| Yang Berhormat Jelutong Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun |
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|---|---|
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Jelutong |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office March 8, 2008 |
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| Preceded by | Lee Kah Choon (BN) |
| Majority | 16,246 |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Malaysian |
| Political party | DAP - Pakatan Rakyat |
| Occupation | Member of Parliament |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| Website | Screenshots |
Ooi Chuan Aun[1] (Chinese: 黄泉安; pinyin: Huáng Quán'ān) (born c. 1956[2]), better known as Jeff Ooi, is a Malaysian IT consultant by profession, blogger, photographer and politician. He is currently the Member of Parliament for Jelutong in the 12th Malaysian Parliament.He is a well known for his criticism of Muslims and Islam in Malaysia. This was due to the his open criticism against the shariah principle of Islam and his open criticism and condemnation of Muslims as extremist.[3]
He is from a small town in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah. he was brought up among rural teenagers.
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Jeff Ooi writes a popular blog known as "Screenshots..." which he started on January 2, 2003. It covers current issues relating to Malaysia, mainly on politics. From time to time, it also touches on international news and photography.
Jeff Ooi's blog has been dubbed "Malaysia's Most Influential Blog" by Malaysiakini, a popular local online news publication with the non Muslim population of Malaysia. Between March 6 and March 10, 2006, Ooi claimed that the total data downloaded by visitors to his blog was 50.58 gigabytes.[4] In 2005, Screenshots won the Asia category of the Freedom Blogs Awards given by Reporters Without Borders.[5]
Jeff Ooi also administrates a photography forum called Lensa Malaysia, which receives 200,000 page views per month. He is also the founder and administrator of USJ and Subang Jaya's own community forum usj.com.my, and was hired by CNET Asia as a tech blogger alongside other CNET Asia bloggers. He named his CNET Asia blog Lemak Lemang, a reference to coconut-flavored sticky rice stuffed in a bamboo container traditionally prepared by Malays.
In 2006, it was reported by The Star, a local English language daily, that Ooi was among several local bloggers being wooed by the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) to run for public office. Ooi, who was at the time a member of Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Malaysian People's Movement), a major party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition government, stated that "it's too premature at this point" for him to consider entering active politics.[6]
He joined DAP on July 31, 2007.[7] Ooi contested as a DAP candidate in Malaysia's 2008 general election for a seat in Jelutong, Penang.,[8][9] which he won by a majority margin of 16246 votes.[1].
| Year | Parliamentary seat | Votes | Majority | Total voters | Opponent | Turnout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | P50 Jelutong | 30493 | won by 16246 | 46406 | Thor Teong Gee (BN - Gerakan) Badrul Zaman bin P.S. Md Zakariah (Independent) |
75.85% |
On January 11, 2007, Ooi, alongside Ahirudin Attan, was sued by the New Straits Times Press.[10] The Malaysian court ordered Ooi to remove more than 10 postings on his blog that the NSTP claimed were libellous by January 17. Ooi is prohibited from republishing those postings in his blog or on the internet until the disposal of the defamation suit filed by New Straits Times Press (NSTP). The lawsuits are the first of their kind in Malaysia.[11] Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has defended legal action launched against him, saying the Internet was not exempt from defamation laws.[12] This lawsuit has spawned the Bloggers United campaign to defend bloggers and the freedom of expression, and Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin have chosen to defend in court. The situation resulted in the coverage of Malaysian blogging on various newspapers. A fund has also been set up to protect bloggers and support their activities, entrusting the fund to Marina Mahathir and friends.
Jeff Ooi called Mohd Razali Abdullah, a Penang Municipal councillor, an Islamic extremist. This has caused public furore especially from the Muslim community because while Razali is a member of Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM), the organisation itself is a registered body and has a close tie with Ooi's party's youth wing, Penang DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy). It gave the impression that Syariah Law is extreme and Muslims are extremists. Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng has ordered Ooi to retract his statements and apologise publicly. Ooi finally withdrew his statements after denying previous calls by certain parties, as an adherence to his superior's order. However, he did not offer any apology. He continued on criticising Razali. [13] The Islamic religious leaders association of Penang (Persatuan Ulama’ Malaysia cawangan Pulau Pinang) has launched a signature campaign to the public to support the demand Jeff Ooi to resign from office for his demeaning remarks on Muslims and Islam in Malaysia.[14]
In 2009, Ooi migrated his blog, "Screenshots," to Asian Correspondent, a blogging-and-news website covering 13 countries in Asia Pacific. His last article was regurgitated on November, 2009 under the Asian Correspondent platform. .[15]
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