Chong Chieng Jen (;

Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Pha̍k-fa-sṳ is an orthography similar to Pe̍h-ōe-jī and used to write Hakka, a variety of Chinese. Hakka is a whole branch of Chinese, and Hakka dialects are not necessarily mutually intelligible with each other, considering the large geogr ...

: Chông Khien-ìn, born 12 February 1971), is a

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regar ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

who served as the

Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs The Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living is a non- Malaysian cabinet position serving as deputy head of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Costs of Living. The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumerism was created in 1990 as ...

in the

Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...

(PH) administration under former Prime Minister

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

and former Minister

Saifuddin Nasution Ismail Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution bin Ismail ( Jawi: سيف الدين ناسوتيون بن اسماعيل; born 7 December 1963) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Home Affairs in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration ...

from July 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020. He has served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Stampin Stampin is a name of a township and also a suburb located in Kuching city in the Malaysian state of Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawa ...

since May 2018, Bandar Kuching from March 2004 to May 2018 and Member of the

Sarawak State Legislative Assembly The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is the legislative chamber of the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Sarawak; the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak forms the other part of the legislature. The Assembly is modelled after the ...

(MLA) for

Padungan Padungan is a main city area of Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The Kuching South City Council The Council of the City of Kuching South ( ms, Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan, abbreviated MBKS) is the city council which administers the southern part ...

since December 2021 and

Kota Sentosa Kota Sentosa is a state constituency in Sarawak, Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three fed ...

from May 2006 to December 2021. He served as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

from June 2013 to November 2020. He is a member, National Vice-Chairman, State Chairman of

, Branch Chairman of

Kuching Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River at the southwest tip of the state of Sara ...

and Youth Advisor of

as well as

of the

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party ( abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of th ...

(DAP), a component party of the PH opposition coalition.

Personal life and education

Chong started his primary education in SJK(C) Methodist (Methodist Chinese National Primary School),

Sibu Sibu (; Hokchew Romanized: ''Sĭ-bŭ'') is a landlocked city in the central region of Sarawak. It is the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The city is located on the island of Borneo and covers an area of . It i ...

. He continued his Primary 3 to 5 education at

's SJK(C) Chung Hua No. 3 (Chung Hua No. 3 Chinese National Primary School), and Primary 6 at SRK St. Theresa

(St. Theresa Padungan National Primary School), Kuching. Chong later undertook his secondary education in SMK St. Joseph, Kuching (St. Joseph, Kuching National Secondary School) and

Saint Patrick's School, Singapore Saint Patrick's School is a government-aided Lasallian Catholic boys' secondary school located along East Coast Road, Singapore. It is more commonly referred to as St Pat's, SPS or St Patrick's. Students and old boys call themselves Patricians ...

. He was admitted into

Victoria Junior College , motto_translation = Nothing Without Labour , streetaddress = 20 Marine Vista, 449035 , country = Singapore , coordinates = , type = Government , gender ...

, one of the top junior colleges in Singapore. Chong pursued his tertiary studies at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, Canberra and graduated with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, M ...

, majoring in accounting & economics, and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

Legal career

He works as an advocate in Kuching and is attached to the legal firm Messrs Chong Brothers Advocates.

Political career

Chong first took part in the 10th Malaysian general election, contesting for the Bandar Kuching parliamentary seat as a DAP candidate but lost to

Sarawak United People's Party The Sarawak United Peoples' Party, or SUPP (; ms, Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak; Iban: ''Gerempong Sa'ati Rayat Sarawak'') is a multiracial centre-right local political party of Malaysia based in Sarawak. The SUPP president is Dr. Sim Kui ...

(SUPP) candidate, Song Swee Guan. In the following 10th Sarawak state election, he contested for the

state seat, eventually losing out to

Lily Yong Lee Lee ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. ...

, also a SUPP candidate. In the 11th Malaysian general election, Chong was elected as MP for Bandar Kuching with a 2,041 majority vote, and later, Sarawak state assemblyman for the newly created seat of Kota Sentosa in following the results of the 11th Sarawak state election. Chong defended his parliamentary seat in the 12th Malaysian general election with an increased majority. In 2011, he once again, he defended his state seat, this time against Yap Chin Loi, with a majority vote of 4,824. On 17 December 2012, during the DAP 16th National Congress, Chong was among seven DAP leaders appointed to the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC). On 5 May 2013, he contested for the Bandar Kuching parliamentary seat for the final time in the 13th Malaysian general election and retained the seat with an even larger majority of 19,642 against SUPP's Tan Kai. On 7 May 2016, during the 11th Sarawak state election, Chong retained his Kota Sentosa state seat with a majority vote of 2,819 against

Yap Yau Sin Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micr ...

. On 12 November 2017, during the DAP Central Executive Committee (CEC) re-election, Chong was re-elected as one of the party's five national vice-chairperson. Following incumbent Stampin MP

Julian Tan Kok Ping Julian TAN Kok Ping () is a Malaysian politician. He was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the constituency in Sarawak, representing the Democratic Action Party (DAP) after winning the seat for the opposition party for the first t ...

's decision to retire from politics, Chong moved to contest the Stampin parliamentary seat against SUPP president

Sim Kui Hian Prof. Dato Sri Dr. Sim Kui Hian (; born 18 August 1965) is a Malaysian politician and cardiologist who is serving as the Deputy Premier of Sarawak and the territory's Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Sarawak in the Ga ...

in the

14th Malaysian general election The 2018 Malaysian General Election, formally known as the 14th Malaysian General Election (), was held on Wednesday, 9 May 2018, for members of the 14th Parliament of Malaysia. At stake were all 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat (the legislature' ...

(GE14) on 9 May 2018, which was seen as a 'grey' or unsafe seat following redelineation by the

Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

(EC). His special assistant,

Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen (; born 31 August 1986), is a Malaysian politician and physician. A member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, he has served as Special Advisor to the Minister of ...

, contested for the Bandar Kuching seat. Chong went on to win with a majority vote of 14,221. Following the historic events of the GE14 which saw the first-ever change in the

Government of Malaysia The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia ( ms, Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malays ...

and end of six decades of National Front (BN) rule, on 2 July 2018, Chong was sworn-in as Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs of Malaysia by the

Yang di-Pertuan Agong The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The o ...

(King of Malaysia). In the 12th Sarawak state election, Chong's special assistant,

Michael Kong Feng Nian Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

was selected to contest in Kota Sentosa whereas Chong went on to contest in the Padungan state seat against the mayor of Kuching South, Datuk Wee Hong Seng. Chong went on to win the Padungan state seat with a majority of 1,198.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Chieng Jen Malaysian people of Hakka descent 20th-century Malaysian lawyers 21st-century Malaysian politicians Sarawak politicians Victoria Junior College alumni Living people Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians 1971 births Members of the Dewan Rakyat Australian National University alumni People from Kuching Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent Members of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Leaders of the Opposition in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly 21st-century Malaysian lawyers

Personal life and education

Legal career

Political career

Election results

See also

References