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 ...

Paul Leong Khee Seong (born 1939) 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 from the

Malaysian People's Movement Party 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) who served as four-term Member of Parliament (MP) of

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 ...

for

Taiping __NOTOC__ Taiping, Tai-p’ing, or Tai Ping most often refers to: Chinese history * Princess Taiping (died 713), Tang dynasty princess * Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), civil war in southern China ** Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864), the re ...

between 1974 and 1990. He was also Minister of Primary Industries of

between 1978 and 1986. He is currently the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

HELP University HELP University ( ms, Universiti HELP; formerly known as HELP Institute, and subsequently as HELP University College) is a private university in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was founded in 1986 by its President and Vice-Chancellor, Datuk Dr Paul C ...

Background

Leong was born in

Ipoh , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Ipoh in Perak , pushpin_map = #Malaysia#Asia#Earth , pushpin_mapsize = 275px , pushpin_map_caption = Ipoh in Malaysia , coordinates ...

, Perak to a family involved in tin mining and plantation with ancestral roots in

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, China. Before entering politics, he was working in his father's business.

Political career

Leong entered the Malaysian politics scene after the 13 May incident. Prior to joining GERAKAN, he was 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) and last served as its

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

Chairman in 1972. Over the next two decades, he served in various posts within GERAKAN which saw him eventually occupy the office of Deputy chairman. Having been elected into Parliament between 1974 and 1990, Leong was appointed as Deputy Minister of Primary Industries in 1974 before being promoted to Minister of Primary Industries four years later. During his tenure as Malaysia's Minister of Primary Industries, he also held several international posts. These included Chairman of the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pre ...

(GATT) Negotiating Committee in Tropical Products from 1986 to 1987 and Chairman of the Group of Fourteen on

Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...

(ASEAN) Economic Co-operation and Integration in 1986.

Education

Leong graduated from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

with a

Bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

in 1963.

Personal life

Following his retirement from politics, Leong has been active in the corporate sector. Among the many offices he has held includes serving as the Executive Chairman of

Nanyang Press Holdings Berhad Media Chinese International Limited is a Chinese language media platform targeting Chinese readers in major Chinese communities worldwide headquartered in Hong Kong. Tan Sri Datuk Tiong Hiew King is the chairman. It was formed by the merger of ...

(2007–2009) and Deputy Chairman of

Sin Chew Media Corporation In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

(2004–2007), Independent non-executive director of

AirAsia Capital A Berhad, () operating as AirAsia (stylized as ''airasia'') is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the largest airline in Malaysia by fleet size and destinations. AirAsia operate ...

(2004–2013) and TSH Resources Limited (2005–2014). Since 2010, he has been an Independent non-executive director of the

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC; ) is a Chinese multinational bank. Founded as a limited company on 1 January 1984, ICBC is a state-owned commercial bank. With capital provided by the Ministry of Finance of China, the ...

(Malaysia). In 2012, he was appointed as the first Chancellor of HELP University following the university's accordance of university status.

Election results

Honours

* : **

MY-PERA Order of Cura Si Manja Kini (before 2001)

Knight of the

Order of Cura Si Manja Kini Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

(DPCM) – Dato' (1979)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leong, Paul Chee Seong 1939 births People from Perak Malaysian people of Hakka descent Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent Living people University of New South Wales alumni Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia politicians 20th-century Malaysian politicians Malaysian Chinese Association politicians 21st-century Malaysian people Members of the Dewan Rakyat Government ministers of Malaysia