Kerk Kim Hock (; 29 July 1956 – 9 August 2017) was 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 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 ...

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 o ...

(MP) for Kota Melaka from December 1999 to March 2004 and Pasir Panji from October 1990 to December 1999. He served as Member of the

Malacca State Legislative Assembly The Malacca State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Melaka) is the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Malacca. It is composed of 28 members who are elected from single-member constituencies throughout the state. Ele ...

for Durian Daun from August 1986 to October 1990. He also served as the 4th Secretary-General of the

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) from December 1999 to his retirement from

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

in March 2004,

DAP DAP or Dap may refer to: Science * DAP (gene), human gene that encodes death-associated proteins, which mediate programmed cell death * Diamidophosphate, phosphorylating compound * Diaminopimelic acid, amino acid derivative of lysine * Diamin ...

is 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 ...

(PH) opposition coalition. He was also a

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

by profession.

Political career

He was elected in 1986 as the state assemblyman for Durian Daun, Malacca. In 1987, he was detained for 60 days without trial under the

Internal Security Act 1960 The Internal Security Act 1960 ( ms, Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri 1960, abbreviated ISA) was a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. The legislation was enacted after the Federation of Malaya gained independence from Britain in 1957 ...

(ISA) as part of Operasi Lalang, a government sponsored crackdown that saw the arrest of many people, including activists, intellectuals and opposition politicians. In

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

he was elected as a MP for

Pasir Pinji Pasil ( fa, پسيل, also Romanized as Pasīl; also known as Pasīr) is a village in Sepiddasht Rural District, Papi District, Khorramabad County, Lorestan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

, Perak but in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

he lost the Ipoh Timor parliamentary seat by a slim 292 vote majority. Kerk won the Kota Melaka, Malacca parliamentary seat in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

later but lost it in the 2004 general election by a slim 219 vote majority again. He then officially retired from

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 ...

n politics on 28 March 2004.

Personal life

Kerk was married to Mook Kwai Mei and the couple has two children; a son and a daughter. Kerk's son, Kerk Chee Yee has followed his footstep to join politics was elected as state assemblyman for the

Ayer Keroh Ayer Keroh is a town situated in Central Melaka District, Melaka Tengah District, Malacca, Malaysia. It is the seat of the state government since 2006, being the home of the state secretariat building complex – Seri Negeri complex and one of a f ...

seat in the 2018 Malaysian general election (GE14). He served in the state executive council as Communications, Multimedia, NGO, Youth and Sports Committee chairman from 16 May 2018 until 2 March 2020 during the political crisis.

Health and death

He was diagnosed with Stage 1

rectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

in 2002. After 5 years of battle with cancer, he was announced cancer-free on 25 May 2007. But in 2015, he was diagnosed again with cancer. Kerk died at 6.10 pm on 9 August 2017 at the age of 61 at his home in Taman Kenanga Seksyen 3,

Melaka Tengah District Melaka Tengah District (Central Malacca) is one of the 4 administrative districts in Malacca, Malaysia. It borders Masjid Tanah District to the north-west, Alor Gajah District to the north and Jasin District to the east. The capital of the stat ...

deep vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and enla ...

(DVT) from surgery complications three days after slipping into a coma.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerk, Kim Hock 1956 births 2017 deaths People from Malacca Malaysian engineers Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians Members of the Dewan Rakyat Members of the Malacca State Legislative Assembly Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent Deaths from thrombosis