Liew Chin Tong


Liew Chin Tong is a Malaysian politician and was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Kluang constituency in Johor during the period of the 13th Parliament of Malaysia until it dissolved on 7 April 2018. He had also served as Member of Parliament for the Bukit Bendera constituency in Penang from 2008 to 2013. He holds the portfolio of Political Education Director and is a Central Executive Council member of the Democratic Action Party. He subsequently ran for the Ayer Hitam against Wee Ka Siong but was defeated narrowly in the 2018 general elections. Following the victory of the opposition-led Pakatan Harapan coalition on 17 July 2018, Liew was appointed as a Senator and he also former Deputy Minister of Defence.

Background

Liew was born on 27 November 1977 at Subang Jaya, Selangor. He had his early education at Kwang Hua Private High School up to 1995 before he pursued his tertiary education at Australian National University and graduated with Bachelor of Asian Studies and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2004. He later obtained International Masters in Regional Integration at Asia-Europe Institute, University of Malaya in 2006.
Liew previously was the Executive Director of Penang Institute, 2009-2012 and Executive Director of Research for Social Advancement, 2007-2011. He was also Former Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.
In 1999, Liew joined Democratic Action Party.

Political career

Liew was first elected to the Malaysian Parliament in the 2008 general election winning the constituency of Bukit Bendera, Penang. A political strategist prior to his election, Liew has been credited for masterminding Pakatan Rakyat's takeover of the Penang State Legislative Assembly. In the 2013 general election, Liew wrestled the Kluang parliamentary seat in Johor from the predecessor, Malaysian Chinese Association 's Hou Kok Chung.

Books