Dato'
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 ...
Chua Jui Meng (; born 22 October 1943) 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. He was the
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 o ...
(MP) of
Dewan Rakyat for the
Bakri constituency in the
State
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Johor
Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares maritime ...
for five terms from 1986 to 2008. He was the country's longest serving
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Coun ...
, holding that position from 1995 to 2004.
Background
Chua was a student activist in the 1970s. He was president of the Malaysian and Singaporean Law Society in the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as Editor in Chief of the Federation of UK and Ireland Malaysian and Singaporean Student Associations.
He is a lawyer called to the
British Bar as a
Barrister-at-law
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and g ...
at the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...
before entering politics through his participation in 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). After 35 years with the party, he quit to join
People's Justice Party
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 ...
(PKR) in 2009.
Political career
Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
Chua began his political career in 1976 when he became a member of the MCA, a component of the ruling
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) coalition. In the
1986 general election, he was elected 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 o ...
for
Bakri, a seat he hold for five consecutive terms.
His speech in Parliament in 1988 on the "Malaysian Chinese dilemma" as a result of the "deviations and misimplementation" of the
New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy (NEP) () was an economic policy of the Soviet Union proposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1921 as a temporary expedient. Lenin characterized the NEP in 1922 as an economic system that would include "a free market and capitalism, ...
(NEP) sparked the formation of the National Economic Consultative Council (NECC). In 1990 the NECC formulated the new
National Development Policy
The National Development Policy was a Malaysian economic policy introduced by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The objective was achieving economic growth, while ensuring that accrued benefits reached all sections of society. The National Developm ...
(NDP) to succeed the NEP and it was adopted for a period of 10 years (1991–2000), which Chua credited as key to liberalising the economy, education and culture and turning Chinese voter in favour of Barisan Nasional from the 1990s to 2004.
In 1989, Chua was appointed parliamentary secretary for the
Ministry of Health (MOH). He was elected as a vice-president of the MCA in 1990 and became the Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry following the
1990 general election. During this period, he worked on developing
small and medium enterprises and promoting trade with
China.
After the
1995 general election, Chua was appointed Minister of Health. During his tenure, Chua led the government's fight against the
Coxsackievirus outbreak in 1997, the
Nipah virus
Nipah virus, scientific name ''Nipah henipavirus'', is a bat-borne virus that causes Nipah virus infection in humans and other animals, a disease with a high mortality rate. Numerous disease outbreaks caused by Nipah virus have occurred in Sou ...
outbreak in 1999, the
Japanese encephalitis
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an infection of the brain caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). While most infections result in little or no symptoms, occasional inflammation of the brain occurs. In these cases, symptoms may include he ...
outbreak in 2000 and the global
SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...
epidemic in 2003.
The
Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital (HPSF) in
Muar has gone through a variety of development and vast transformation into a specialist hospital under Chua's ministership in MOH and tenure as local-bred MP for Bakri. Its status was officially converted and renamed from ''Hospital Muar'' to ''Hospital Pakar Sultanah Fatimah'' on 13 October 2003.
MCA fell into crisis in 2001, when factional infighting between "Teams A" and "B" became public. Chua aligned himself to the
Lim Ah Lek
Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek () is Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) politician in Malaysia and was the Member of Parliament for Bentong constituency in Pahang and MCA deputy president. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad appointed him as the Minister of ...
-led Team B during the ''
Nanyang Siang Pau
''Nanyang Siang Pau'' or ''Nanyang Business Daily'' () was founded by philanthropist-entrepreneur Tan Kah Kee on 6 September 1923 in Straits Settlements, currently published in Malaysia. ''Nanyang Siang Pau'' is one of the oldest Chinese-langua ...
'' takeover crisis. The 2002 party elections were cancelled, and Chua retained his vice presidency under the MCA "peace plan" of 2003, which saw
Ong Ka Ting
Ong Ka Ting (; born 15 November 1956) is a Malaysian politician. He was the former Housing and Local Government Minister from 1999 to 2008 and Acting Transport Minister from May to June 2003 in the Malaysian cabinet. Ong also served as the sev ...
assume the presidency. However, he was dropped from the Cabinet after the
2004 general election as he was not recommended to the prime minister by the new party leader.
