Tony Pua Kiam Wee (; born 1 August 1972) 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
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, a ...
who served 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) for
Damansara from May 2018 to November 2022, for
Petaling Jaya Utara from March 2008 to May 2018 and Political Secretary to the
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
from May 2018 to February 2020. He is a member of the
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), a component party of presently 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 r ...
(PH) and formerly
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 (DAP ...
(PR) coalitions. He has also served as Policy Advisor to the Secretary-General of DAP since May 2022.
Pua is the former Malaysian CEO of Cyber Village Sdn Bhd, a SESDAQ (
SGX second board)-listed company. In early 2007, he disposed of all his interests in the company and tendered his resignation to join the DAP in 2008.
Pua graduated from
Keble College, Oxford
Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...
with a degree in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics under a scholarship from the
MTC Foundation in 1994. Before that, he received Asean and Shaw Foundation scholarships to pursue his O- and A-Levels in
Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both ...
and
Raffles Junior College
The Raffles Junior College (RJC) was a junior college in Singapore offering pre-university education. The college was founded in 1982, following a separation from the pre-university section of Raffles Institution (RI). Raffles Junior College ...
, in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
.
In the
2008 Malaysian general election
A general election was held on Saturday, 8 March 2008 for members of the 12th Parliament of Malaysia. Voting took place in all 222 parliamentary constituencies of Malaysia, each electing one Member of Parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant ...
, Pua won the parliamentary constituency of
Petaling Jaya Utara on a DAP ticket. He ran against the incumbent,
Chew Mei Fun
Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun (; born 17 October 1964) is a Malaysian politician who was the Secretary-General of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA). She is a former two-term Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia for Petaling Jaya Utara from ...
, then Parliamentary Secretary to the
Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development ( ms, Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat), abbreviated KPWKM, is a ministry of the Government of Malaysia responsible for social welfare: children, women, family, communi ...
, and Deputy Women Chief 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). In 2009, Pua was appointed the DAP member of the
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 (DAP ...
(PR) committee.
Pua retained his parliamentary seat in
2018 general election with a majority of 106,903, the largest majority in Malaysian history.
Education
Pua attended a secondary school in Singapore on an
ASEAN
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 ...
scholarship from the Singaporean government. He attended
Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both ...
and Raffles Junior College. He then went to
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, England, where he studied
philosophy, politics and economics at
Keble College
Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...
on an
MTC Foundation scholarship.
Early career
After graduating from Oxford University, Pua worked for Andersen Consulting (now
Accenture
Accenture plc is an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $61.6 billion in 2022. Accentur ...
) as a consultant. In March 1997, he started
Cyber Village, an
e-business
Electronic business (or "Online Business" or "e-business") is any kind of business or commercial transaction that includes sharing information across the internet. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, grou ...
consultancy. Pua and three friends opened an office in
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, su ...
with four staff.
Member of Parliament
On 9 November 2008, Pua was arrested during a candlelight vigil in
Petaling Jaya
)
, website =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = ''From top, left to right:Skyline of Petaling Jaya, the 1 Utama Mall integrated with Bandar Utama Station, the Kota Darul Ehsan arch, the Petaling J ...
to commemorate the first anniversary of the
Bersih
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections ( ms, Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil) or Bersih (meaning ''clean'' in Malay) is a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which seeks to reform the current electoral system in Malaysia t ...
street demonstration. Pua was released on police bail on the morning of 10 November 2008 and was later charged for illegal assembly.
On 10 August 2010, Pua received a live
5.56mm bullet along with a threatening note that were mailed to his constituency service centre. Pua stated that the threat may have been related to his proposal to the
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 ...
government to cut
Bumiputera Bumiputera or Bumiputra, which is a Malay word, comes from the Sanskrit word ''Bhumiputra'' which may be transliterated as "son of earth" or "son of the soil" (Bhūmi; भूमि = earth; putra = son). It has different definitions in Brunei and Ma ...
discounts for homes and commercial property priced above
RM 500,000 in the state.
Defamation lawsuit
On 28 January 2011,
Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (SYABAS) filed a lawsuit against Pua claiming he had permitted
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 ...
