Chow Kon Yeow ( zh, s=曹观友, t=曹觀友, p=Cáo Guānyǒu, c=, poj=Chô Kuan-iú; born 14 November 1958) is a Malaysian politician, lawyer and journalist who has served as the 5th Chief Minister of Penang since May 2018, Member of the Penang State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Padang Kota since March 2008 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Batu Kawan since November 2022. He served as Member of the Penang State Executive Council (EXCO) in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and

Pakatan Harapan Pakatan Harapan (PH; stylised as HARAPAN; ) is a Malaysian Parliamentary group, political coalition consisting of Centre-left politics, centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has led ...

(PH) state administrations under former Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng from March 2008 to his promotion to Chief Ministership in May 2018, MP for Tanjong from November 1999 to May 2013 and again from May 2018 to November 2022 and the MLA for Pengkalan Kota from October 1990 to April 1995. He is a member of the

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party (DAP; ) is a social democracy, social democratic and Secularism, secular political party in Malaysia, sitting on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. As one of four component parties of ...

(DAP), a component party of the PH and formerly PR coalitions. He has also served as the State Chairman of PH of Penang since May 2019 and Member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of DAP since March 2025. He also served as the National Vice Chairman of DAP from September 2004 to March 2025 and the State Chairman of DAP of Penang from 1999 to September 2024. He is presently the only non-Muslim, non-Malay and Chinese head of state government among the 13 Malaysian states.

Appointment as National Vice Chairman

On 20 March 2022, on the 17th DAP National Congress, Chow was re-elected into the Central Executive Committee with 1641 votes, the 2nd highest vote, after Gobind Singh. He was then re-appointed the Vice National Chairman under Lim Guan Eng.

Personal life

Chow was born on 14 November 1957 in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia. He holds a Bachelor in Social Sciences (Hons) degree from University of Science Malaysia (USM). Before entering politics, Chow was a journalist by profession. Chow married Tan Lean Kee and the couple has two sons. He tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on 1 November 2022.

Election results

Honours

* : **

MY Pingat Pertabalan Yang di-Pertuan Agong XVII ribbon

Recipient of the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal (2024)

References

External links

*
Profile
on the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Chow, Kon Yeow Living people 1957 births People from Selangor Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent Malaysian journalists Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians Members of the Penang State Legislative Assembly Chief ministers of Penang Penang state executive councillors Malaysian MPs 1999–2004 Malaysian MPs 2004–2008 Malaysian MPs 2008–2013 Malaysian MPs 2018–2022 Malaysian MPs 2022–