Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The title of the wife of Datuk is Datin. Origin The oldes ...

Chong Sin Woon (; born 25 December 1973) 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 regard ...

politician who served as the Deputy Minister of Education II from a

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

reshuffle in July 2015 to the collapse of the

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 ...

(BN) administration in May 2018. He served as the

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from April 2014 to April 2017 for the first term and reappointed to serve from April 2017 to April 2020 for the second term for 6 years in total, a term is fixed for 3 years. He is a member of the

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 ...

(MCA), a major component party of the BN coalition and is aligned with the ruling

Perikatan Nasional The National Alliance ( ms, Perikatan Nasional; abbreviation, abbrev: PN) is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). This coa ...

(PN) coalition as well as its Secretary-General since September 2019 after the resignation of his predecessor Chew Mei Fun.

Early life

Chong was born 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 ...

to Chong Fatt Yuen and Leaw Moi. His parents were rubber tappers. Chong is the youngest among seven siblings. As a child, Chong delivered newspapers to supplement his family's income. He attended SJKC Kuo Min and he went on to spend eight years in SM Dato Mohd Said in

Nilai Nilai is a town located in Seremban District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, close to the border with Selangor. It is the northern suburb within the Seremban metropolitan area. Due to its proximity to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, it ...

, Negeri Sembilan. Chong graduated with a bachelor's degree in Economics from

National University of Malaysia The National University of Malaysia ( ms, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, abbreviated as UKM) is a public university located in Bandar Baru Bangi, Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Its teaching hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia ...

in 1999.

Political career

Upon his graduation in 1999, Chong joined MCA in 2001. He won the MCA Youth Chief's post in 2013 and appointed as senator in 2014. In 2015 he was appointed as Deputy Minister of Education II by the then-prime minister, Najib Razak in a Cabinet reshuffle. Chong was reappointed as senator in 2017. In 2018 Malaysian general election, Chong contested for the

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. Se ...

federal seat against the opposition

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 the ...

(DAP) National Organising Secretary

Anthony Loke Anthony Loke Siew Fook (; born 28 April 1977) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Transport for the second term in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim since December 2022 and the ...

and was defeated. Chong and his MCA Youth concedes defeat and is ready to position itself as the opposition to "keep an eye" on the new

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 in 2018. In September 2019, Chew Mei Fun resigned as the Secretary-General of MCA and Chong was appointed to take over the position and has served since then. However, 21 months later in February 2020, PH collapsed due to party-hopping and was replaced with

(PN) administration led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

and President of the

Malaysian United Indigenous Party The Malaysian United Indigenous Party ( ms, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), abbreviated BERSATU or PPBM, is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia (). It is a major c ...

(BERSATU)

Muhyiddin Yassin Tan Sri Dato' Haji Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Muhammad Yassin ( ms, محيي الدين بن محمد ياسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ), is a Malaysian politician who serv ...

in March 2020. MCA, which is in BN, is aligned with PN and hence he was appointed Chairman of the

Port Klang Authority Port Klang Authority (''PKA'') is a government agency of Malaysia that facilitates, regulates and owns the country's most important port, Port Klang, on the Indian Ocean coast near the capital, Kuala Lumpur. The operation of the port facilities is ...

by the PN administration in April 2020.

Controversy

On 5 November 2017, Chong has apologised for his insensitive '' 'tokong' '' or 'deity-like' remarks and jibe he had made over Penang Chief Minister

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 t ...

in his speech during the 64th MCA general assembly amid Penang's devastating floods situation.

Election results

Honours

* : **

Companion Class II of the

Exalted Order of Malacca ''Exalted'' is a high fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally published by White Wolf Publishing in July 2001. The game is currently in its third edition. It was originally created by Robert Hatch, Justin Achilli and Stephan Wieck, and w ...

(DPSM) – Datuk (2016)

References