Richard Riot Jaem

Dato' Sri Richard Riot anak Jaem (born 1 December 1951) is a Malaysian politician. He is the incumbent seven-term Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia for Serian constituency in the state of Sarawak. He is appointed as Malaysia's special envoy to East Asia covering Japan, South Korea and Taiwan by Prime Minister of the federal ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, Muhyiddin Yassin in May 2020.[1] Riot was previously the Minister of Human Resources of Malaysia in former Prime Minister Najib Razak's cabinet.[2] He has also served as chairman of the Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB).[3] He is a member and deputy president of the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP); a component of Sarawak Parties Alliance (GPS).

Yang Berhormat Dato' Sri Richard Riot Jaem PJN PNBS SSAP KMN MP
Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Malaysia (East Asia)
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 May 2020
Monarch	Abdullah
Prime Minister	Muhyiddin Muhammad Yassin
Preceded by	Tiong King Sing
Constituency	Serian
Minister of Human Resources
In office 16 May 2013 – 10 May 2018
Monarch	Abdul Halim Muhammad V
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Deputy	Ismail Abdul Muttalib
Preceded by	Subramaniam Sathasivam
Succeeded by	Murugesan Kulasegaran
Constituency	Serian
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 4 June 2010 – 15 May 2013 Serving with A. Kohillan Pillay
Monarch	Mizan Zainal Abidin Abdul Halim
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Minister	Anifah Aman
Preceded by	Lee Chee Leong
Succeeded by	Hamzah Zainuddin
Constituency	Serian
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Serian
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 October 1990
Preceded by	Lainus Andrew Luwak (IND)
Majority	2,685 (1990) 7,554 (1995) 8,451 (1999) 9,695 (2004) 13,427 (2008) 13,151 (2013) 9,905 (2018)
Deputy President of Sarawak United Peoples' Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 December 2011
President	Peter Chin Fah Kui Sim Kui Hian
Preceded by	Law Hieng Ding
Personal details
Born	Richard Riot anak Jaem 1 December 1951 Serian, Crown Colony of Sarawak (now Sarawak, Malaysia)
Citizenship	Malaysian
Nationality	Malaysia
Political party	Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN) (until 2018) Sarawak Parties Alliance (GPS) (2018–) Perikatan Nasional (PN) 2020-)
Spouse(s)	Mincha @ Kayen Lingeng
Occupation	Politician

Political career

Party posts

During SUPP's triennial assembly in 2011, Riot was elected as the party's first non-Chinese deputy president.[4]

Parliamentary career

Riot first contested and won the Serian parliamentary seat in 1990 as an independent candidate. He was later re-elected for six consecutive terms beginning in 1995, all on a National Front (BN) ticket.[5]

Ministerial career

After serving for more than 20 years as a government backbencher, Riot was appointed as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in a minor cabinet reshuffle on 1 June 2010.[6]

In 2013 he was promoted to a full ministerial position as Minister for Human Resources.[7]

Controversy

After the 12th Malaysian general election in March 2008, there was speculation that Riot would defect to the opposition People's Justice Party (PKR); however, Riot denied the speculation and the move did not materialised.[8][9]

In September 2017, Riot was engulfed in a corruption allegation after RM40 million was found to be missing from the Skills Development Fund Corporation (SDFC) under the Ministry of Human Resources which he helmed as its minister.[10] Among those arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) included his political secretary. Riot himself was called in by the MACC and questioned for 10 hours.[11]

Following the historic 14th Malaysian general election in May 2018 which saw the fall of the BN coalition from power, rumours swirled around with speculation that Riot was looking to, yet again, join the PKR, which was now a component party of the ruling Alliance of Hope (PH) coalition.[12] This was denied by PKR Sarawak state liaison committee chairperson Baru Bian. Moreover, PH Sarawak chairperson, Chong Chieng Jen, advised his allied parties against accepting Riot in a statement declaring that his own, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), will not.[13][14]

Less than a year later in February 2019, Riot was again surrounded by speculation that he may jump ship, this time to the United Sarawak Party (PSB) which is a splinter party of the SUPP.[15]

On 29 February during the 2020 Malaysian political crisis, Riot was reported to has left SUPP to join PKR again.[16] Somehow the inaccurate rumour was quickly quashed after a video clip of him denying the claims has gone viral the next day.[17]

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia[5]

Year	Constituency			Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1990	Serian		Richard Riot Jaem (IND)	10,349	57.45%		William Aham	7,664	42.55%	18,516	2,685	66.93%
1995			Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP)	12,116	60.26%		Marcellus Munjan (IND)	4,562	22.69%	20,690	7,554	65.40%
							Michael Runin (PBS)	1,753	8.72%
							Andrew Nyabe (IND)	959	4.77%
							Betram Sading Jihok (IND)	716	3.56%
1999			Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP)	12,491	71.77%		Anthony Polycarp Munjan (STAR)	4,040	23.21%	17,974	8,451	59.76%
							Shamsuddin Abdullah @ Pok Ungkut (IND)	872	5.01%
2004			Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP)	13,960	76.60%		Henry Ginai Langgie (IND)	4,265	23.40%	18,686	9,695	59.13%
2008			Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP)	15,793	86.97%		Belayong Jayang (SNAP)	2,366	13.03%	18,516	13,427	66.36%
2013			Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP)	19,494	74.33%		Edward Andrew Luak (DAP)	6,343	24.19%	26,562	13,151	78.79%
							Johnny Bob Aput (STAR)	390	1.49%
2018			Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP)	17,545	63.99%		Edward Andrew Luak (DAP)	7,640	27.86%	27,880	9,905	74.09%
							Senior William Rade (IND)	2,234	8.15%

Honours

•  Malaysia :
  • Officer of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (KMN) (1997)
  • Commander of the Order of Meritorious Service (PJN) - Datuk (2005)[18]
•  Pahang :
  • Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) - Dato' Sri (2013)[19]
•  Sarawak :
  • Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of Sarawak (PNBS) - Dato Sri (2017)[20]

See also

• Serian (federal constituency)

References

1. "Riot receives appointment letter as special envoy". Borneo Post. 16 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
2. "DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Malaysia). Retrieved 26 September 2015.
3. Wong, Jack (4 November 2004). "Cut fares, boatmen warned". The Star (Malaysia). Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
4. "Peter Chin elected SUPP chief". New Straits Times. 12 December 2011.
5. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2010. Percentage figures based on total turnout (including votes for other candidates not listed).
6. "Appointment A Gawai Gift, says Riot". Bernama. 2 June 2010.
7. "Richard Riot Promoted To Full Minister". Bernama. 16 May 2013.
8. "I'm not crossing over, says Serian MP". The Star (Malaysia). 23 March 2008. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
9. Aznam, Suhaini (18 May 2008). "Hoping for a better future". The Star (Malaysia). Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
10. Chia, Jonathan (28 September 2017). "Those arrested in MACC investigation innocent until proven guilty – Riot". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
11. Nik, Mazwin (30 September 2017). "Richard Riot questioned for 10 hours". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 14 November 2019.
12. Tawie, Sulok (15 May 2018). "Sarawak PKR chief: Riot hasn't joined party". Malay Mail. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
13. Ogilvy, Geryl (16 May 2018). "Sarawak Pakatan says 'no' to Riot joining them". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 14 November 2019.
14. "Riot not welcomed in PH – Chong". The Borneo Post. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
15. "Indications suggest Riot may be joining PSB". The Borneo Post. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
16. "Serian MP Riot joins PKR". Borneo Post. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
17. "Richard Riot denies joining PKR, video goes viral". Bernama. New Straits Times. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
18. "The Yang di-Pertuan Agong's 62nd birthday honours list". The Star. 5 June 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
19. "Artistes among those conferred titles in conjunction with Pahang Sultan's birthday". The Star. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
20. "Former TYT leads Head of State's honours list". Borneo Post. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2018.