Chen Man Hin (; 14 November 1924 – 17 August 2022) was a
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
-born
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 regard ...
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 ...
who served as
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 bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Seremban
Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Soghomban'', ''Somban''; Jawi: ) is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban City Council. Sere ...
from September 1974 to April 1982 and again from November 1983 to October 1990,
Seremban Timor from May 1969 to September 1974 and Member of the
Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly
The Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sembilan) is the state legislature of the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan. It consists of 36 members who represent single-member constituencies throughout the state. ...
(MLA) for
Rahang Rahang is a suburb of Seremban in Negeri Sembilan, 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 December 1965 to April 1982. He was a founding member of the
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left social democracy, social democratic political party in Malaysia. ...
(DAP), presently a component party of 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 r ...
(PH), formerly
Pakatan Rakyat
The People's Alliance ( ms, Pakatan Rakyat; abbrev: PR) was an informal Malaysian political coalition and successor to Barisan Alternatif (BA). The political coalition was formed by the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP ...
(PR),
Barisan Alternatif
The Barisan Alternatif (BA, '' lit.'' Alternative Front) was a coalition of Malaysian opposition parties, formed as a counterweight to the ruling Barisan Nasional. Disbanded after the 2004 general elections, all 4 former component parties of ...
(BA) and
Gagasan Rakyat
The Gagasan Rakyat (GR or ''People's Might'') was an opposition Malaysian political coalition. The now defunct political coalition was founded by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's formation of Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46 or Semangat 46) after leaving ...
(GR) opposition coalitions. He served as the 1st Life Advisor of DAP from December 1999 to his death in August 2022 as well as the 1st and founding National Chairman of DAP from its founding in March 1966 to his resignation in December 1999.
Early life
A
Hakka Chinese
Hakka (, , ) forms a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people throughout Southern China and Taiwan and throughout the diaspora areas of East Asia, Southeast Asia and in overseas Chinese communities around th ...
, Chen Man Hin was born in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and sailed to
British Malaya
The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. U ...
(present day
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 federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
) at a young age, before the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In 1946, he studied at the
King Edward VII Medical College in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and graduated in 1952. He then worked as a doctor in Singapore and at a hospital in
Seremban
Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Soghomban'', ''Somban''; Jawi: ) is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban City Council. Sere ...
,
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...
until 1956, before opening his own clinic.
Political career
He won his first election in a 1965 by-election for the
Rahang Rahang is a suburb of Seremban in Negeri Sembilan, 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 ...
state legislative assembly seat in
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...
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
* Independ ...
. He won his first federal parliamentary seat in
Seremban Timor, Negeri Sembilan in 1969 under the DAP ticket against
Barisan Nasional
The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...
. Chen Man Hin became the founder of DAP in Seremban with other leaders such as
Lim Kit Siang
Lim Kit Siang (; born 20 February 1941) is a Malaysian politician. He is the longest-serving leader of the opposition in Malaysia, having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions. He is also former Secretary-Genera ...
, Dr.
Tan Seng Giaw
Tan Seng Giaw (; born 26 May 1942) is a veteran Malaysian from the Democratic Action Party (DAP).
Background
He was born on 26 May 1942 in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. After attending Primary and High School in Kelantan and Penang respectively, he f ...
, lawyers
Karpal Singh
Dato' Seri Utama Karpal Singh s/o Ram Singh Deo ( pa, ਕਰਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ, Karpāl Siṅgh; 28 June 1940 – 17 April 2014) was an Indian Malaysian politician and lawyer. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bu ...
(CEC) and Hu Sepang. Later, he was appointed DAP's Advisor. The DAP headquarters was then located at Choo Teik Building, Seremban. In 1980s Negeri Sembilan was a stronghold of the DAP.
DAP's early leaders are Chan Tech Chan, Dr Liew Ji Sheng, Lim Koon Jie, Chan Kok Kit, Wang Rui Ai, Walter Loh (Setapak),
Devan Nair
Chengara Veetil Devan Nair (5 August 1923 – 6 December 2005), also known as C. V. Devan Nair and better known simply as Devan Nair, was a Malaysian-Singaporean politician who served as the third president of Singapore from 1981 until his resi ...
(Secretary-General, later Singapore President), Lee Ming Chang and
Goh Hock Guan . Other leaders include Lai Teo Kuan, Mahdevan Nair, Ibrahim Singgeh (Assemblyman),
Richard Ho
Dato' Richard Ho Ung Hun (; 20 January 1927 – 4 February 2008) was a Malaysian civil servant. In the course of his career, he served as a barrister, member of parliament (MP), cabinet minister, chairman of Maybank Finance and deputy cha ...
(Setiawan parliament), Fadzlan Yahya
Nor Jetty as Deputy Chairman of DAP and Dr. S. Seeveratnam as Treasurer.
Following the death of a
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 political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...
Assemblyman in Rahang,
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...
, Chen Man Hin contested as an independent using the 'cherry blossom' symbol on 9 December 1965 and won. At the time, DAP was in the process of creation and was successfully registered on 18 March, after which he became its national Chairman.
He subsequently won the elections of 1978 and 1986. In 1986, DAP won 24 parliamentary seats and 56 state seats.
In 1999, he lost in
Rasah
Rasah is a mukim in Seremban District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.
Places of worship
There are places of worship for many faiths in Rasah. The most prominent one is Rasah Shri Mahamariamman Temple, situated in the foothills near Tuanku Ja'af ...
, Negeri Sembilan to Datuk Goh Siow Huat from
Barisan Nasional
The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...
. The then-Secretary-General of DAP
Lim Kit Siang
Lim Kit Siang (; born 20 February 1941) is a Malaysian politician. He is the longest-serving leader of the opposition in Malaysia, having held the position for a total of 29 years on three separate occasions. He is also former Secretary-Genera ...
and Deputy Chairman
Karpal Singh
Dato' Seri Utama Karpal Singh s/o Ram Singh Deo ( pa, ਕਰਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ, Karpāl Siṅgh; 28 June 1940 – 17 April 2014) was an Indian Malaysian politician and lawyer. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bu ...
, otherwise known as ''The Tiger of Jelutong'' lost their seats as well, whereas their political allies the
Malaysian Islamic Party
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...
(PAS) won a majority in the
Terengganu State Legislative Assembly
The Terengganu State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Terengganu) is the unicameral state legislature of the Malaysian state of Terengganu. It consists of 32 members representing single-member constituencies throughout the state. ...
and formed the state government there, and the newly formed
Parti Keadilan Nasional
The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...
(KeADILan) made gains. Although DAP gained a seat, the party performed below expectations and the results were called "catastrophic" by Lim. Chen eventually resigned as Chairman of DAP after the
1999 general elections and was replaced by Lim Kit Siang.
Election results
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Man Hin
1924 births
2022 deaths
Malaysian medical doctors
Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent
Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians
Asian democratic socialists
Members of the Dewan Rakyat
Members of the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly