Sim Tong Him (; born 8 September 1948) 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. He is the former

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 ...

for

Kota Melaka Malacca City ( ms, Bandaraya Melaka or ') is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Malacca. As of 2019 it has a population of 579,000.https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/uploads/files/6_Newsletter/Newsletter%202020/DOSM_DOSM_MELAKA_1_2020_Siri-81. ...

, Malacca for two terms from 2008 to 2018. Presently Sim is an

independent politician An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views t ...

after his resignation from

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) in 2017.

Background

Sim is a relative of the prominent Malaysian Chinese educationist Datuk

Sim Mow Yu Sim or SIM may refer to: Computing and technology * SIM card or Subscriber Identity Module, used by mobile telephones *HP Systems Insight Manager, a system management tool * Scientific instrument module in the Apollo command and service module ...

Political career

Sim joined the DAP in 1982. He contested the state constituency of Tranquerah, Malacca and won twice in 1986 general election and 1990 general election to become its assemblyman from 1986 to 1995 before switching to contest the state seat of

Bandar Hilir Malacca City ( ms, Bandaraya Melaka or ') is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Malacca. As of 2019 it has a population of 579,000.https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/uploads/files/6_Newsletter/Newsletter%202020/DOSM_DOSM_MELAKA_1_2020_Siri-81.p ...

, Malacca in 1995 general election and won again in the 1999 general election thus became its assemblyman from 1995 until 2004. In the 2004 general election, Sim contested the state seat of Ayer Keroh but lost. Sim had been the DAP state chairman for

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site s ...

until succeeded by Goh Leong San after a hotly contested internal state election on 19 December 2005, which also saw DAP secretary-general

Lim Guan Eng Lim Guan Eng (; born 8 December 1960) is a Malaysian politician and accountant from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bagan, Member of ...

and his wife

Betty Chew Betty Chew Gek Cheng (; born 15 August 1964) is a Malaysian politician from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition coalition who served as Member of the Melaka State Legislative Assembly (ML ...

get the lowest number of votes out of 15 candidates, thus causing Chew to lose her seat on the Malacca DAP committee entirely. However he was chosen by DAP to contest the Kota Melaka parliamentary seat in the 2008 general election but he won by beating predecessor Wong Nai Chee of

Malaysian Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial List of political parties in Malaysia, pol ...

(MCA) with a majority 11,390 vote and retained it again in the

2013 general election Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

by beating Yee Kok Wah of MCA with a majority 20,746 vote. But on the n 20 April nomination day of the election, beside registering as DAP official candidate to defend his

parliamentary seat, Sim made a surprise commotion by also registering to contest the Kota Laksamana state seat too but as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

against DAP candidate concurrently, causing DAP to initially expel him. But only two days later on 22 April he announced his withdrawal as the state seat of Kota Laksamana Independent candidate to fully back the DAP candidate, Lai Keun Ban, instead and to focus to continue defend the Kota Melaka parliamentary seat under the DAP. As preparation for the voting day on 5 May already done 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), thus his candidacy still appeared on the ballots and managed to get 1,242 votes that finish last among three candidates and still had his deposit forfeited in the election. On 17 September 2015, a doctor from Malacca who is also the Bukit Palah DAP branch chairman, Dr Wong Fort Pin, successfully sued Sim and Goh for defamation and won RM300,000 in damages. Both Sim and Goh party membership was suspended for one-year suspension on 16 February 2016, reportedly for disparaging the party. On 12 February 2017, Sim, along with three other DAP Malacca state assemblymen namely Goh (Duyong), Lim Jack Wong (Bachang) and Chin Choong Seong (Kesidang) announced their resignation from the party to be

, citing lack of trust in DAP leadership. They formed the 'Justice League' to contest in the 2018 general election (GE14) as independent candidates using the key as their common symbol. Sim contested the Kota Laksamana state seat whereas Goh will go for both parliamentary (Kota Malacca) and state seat (Kesidang). Lim and Chin will contest the Ayer Keroh and Bandar Hilir state seats respectively. In the GE14, Sim officially contested first time as independent candidate for the state seat of Kota Laksamana but lost.

Election results

Sim who surprisingly registered as an Independent candidate on nomination day but withdrew later to support DAP named candidate, still had his candidacy appeared on the EC voting ballot officially.
Sim and three others MLA who had quit DAP Malacca earlier, had form the 'Justice League' informal Independent bloc and contested as Independent candidates using the key symbol.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sim, Tong Him 1948 births Living people People from Malacca Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent Independent politicians in Malaysia Former Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians Members of the Dewan Rakyat Members of the Malacca State Legislative Assembly Leaders of the Opposition in the Malacca State Legislative Assembly 21st-century Malaysian politicians