's Metro edition to publish words defamatory of it. The article quoted him saying the Selangor state government should take over the rights of management of water supply in the state if water concessionaires could not settle their debts. Syabas claimed the report had brought the company into public scandal and its image had been tarnished. The lawsuit sought an injunction to prevent Pua or his agents from publishing defamatory words against the company, and general damages and cost.
Pua argued that Syabas, as a public authority performing a public service, had no ''
locus standi
Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to:
Entertainment
* Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front
* ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine
** ''Locus Award' ...
'' in making a defamation claim. He also said he had a legal, moral and social duty as an MP and a member of the Selangor government Water Review Panel to publish those words and that the public had a right to know. Pua also filed a counter-suit claiming Syabas' suit was frivolous, vexatious and amounted to an abuse of the court process, which resulted in him suffering losses and unnecessary harassment and expenses.
On 6 June 2012, the Malaysian High Court found that SYABAS had proven its case against Pua and ordered him to pay RM200,000 in damages to SYABAS and awarded SYABAS interest at the rate of 4% ''per annum'' from the date of judgment till full payment and also costs. Justice Amelia Tee Hong Geok Abdullah also struck out Pua's counter-claim application and granted SYABAS an injunction to restrain Pua and his agents from further publishing or giving permission to be published "similar defamatory words" against SYABAS. Pua later stated on his blog that he maintains "that the above statement is not defamatory, and will instruct my lawyers to file an appeal in the Court of Appeal".
On 7 July 2012, Pua posted on his blog that although an appeal was underway, he was required to pay the amount of RM200,000 to SYABAS by 16 July 2012.
DAP Malaysia subsequently initiated a mass fundraising campaign titled "RM1 for Water Rights: 100,000 Malaysians Support Tony Pua vs Syabas" calling for 100,000 Malaysians to donate RM1 each to help Pua pay for the damages to SYABAS.
He subsequently won the Court of Appeal case. SYABAS appealed the decision to the
Federal Court of Malaysia
The Federal Court of Malaysia ( ms, Mahkamah Persekutuan Malaysia) is the highest court and the final appellate court in Malaysia. It is housed in the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya. The court was established during Malaya's independence in 1 ...
. In the 2015 Federal Court case (
015
Fifteen or 15 may refer to:
*15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16
*one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015
Music
*Fifteen (band), a punk rock band
Albums
* ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005
* ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...
6 MLJ 187), Pua won the appeal based on the
Lucas-Box principle by providing his own reasonable meaning to the impugned words.
Publications
''The Tiger that Lost its Roar'', a tale of Malaysia's political economy.
Election results
Policies
![YB_Tony_Pua_with_the_team_of_Trader_Malaysia,_signed_at_PJ_Startup_Festival](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/YB_Tony_Pua_with_the_team_of_Trader_Malaysia%2C_signed_at_PJ_Startup_Festival.jpg)
In 2012, Pua suggested that the Bumiputera discount for housing and real estate must be abolished for houses above RM500,000. He disagreed with giving discounts on expensive houses such as those priced at or above RM 1 million.
In one of his statements, Pua said the government should reduce the number of civil servants. His idea was rejected by
PKR leader
Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12 ...
as impractical. Pua said he wants to make the government sector become more efficient and less costly.
Pua was invited by the organizers of the recent startup acceleration program held at
Dewan Sivik.
See also
*
Damansara (federal constituency)
Damansara is a federal constituency in Petaling District and Gombak District, Selangor, Malaysia, that has been represented in the Dewan Rakyat from 1959 to 1974 and from 2018 to present.
The federal constituency was created in the 2018 redistri ...
References
External links
*
EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA an education-oriented blog written by Tony Pua and Kian Ming Ong.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pua, Tony
1972 births
Raffles Institution alumni
Raffles Junior College alumni
Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians
Living people
Malaysian businesspeople
People from Batu Pahat
People from Johor
21st-century Malaysian politicians
Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent
Members of the Dewan Rakyat
Alumni of Keble College, Oxford
Malaysian people of Teochew descent