In the following year's party elections, Chua challenged Ong Ka Ting for the presidency. He performed above expectations, garnering more than a third of the delegates' votes, but was unable to topple the heavily favoured Ong.
He made another long-shot attempt at the presidency in 2008, but lost out to
Ong Tee Keat
Ong Tee Keat (; born 22 November 1956) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of Transport in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Ministers Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak from March 2008 to June 2 ...
. He did not contest the
2008 general election and
2013 general election as his former seat of
Bakri fell to the opposition.
People's Justice Party (PKR)
In July 2009, Chua quit the MCA to join the opposition
People's Justice Party
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 ...
(PKR), citing the need to preserve the two-party system that emerged after the 2008 elections. In June 2010, the Sultan of Johor,
Sultan Ibrahim Ismail revoked the state awards carrying the titles Dato' conferred to Chua by the previous Sultan. Chua accused BN of instigating the move as payback for joining the opposition. He still retains the Dato' title of other state titles by the Sultans of Selangor and Pahang.
He was appointed PKR's chief in
Johor
Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares maritime ...
, which is regarded as the BN's stronghold.
In February 2013, an open verbal conflict erupted between Johor DAP chairman
Boo Cheng Hau
Dr. Boo Cheng Hau (; born 1 October 1964) is a Malaysian politician of Democratic Action Party (DAP). He has served as Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Skudai for two terms from March 2008 to May 2018.
Background and p ...
and Chua as a result of accusations from either side of splitting
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 (DA ...
(PR) in Johor, prompting mediation by both DAP and PKR party central leadership. Reconciliations were finally reached by both parties to switch their traditional seats for Chua to contest in the Segamat meanwhile DAP adviser
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 ...
in the Gelang Patah seat in the upcoming
2013 election. Chua was however defeated in the election by the incumbent Dr.
S. Subramaniam, a BN federal minister.
Election results
Honours
* :
** (1989, revoked on 19 June 2010)
** (1997,
revoked on 10 June 2010)
** (1999, revoked on 10 June 2010)
* :
**
![MY-PAH_Order_of_the_Crown_of_Pahang_-_Grand_Knight_-_SIMP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/MY-PAH_Order_of_the_Crown_of_Pahang_-_Grand_Knight_-_SIMP.svg)
Grand Knight of the
Order of the Crown of Pahang
The Esteemed Order of the Crown of Pahang ( Malay: '' Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Pahang Yang Amat Mulia'') is a knighthood order of the Sultanate of Pahang.
History
The order was founded by Sultan Abu Bakar on 27 December 1968. It is awarded ...
(SIMP) – Dato' Indera (2002)
* :
**
![MY-SEL_Order_of_the_Crown_of_Selangor_-_Knight_Commander_-_DPMS](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/MY-SEL_Order_of_the_Crown_of_Selangor_-_Knight_Commander_-_DPMS.svg)
Knight Commander of the
Order of the Crown of Selangor
The Most Illustrious Order of the Crown of Selangor (Bahasa Melayu: ''Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Selangor Yang Amat Mulia'') is an order awarded by Sultan of Selangor as a reward for general services to the sultan and state of Selangor. It was foun ...
(DPMS) – Dato' (2003)
See also
*
Bakri (federal constituency)
Bakri is a federal constituency in Muar District, Johor, Malaysia, that has been represented in the Dewan Rakyat
The Dewan Rakyat (English: 'House of Representatives'; ) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, the federal legislatu ...
References
External links
Official blog*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chua, Jui Meng
Living people
1943 births
People from Johor
People from Muar
Malaysian people of Teochew descent
20th-century Malaysian lawyers
Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent
Members of the Dewan Rakyat
Government ministers of Malaysia
Health ministers of Malaysia
Former Malaysian Chinese Association politicians
People's Justice Party (Malaysia) politicians
21st-century Malaysian politicians
Knights Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor