Andrew Chen Kah Eng

Andrew Chen Kah Eng (Chinese: 曾笳恩; pinyin: Céng Jiā'ēn) is a Malaysian politician from the Democratic Action Party. He is now in his second term as a member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly as the elected representative for the constituency of Stulang.[1]

Yang Berhomat Tuan Andrew Chen Kah Eng MLA
曾笳恩
Andrew Chen Kah Eng, in 2013
Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly for Stulang
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2013
Preceded by	Mok Chek Hou (MCA–BN)
Majority	3,296 (2013) 12,470 (2018)
Personal details
Born	13 October 1975 Kuching, Sarawak
Political party	Democratic Action Party (DAP)
Other political affiliations	Pakatan Harapan (PH) Pakatan Rakyat (PR)
Alma mater	University of Technology, Malaysia
Occupation	Politician

Personal life

Born in Kuching, Sarawak, he moved to the state of Johor for his university studies in the University of Technology, Malaysia. He holds an Honour Degree in Land Surveying and a degree in Master of Science (Satellite Surveying).[2]

Contributions during Movement Control Order

In 18 March 2020, the Malaysia government enforced a Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19.[3] The order included strict travel restrictions between Malaysia and Singapore, where many Malaysians travel to for work and social visit purposes.

Cross Border Breastmilk Delivery

Since citizens from both countries were not allowed to travel freely anymore many Malaysian mothers, who are employed in Singapore, had no means to bring back their breastmilk to their babies in Malaysia. Prior to MCO, these mothers travelled regularly between the two countries to bring back the breastmilk themselves.

When approached by these mothers for help, Andrew decided to make all the necessary arrangements to assist them in bringing back their breastmilk to babies all across peninsula Malaysia.[4]

This project is still on-going and deliveries are currently being made monthly.

Special Bus Transportation Arrangement for the Vulnerable

The sudden implementation of the MCO also meant that many elderly, children and pregnant ladies were not able to travel back to Malaysia in time before the enforcement started. As part of the travel restriction, all land public transport services between the two countries were suspended indefinitely. Therefore, while Malaysians were still able to return to Malaysia, people in the vulnerable group faced difficulties travelling back as the only way was to walk across the causeway.

To assist them Andrew, with the help of private bus operators and the High Commission of Malaysia in Singapore, managed to arrange special bus transportation arrangement for them.

In total, 4 such arrangements were made, and more than 200 vulnerable people successfully travelled back to Malaysia safely.[5]

Chairman of BSI CIQ Special Task Force

In July 2018, Andrew was appointed by the Johor State Government to lead a special task force to look into the traffic congestion issues in the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) complex.[6]

The study took the special task force four months to complete, and a report was submitted in January 2019.

In the report, the special task force made 11 recommendations on how to ease the traffic congestion. The 11 recommendations are:

1. Setting up a single agency at the CIQ to reduce bureaucracy in the management of the border checkpoint
2. Increase the number of immigration officers during peak hours
3. Combining the immigration, road charge and PLUS counters into a single counter for the clearance of inbound cars
4. Improve the Malaysia Automated Clearance System (MACS) and increase the number of E-Gates for inbound passenger hall, and readjust the algorithm of the Secured Automated Clearance System (MBIKE) for inbound Malaysian motorcyclists.
5. Minimise and eventually abolish top-up transactions for Touch ’n Go cards at the inbound car lanes within a year
6. Consult Singapore authorities about increasing the frequency of the Johor Bahru-Woodlands train service, extend the bus services until 1 am, encourage transport operations from both countries to provide shuttle services along the causeway, and make Touch ’n Go top-up transactions available in Singapore
7. Limit the time a factory bus can stop at the complex and rearrange the parking bays for the factory vans and buses
8. Place light-emitting diode signages at the A, B, C and D zones for the inbound cars to avoid bottleneck. Place The People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) and auxiliary police personnel to help control traffic. Ensure the number of counters opened in zones A and B are the same as in zone C and D
9. Improve the online ticketing system for Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd's Tebrau train service
10. Make sure the Rapid Transit System Link becomes a reality, while following up on proposals such as the Malaysia-Singapore Third Crossing, travelator and pedestrian walkways for the causeway, and diverting all heavy vechiles to the Second Link
11. Use big data and artificial intelligence for border checks and optimise the sharing of data among all agencies at the complex. Identify the patterns and norms of users to plan ahead and forecast incidents

Election results

Johor State Legislative Assembly[7][8]

Year	Constituency			Votes	Opponent(s)		Votes	Majority
2018	N45 Stulang P160 Johor Bahru		Chen Kah Eng (PKR)*	24,002		Ang Boon Heng (BN)	11,532	12,470
2013			Chen Kah Eng (DAP)	19,799		Chong Chee Siong (BN)	16,503	3,296

• In 2018, all candidates fielded by the DAP contested under the PKR logo.

References

1. "Senarai Ahli Dewan Negeri". Retrieved 16 September 2020.
2. "Pakatan Harapan GE14 Candidate". calon.ubah.my. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
3. "(Full text) PM's Movement Control Order speech in English | New Straits Times". NST Online. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
4. Hammim, Rizalman (22 April 2020). "Helping stranded mothers in Singapore feed their babies | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
5. "Covid-19: 50 pregnant women brought home from Singapore | The Star". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
6. Hammim, Rizalman (2 January 2019). "Causeway Chaos: 'Set up agency to manage checkpoint' (NSTTV) | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
7. "SURUHANJAYA PILIHAN RAYA MALAYSIA (SPR) – SEMAKAN CALON PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE 14". keputusan.spr.gov.my. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
8. "SISTEM PENGURUSAN MAKLUMAT PILIHAN RAYA UMUM". resultpru13.spr.gov.my. Retrieved 16 September 2020.