Teresa Kok
Encyclopedia
Teresa Kok Suh Sim is a Malaysian Member of Parliament from the Democratic Action Party (DAP).
, 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 devoted Catholic.
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 UMNO, titled "Factionalism in Umno During Dr Mahathir's Era (1981 - 2001)".
In 1995, she contested the Ipoh Barat Parliamentary seat on a DAP ticket but was defeated by the MCA candidate. Kok resigned as political secretary after that to further her studies.
In the 1999 General Elections, 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 Elections
, Kok retained her Parliamentary seat of Seputeh
in Kuala Lumpur
with a majority of 36,492, the largest majority in any constituency. In the new Selangor executive council, she was named senior executive councillor and put in charge of investment, trade and industry to ensure all funds are directed to Malaysians.
Teresa was reelected into Central Executive Committee of DAP during the party's National Congress (23–24 August 2008) in Kuala Lumpur. She is currently the DAP National Organising Secretary, prior to this position she was DAP Publicity Secretary. She is also the National Secretary of DAP Wanita (the women's wing of the DAP) and a member of the DAP Disciplinary Committee. In Parliament, she was a member of the Select Committee on Review of Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.
Kok is the Secretary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC). She was an active lobbyist for Burmese democracy and human rights since 1996 when she was the Coordinator of Political Leaders Network Promoting Democracy in Burma (PD Burma) in Southeast Asian region.
(ISA). Under the act, the police have no obligation to disclose the alleged offense if any at all.
Teresa Kok's arrest followed the arrests of prominent blogger activist Raja Petra Kamaruddin and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng (陈云清) from the Sin Chew Daily News earlier on that day.
The Malay newspaper Utusan had reported Kok had "advised" a mosque in Puchong
not to use loudspeakers while making the azan. Teresa Kok denied the allegation. The Selangor state government was giving all parties involved in making the claim a week to issue a retraction and apology.
It was found out later that a faulty loudspeaker system was the reason why the mosque did not broadcast the azan. 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 azan. The administrator of the mosque as well as the petitioners also confirmed that Kok was not involved in the petition.
She was released on 19 September 2008.
Her complaint caused the government to investigate the quality of food served to detainees in Malaysian police lock-ups.
's journalist and columnist R. Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandez alleged that Teresa Kok and Ronnie Liu were organizing a meeting between Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REDHA) and the Selangor Chief Minister Khalid Ibrahim to lobby a repeal of a moratorium on hill slope development in Selangor. Kok denied the allegation and stated that it was only a meeting.
Background
Born and bred in Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Teresa is a second-generation Malaysian of Chinese descent
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese is a Malaysian of Chinese origin. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Within Malaysia, they are usually simply referred to as "Chinese" in all languages. The term Chinese Malaysian is also sometimes used to refer to...
. Kok is a member of the Hakka dialect group and her ancestors were from Huizhou
Huizhou
Huizhou , historically known as Waichow, is a city located in central Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. Part of the Pearl River Delta, Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shaoguan to the north, Heyuan to the northeast, Shanwei to the east, Shenzhen...
, Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
Province, China. She speaks Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
fluently. Kok is a devoted Catholic.
She earned her first degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Universiti Sains Malaysia is a public university with its main campus in Penang, Malaysia. There are three branch campuses: one in mainland Penang , one in Kelantan on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, and a offshore collaboration with a university in India...
(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 UMNO, titled "Factionalism in Umno During Dr Mahathir's Era (1981 - 2001)".
Politics
Kok was political secretary to Parliamentary 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 MCA candidate. Kok resigned as political secretary after that to further her studies.
In the 1999 General Elections, Kok won the Parliamentary seat of Seputeh
Seputeh
Seputeh is an area and parliamentary constituency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mid Valley Megamall, Malaysia's largest shopping complex is located here...
in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
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 Elections
Malaysian general election, 2008
The 12th Malaysian general election was held on March 8, 2008, in accordance with Malaysian laws for national elections, which states that a general election must be held no later than five years subsequent to the previous elections; the previous general election was held in 2004...
, Kok retained her Parliamentary seat of Seputeh
Seputeh
Seputeh is an area and parliamentary constituency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mid Valley Megamall, Malaysia's largest shopping complex is located here...
in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
with a majority of 36,492, the largest majority in any constituency. In the new Selangor executive council, she was named senior executive councillor and put in charge of investment, trade and industry to ensure all funds are directed to Malaysians.
Teresa was reelected into Central Executive Committee of DAP during the party's National Congress (23–24 August 2008) in Kuala Lumpur. She is currently the DAP National Organising Secretary, prior to this position she was DAP Publicity Secretary. She is also the National Secretary of DAP Wanita (the women's wing of the DAP) and a member of the DAP Disciplinary Committee. In Parliament, she was a member of the Select Committee on Review of Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.
Kok is the Secretary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC). She was an active lobbyist for Burmese democracy and human rights since 1996 when she was the Coordinator of Political Leaders Network Promoting Democracy in Burma (PD Burma) in Southeast Asian region.
Detention under ISA
Teresa Kok was arrested near OUG Heights at on Friday September 12, 2008 under Section 73 (1) of the Internal Security ActInternal Security Act (Malaysia)
The Internal Security Act 1960 is a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. The legislation was enacted after Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. The ISA allows for detention without trial or criminal charges under limited, legally defined circumstances...
(ISA). Under the act, the police have no obligation to disclose the alleged offense if any at all.
Teresa Kok's arrest followed the arrests of prominent blogger activist Raja Petra Kamaruddin and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng (陈云清) from the Sin Chew Daily News earlier on that day.
The Malay newspaper Utusan had reported Kok had "advised" a mosque in Puchong
Puchong
Puchong is a major town in the Petaling district of Selangor, Malaysia. The town used to be a rubber estate and tin-mining town in the 1960s. During 1980s, Puchong consisted of only one two-lane road running through estates and villages...
not to use loudspeakers while making the azan. Teresa Kok denied the allegation. The Selangor state government was giving all parties involved in making the claim a week to issue a retraction and apology.
It was found out later that a faulty loudspeaker system was the reason why the mosque did not broadcast the azan. 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 azan. The administrator of the mosque as well as the petitioners also confirmed that Kok was not involved in the petition.
She was released on 19 September 2008.
Food controversy
Immediately after her release, she was embroiled in a controversy in which she claimed the quality of food served to her during her incarceration was so bad that it was similar to dog food. Utusan Malaysia reported her statement. Kok claimed Utusan was manipulating her words, denied making that statement and instead insisted that she had said that the food was only slightly better than dog food. She later admitted to making contradictory statements.Her complaint caused the government to investigate the quality of food served to detainees in Malaysian police lock-ups.
Threats
On September 27, 2008, two Molotov cocktails were thrown into the family home of Seputeh MP Teresa Kok in Taman Rainbow, Jalan Ipoh. A warning letter containing threatening words and vulgarities was also attached to a bottle left outside the house. At the time, Teresa’s parents and her siblings were in the house, none were hurt in the incident. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/27/nation/20080927093718&sec=nationHill slope development allegation
The SunThe Sun (Malaysia)
The Sun is Malaysia's first national free daily newspaper in tabloid form. Available from Mondays to Fridays except on public holiday, with a target audience of white-collar workers and urban youth....
's journalist and columnist R. Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandez alleged that Teresa Kok and Ronnie Liu were organizing a meeting between Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REDHA) and the Selangor Chief Minister Khalid Ibrahim to lobby a repeal of a moratorium on hill slope development in Selangor. Kok denied the allegation and stated that it was only a meeting.
Book
In 2004, Kok published a book compiling articles she wrote for the then Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh. She continues to write a weekly column for the Chinese daily Sin Chew.Election results
- ParliamentParliament of MalaysiaThe Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The King as the Head of State is the third component of Parliament....
Year Parliamentary seat Votes Obtained Majority Ballots Cast Opponent Turnout 1999 P110 Seputeh 28,657 won by 5,200 52,705 Dr Sua Chong Keh (BN Barisan NasionalBarisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
- MCAMalaysian Chinese AssociationMalaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
)
Liew Ah Kim (Malaysian Democratic Party (MDP)Malaysian Democratic PartyThe Malaysian Democratic Party was a political party in Malaysia formed by Wee Choo Keong in 1998, after he was expelled from Democratic Action Party due to his fall-out and failed revolt against then secretary-general Lim Kit Siang....
)73.59 % 2004 P122 Seputeh 33,197 won by 12,895 53,718 Chin Yen Foo (BN Barisan NasionalBarisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
- MCAMalaysian Chinese AssociationMalaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
)71.91% 2008 P122 Seputeh 47,230 won by 36,492 58,207 Carol Chew Chee Lin (BN Barisan NasionalBarisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
- MCAMalaysian Chinese AssociationMalaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
)75.70%
- State Legislative AssemblyDewan Undangan NegeriA state legislative assembly is the legislature of each of the 13 Malaysian states. Members of a state legislative assembly comprises elected representatives from single-member constituencies during state elections through the first-past-the-post system....
Year State Legislative Assembly seat Votes Obtained Majority Ballots Cast Opponent Turnout 2008 P103 Puchong N30 Kinrara 12,990 won by 5,739 20,496 Kow Cheong Wei (BN Barisan NasionalBarisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
- MCAMalaysian Chinese AssociationMalaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
)79.31 %
Others
- Kok, Teresa (2002). "Government Should Not Send The Rohingya Refugees Who Broke Into The UNHCR Office Back To Burma". Retrieved Nov. 5, 2005.
- Kok, Teresa (2005). "Teresa Kok Suh Sim". Retrieved Oct. 29, 2005.