Koh Tsu Koon

Infobox_Politician
honorific-prefix = Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dr.
name = Koh Tsu Koon
許子根


image_size= 60px
birth_date = 1949
birth_place = Penang, Malaysia
residence =
death_date =
death_place =
office = Acting President of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia
term_start = April 8 2007
term_end =
predecessor =
successor =
constituency =
office2 = 3rd Chief Minister of the State of Penang
term_start2 = 1990
term_end2 = March 11 2008
predecessor2 = Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu
successor2 = Lim Guan Eng
party = flagicon|Malaysia Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) - Barisan Nasional
nationality = Malaysian
religion = Buddhist [ [http://www.penanggerakan.org.my/profile_drkoh.htm Profile] ]
occupation =
relations =
spouse = Puan Sri Chui Kah Peng
civil partner =
children = 1 son 1 daughter
website =
footnotes =

Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon (zh-tsp|t=許子根|s=许子根|p=Xǔ Zǐgēn) is a Malaysian politician and served as the third Chief Minister of Penang. In the 2008 general election, Koh decided not to run for re-election in the state assembly, instead contesting a Parliamentary seat of Batu Kawan. However, the Democratic Action Party candidate, P Ramasamy, defeated Koh in a straight fight.

He currently the Acting President of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, a member of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.

Background

Koh was born in Penang in 1949. He attended Chung Ling High School and graduated as the top student in his batch. Prior to entering politics, he was a lecturer and the Deputy Dean of the School of Education in Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang from 1975 to 1982. He graduated from Princeton University, USA, in 1970 with a degree in physics, and obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1977 in economics and sociology of education. Koh's PhD thesis title was Education, Entrepreneurial Formation and Entrepreneurial Behavior in Japan. He was also a Fulbright Fellow at Stanford University and the East-West Centre in Hawaii in 1981.

Political Involvement

Dr Koh joined Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, a component party of the ruling Barisan Nasional Coalition in 1982. He started his political career in 1982 with his election to the Malaysian Parliament. He then served as the Political Secretary to the former Chief Minister of Penang Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu from 1986 to 1990.

Koh served as the National Chairman of the party’s Youth Wing from 1983 to 1990. A National Vice President from 1991-2005, he was also Penang State Chairman since 1996 and the National Deputy President since 2005. He became Acting President of Gerakan on April 8, 2007, when Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik stepped down to allow new blood to take over.

Chief Minister of Penang

Koh was first elected as a State Assemblyman and the Chief Minister of Penang in the Malaysian General Elections of October 1990. A crisis occurred as the incumbent Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu lost his state seat and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) had less seats than UMNO in the Penang State Assembly. A crisis was averted when Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik, then president of Gerakan, was able to convince the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad to allow a Chinese to continue being the Chief Minister.

As Chief Minister, Tan Sri Dr. Koh was the Chairman of the Penang Development Corporation, which is the development agency of the State Government responsible for the promotion of Penang's manufacturing and tourism sectors, urbanization and human resource development programmes. He chairs the State Planning Committee and State Development Council. In addition, he is the Chairman of the Board of “Invest Penang” which promotes investment, technology and business for Penang.

Koh was re-elected to his second term in April 1995, third term in November 1999 and fourth term in March 2004.

Weeks before the 2008 general election, Dr. Koh announced that he was stepping down as the Chief Minister of Penang to contest the parliamentary seat of Batu Kawan to be able to be part of federal politics and the Malaysian Cabinet. However, the Democratic Action Party candidate, P Ramasamy, defeated Koh in a straight fight.

Family

Tan Sri is married to Puan Sri Chui Kah Peng and together they have a son, Yu Cheng, and a daughter, Yu Jun, who is currently attending Princeton University.

References