator Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon Website