Yeap Ghim Guan (1941 – 12 March 2007) is a

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 ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-trained lawyer and

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 ...

. His political career began in Penang in the 1960s; Yeap served as state assemblyman for Kelawei for one term from 1969 to 1974. He was one of the founder members 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), and served as the party's chairman from 1965 to 1977. However, he left DAP after a bitter power struggle with the then secretary general

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 ...

and co-founded two minor political parties, the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SDP) in 1978 and the

Malaysian Democratic Party The Malaysian Democratic Party (MDP, ms, Parti Demokratik Malaysia) was a political party in Malaysia formed by Wee Choo Keong in 1998, after he was expelled from Democratic Action Party (DAP) due to his fall-out and failed revolt against then ...

(MDP) in 1999. Yeap was well known for his aggressiveness, uncompromising stance and remarkable oratory skill. He once presented a 10-hour speech at the Penang Legislative Assembly in the 1970s. Another famous stunt was pledging to dive off the

Penang Bridge The Penang Bridge is a dual carriageway toll bridge and controlled-access highway in the state of Penang, Malaysia. The bridge connects Perai on the mainland side of the state with Gelugor on the island, crossing the Penang Strait. The bri ...

if the then

Chief Minister of Penang The Chief Minister of Penang is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Penang. According to convention, the chief minister is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The chi ...

, Tun

Lim Chong Eu Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu (; 28 May 1919 – 24 November 2010) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 2nd Chief Minister of Penang from May 1969 to October 1990. He was also the founding president of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). ...

, could successfully build Penang Bridge. He failed to fulfill this pledge when the bridge was completed. However, his aggressive style ultimately proved to be his downfall; in 1974 he tore a poster of the then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Tun TUN or tun may refer to: Biology * Tun shells, large sea snails of the family ''Tonnidae'' * Tun, a tardigrade in its cryptobiotic state * Tun or Toon, common name for trees of the genus '' Toona'' Places * Tun, Sweden, a locality in Västra G ...

Abdul Razak Hussein shaking hands with

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

after the former's ground-breaking trip to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Yeap's move was deemed disrespectful, particularly among older Malaysian Chinese. After the incident, the quarrel with Lim Kit Siang and subsequent exit from the DAP, Yeap's political prominence gradually faded. His other attempts to launch new parties were never as successful as the DAP. He died on 12 March 2007 after two years of long illness due to stroke.

References

* Tan, J., "Passing of a fiery politician", ''The Star'', 14 March 2007 * 1941 births 2007 deaths Malaysian people of Chinese descent 20th-century Malaysian lawyers Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians Members of the Penang State Legislative Assembly {{Malaysia-politician-stub