Tan Sri The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several provinces in Indonesia regul ...

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 ...

Lee Kim Sai () (1 March 1937 – 24 November 2019) 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. In the 1980s and 1990s, he served as

Labour Minister Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

(1985–1989), Housing and Local Government Minister (1989–1990) and

Health Minister 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. Count ...

(1990–1995); and was deputy president of

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) (1986–1996), a major component party 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 se ...

(BN) coalition.

Early life

Lee was born on 1 March 1937 to a poor family in

Ulu Klang Ulu Klang (alternately Hulu Klang, Hulu Kelang or Ulu Kelang, is a mukim and a state constituency in Gombak District, Selangor, Malaysia. It is one of five state constituencies administered by Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ). It includes ...

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

, and was brought up in Jinjang,

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

. He was educated at Chong Hwa High School in Kuala Lumpur, then trained as a teacher at the Teachers' Training College in Kuala Lumpur. He started teaching in 1957, and rose to become the principal of

Kepong Kepong is a town in northern Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The name is a Malay word meaning "Enclose" or "Surround", as the town is surrounded by a mountain range. Places of interest * FRIM Kepong (Forest Research Institute Malaysia) * Temasek Pewt ...

Chinese School.

Political career

Lee joined the MCA in 1965, and stood for

Selangor State Legislative Assembly The Selangor State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Negeri Selangor) is the unicameral state legislature of the Malaysian state of Selangor. The State Assembly is composed of 56 members representing single-member constituencies throughout the sta ...

constituency of

in the 1969 general election, but lost to Tan Chee Khoon of

Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia The Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia ( en, Malaysian People's Movement Party, commonly abbreviated as GERAKAN or less commonly as PGRM) is a liberal political party in Malaysia. Formed in 1968, Gerakan gained prominence in the 1969 general electio ...

(Gerakan). In the 1974 general election he contested and won the Rawang state seat, which he retained in the 1978 election. He became head of MCA Youth in 1979, and was also elected vice-president of MCA the same year. He was elected as 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 of ...

(MP) in the 1982 general election for

Ulu Selangor Hulu Selangor is a district in Selangor, Malaysia. It contains the towns of Serendah, Batang Kali and Kuala Kubu Bharu. Its principal town is Kuala Kubu Bharu. The district is located in the northeastern part of Selangor and borders the state ...

, and was appointed deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department. In 1984, in a row over allegation of fictitious membership that supported the Acting President Dr. Neo Yee Pan, he was expelled from MCA along with

Tan Koon Swan Tan Sri Dr. Tan Koon Swan (; born 24 September 1940) is a Malaysian political and corporate figure. He was the fifth president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a component party of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition; from November 1 ...

Ling Liong Sik Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik (; born 18 September 1943) is a retired Malaysian politician. He was the sixth president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a component party of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and also the former Malaysian Minis ...

and others by the Acting President. In the ensuing party election to resolve the crisis, Tan Koon Swan was elected president with the largest majority in the party's history, and Lee was elected one of the party vice-presidents as well as the secretary general. Tan however resigned the next year over a scandal involving his business dealings in Singapore, and Ling Liong Sik took over as president while Lee moved up to become the Deputy President. Lee was appointed Minister of Labour in 1985, and in 1989, he became Minister of Housing and Local Government. He then became the Minister of Health from 1990 until 1995. Lee also successfully won the

Hulu Langat Hulu Langat District is a district located in the southeastern corner of Selangor, between Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan. It is bordered by the state of Pahang to the east and north, Gombak district to the north-west, Federal Territory of Kual ...

federal constituency for two terms consecutively in both the 1986 general election and 1990 general election. In 1993, he attempted to challenge Ling for the leadership of MCA, but backed down after failing to gain enough support. He retired from politics in 1996.

Controversies

Lee was outspoken on a number of sensitive issues, such as questioning the

Malaysian New Economic Policy The New Economic Policy (NEP) ( ms, Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB)) was a social re-engineering and affirmative action program formulated by the National Operations Council (NOC) in the aftermath of 13 May Incident in Malaysia. This policy was adop ...

and the political dominance of the Malays. In particular, in early November 1986, the Selangor MCA of which he was its head, passed a resolution in its annual convention calling on the government to review the Sedition Act and to make it an offence to refer or call any of the country's three major races as immigrants or ''

pendatang "Pendatang asing", "orang pendatang" or "pendatang" is a common Malay phrase used to refer to foreigners or immigrants; "pendatang asing" literally means "foreign comer" or "foreign immigrant". Although most frequently used to refer to foreign i ...

''. The resolution, which stated that Malaysia's three major races originated from other countries and that none of them should brand the others as immigrants and claim themselves to be natives. This was interpreted as challenging the

bumiputra ''Bumiputera'' or ''Bumiputra'' ( Jawi: ) is a term used in Malaysia to describe Malays, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, and various indigenous peoples of East Malaysia (see official definition below). The term is sometimes controver ...

status of the

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

s, which led to calls for his sacking by members of

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...

(UMNO), and the withdrawal of his datukship by the

Sultan of Selangor Sultan of Selangor (سلطان سلاڠور) is the title of the constitutional ruler of Selangor, Malaysia who is the head of state and head of the Islamic religion in Selangor. The current monarch, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah ascended the t ...

(later restored). He also joined a protest rally with the opposition then;

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) objecting to the appointments of senior assistants and supervisors without qualifications in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

in Chinese primary schools. The events precipitated the

Operation Lalang Operation Lalang ( ms, Operasi Lalang, also referred as Ops Lalang and taken to mean "Weeding Operation" or "Operation Weeding") was a major crackdown between 27 October and 20 November 1987 undertaken by the Royal Malaysian Police, ostensibl ...

in 1987 whereby over a hundred politicians and activists were detained, and Lee left for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

for a few months.

Death

After suffering from a stroke since October 2018, Lee died on 24 November 2019 at 12.30 a.m. at family home in Jalan Setia Bakti, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur. His remains were buried at Xiao En Memorial Park, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.

Election results

Honours

* : ** Medal of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace o ...

(PPN) (1974) ** Order_of_Loyalty_to_the_Crown_of_Malaysia_-_PSM

Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Setia Mahkota Malaysia) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign. The order was instituted on ...

(PSM) – Tan Sri (2000) * : ** (revoked in 23 October 1987) ** MY-SEL Order of the Crown of Selangor - Knight Commander - DPMS

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' (1979, revoked in 23 October 1987 and reinstated in 8 March 1990)

References

External links

Lee Kim Sai
at Malaysia Factbook {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Kim Sai 1937 births 2019 deaths People from Selangor Malaysian people of Hakka descent Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent Malaysian Chinese Association politicians Members of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly Members of the Dewan Rakyat Health ministers of Malaysia Government ministers of Malaysia Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia 21st-century Malaysian politicians Knights Commander of the Order of the Crown of Selangor Medallists of the Order of the Defender of the Realm