Teresa Kok

Yang Berhormat Puan
Teresa Kok Suh Sim
MP
郭素沁
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Seputeh
Assumed office
26 November 1999
Preceded by Liew Ah Kim
Member of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly
for Kinrara
In office
8 March 2008 – 5 May 2013
Preceded by Dr Kow Chong Wei
Succeeded by Ng Sze Han
Majority 5,739
Selangor Senior Executive Councillor
In office
8 March 2008 – 3 April 2013
Personal details
Born Teresa Kok Suh Sim
(1964-03-31) 31 March 1964
Selangor, Malaysia
Citizenship Malaysian
Political party DAP
Other political
affiliations		 Pakatan Harapan
Alma mater Universiti Malaya
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Occupation Politician
Website www.teresakok.com

Teresa Kok Suh Sim (Chinese: 郭素沁; pinyin: Guō Sù Qìn; born 31 March 1964) is a Malaysian politician. She is the incumbent Member of Parliament for Seputeh constituency from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component in the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Teresa is a second-generation Malaysian of Chinese descent. Kok is a member of the Hakka dialect group and her ancestors were from Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China. She speaks Malay, English and Chinese fluently. Kok is a Catholic by religion.[1]

She earned her first degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), graduating in the School of Communication, and; a second degree from University Malaya in political science, and a master of philosophy. Her thesis was on United Malays National Organization (UMNO), titled "Factionalism in Umno During Dr Mahathir's Era (1981–2001)".

Kok writes in weekly column for Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh. In 2004, she published a book compiling articles she wrote for the then Chinese daily.

Political career

Kok was political secretary to Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang from 1990 to 1995. In 1995, she contested the Ipoh Barat Parliamentary seat on a DAP ticket but was defeated by the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) candidate. Kok resigned as political secretary after that to further her studies.

In the 1999 general election, Kok won the Parliamentary seat of Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur with a majority of 5,200 and was re-elected in 2004 with a majority of 12,895, the largest winning margin among the 13 elected DAP MPs.

In the 2008 general election, Kok retained the Seputeh seat with a majority of 36,492, the largest majority in any constituency and won the Kinrara seat in Selangor State Legislative Assembly at the same time. She was elected in the new Selangor executive council, and was named senior executive councillor who was put in charge of investment, trade and industry to ensure all funds are directed to Malaysians.

In 2013, she won re-election to Parliament, garnering over 86 percent of the formal votes cast in her Seputeh constituency.

Controversy

Later in 2008, she was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Under the act, the police have no obligation to disclose the alleged offence if any at all. The Malay newspaper Utusan had reported she had "advised" a mosque in Puchong not to use loudspeakers while making the azan. She denied the allegation.[2] It was found out later that a faulty loudspeaker system was the reason why the mosque did not broadcast the azan.[3] Furthermore, while there was a petition sent to the mosque, the petition requested for the mosque to lower the volume during 'ceramah' or sermons and not during the azan.[4] The administrator of the mosque, as well as the petitioners, confirmed that Kok was not involved in the petition.[5] She was released on 19 September 2008.[6][7] On 27 September, two Molotov cocktails were thrown into the compound of her family residence, accompanied by a warning letter. No-one was hurt.[8]

In May 2014, Kok was charged with sedition for making a Chinese New Year video posted on YouTube which allegedly contained seditious elements. Kok was among the first of several other opposition politicians to be caught in a nationwide sedition dragnet.[9][10]

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia[11][12][13]
Year Constituency Opposition Votes Pct Government Votes Pct Other Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
1995 P62 Ipoh Barat, Perak Teresa Kok (DAP) 19,747 44.51% Ho Cheong Sing (MCA) 24,616 55.49% 45,693 4,869 68.71%
1999 P110 Seputeh, KL Teresa Kok (DAP) 28,657 54.33% Sua Chong Keh (MCA) 23,457 44.47% Liew Ah Kim (MDP) 457 0.87% 52,995 5,200 73.59%
Duraichelvan Murugeson (IND) 134 0.25%
2004 P122 Seputeh, KL Teresa Kok (DAP) 33,197 62.29% Banie Chin Yen Foo (MCA) 20,302 37.56% 53,499 12,895 62.29%
2008 Teresa Kok (DAP) 47,230 81.38% Carol Chew Chee Lin (MCA) 10,738 18.50% 58,207 36,492 75.70%
2013 Teresa Kok (DAP) 61,500 85.95% Nicole Wong Siaw Ting (MCA) 9,948 13.90% 71,859 51,552 83.58%
Selangor State Legislative Assembly[11][12]
Year Constituency Government Votes Pct Opposition Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
2008 N30 Kinrara Selangor Teresa Kok (DAP) 12,990 64.11% Kow Cheong Weh (MCA) 7,251 35.79% 20,517 5,739 79.31%

References

  1. ↑ "About Teresa".
  2. ↑ "Saya Akan Ambil Tindakan Terhadap Utusan Malaysia & Zaini Hassan". Teresa Kok. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  3. ↑ "Faulty PA system the cause of 'silent' azan". Malaysiakini. 12 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  4. ↑ "Petition not about 'azan' but religious 'ceramah'". Malaysiakini. 12 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  5. ↑ "Kok not involved in azan petition, says mosque". Malaysiakini. 13 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  6. ↑ "Teresa: "I was made a scapegoat..."". Sun2Surf. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  7. ↑ "Teresa Kok released". TheEdgeDaily. 19 September 2008. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
  8. ↑ "TERESA KOK SEES MOLOTOV COCKTAIL INCIDENT AS SCARE TACTIC". Yahoo! News. 28 September 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
  9. ↑ "Teresa Kok charged with sedition over controversial Chinese New Year video". The Star (Malaysia). 6 May 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Dragnet proves urgency to axe Sedition Act, Suhakam tells Putrajaya". The Malay Mail Online. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 27 May 2010. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  12. 1 2 "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 5 May 2014. Results only available from the 2004 election.
  13. ↑ "KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM 13". Sistem Pengurusan Maklumat Pilihan Raya Umum. Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 24 March 2017.

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