Tony Pua

Tony Pua Kiam Wee (simplified Chinese: 潘俭伟; traditional Chinese: 潘儉偉; pinyin: Pān Jiǎnwěi; born 1 August 1972) is a Malaysian politician from the Democratic Action Party (DAP) currently serving as three-term Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia representing Damansara and Political Secretary to the Minister of Finance of Malaysia, Lim Guan Eng. Pua is the former Malaysian CEO of Cyber Village Sdn Bhd, a SESDAQ (SGX second board)-listed company. In early 2007, he disposed of all his interests in the company and tendered his resignation to join the DAP in 2008.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Pua (潘).
Yang Berhormat Tuan

Tony Pua

MP
潘俭伟
Tony Pua giving a speech in a public rally
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Damansara (earlier Petaling Jaya Utara)
Assumed office
8 March 2008
Preceded byChew Mei Fun (MCA–BN)
Majority19,972 (2008)
44,672 (2013)
106,903 (2018)
Personal details
Born
Tony Pua Kiam Wee

(1972-08-01) 1 August 1972
Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia[1]
Political partyDemocratic Action Party (DAP)
Other political
affiliations		Pakatan Rakyat (PR) (2008-2015)
Pakatan Harapan (PH) (2015-present)
Alma materKeble College, Oxford
OccupationPolitician, investor
Websitetonypua.com

Pua graduated from Keble College, Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics under a scholarship from the MTC Foundation in 1994. Before that, he received Asean and Shaw Foundation scholarships to pursue his O- and A-Levels in Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College, in Singapore.

In the 2008 Malaysian general election, Pua won the parliamentary constituency of Petaling Jaya Utara on a DAP ticket. He ran against the incumbent, Chew Mei Fun, then Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, and Deputy Women Chief of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA).[2] In 2009, Pua was appointed the DAP member of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) committee.

Pua retained his parliamentary seat in 2018 general election with a majority of 106,903, the largest majority in Malaysian history.[3]

Education

Pua attended a secondary school in Singapore on an ASEAN scholarship from the Singaporean government. He attended Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College. He then went to Oxford University, England, where he studied philosophy, politics and economics at Keble College on an MTC Foundation scholarship.[4]

Early career

After graduating from Oxford University, Pua worked for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as a consultant. In March 1997, he started Cyber Village, an e-business consultancy.[5] Pua and three friends opened an office in Kuala Lumpur with four staff.[6]

Controversies

Bersih 1.0 anniversary vigil arrest

On 9 November 2008, Pua was arrested during a candlelight vigil in Petaling Jaya to commemorate the first anniversary of the Bersih street demonstration.[7] Pua was released on police bail on the morning of 10 November 2008 and was later charged for illegal assembly.[8]

Death threat

On 10 August 2010, Pua received a live 5.56mm bullet along with a threatening note that were mailed to his constituency service centre. Pua stated that the threat may have been related to his proposal to the Selangor government to cut Bumiputera discounts for homes and commercial property priced above RM 500,000 in the state.[9]

SYABAS suit

On 28 January 2011, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (SYABAS) filed a lawsuit against Pua claiming he had permitted Nanyang Siang Pau's Metro edition to publish words defamatory of it. The article quoted him saying the Selangor state government should take over the rights of management of water supply in the state if water concessionaires could not settle their debts. Syabas claimed the report had brought the company into public scandal and its image had been tarnished. The lawsuit sought an injunction to prevent Pua or his agents from publishing defamatory words against the company, and general damages and cost.[10]

Pua argued that Syabas, as a public authority performing a public service, had no locus standi in making a defamation claim. He also said he had a legal, moral and social duty as an MP and a member of the Selangor government Water Review Panel to publish those words and that the public had a right to know. Pua also filed a counter-suit claiming Syabas' suit was frivolous, vexatious and amounted to an abuse of the court process, which resulted in him suffering losses and unnecessary harassment and expenses.[11]

On 6 June 2012, the Malaysian High Court found that SYABAS had proven its case against Pua and ordered him to pay RM200,000 in damages to SYABAS and awarded SYABAS interest at the rate of 4% per annum from the date of judgment till full payment and also costs. Justice Amelia Tee Hong Geok Abdullah also struck out Pua's counter-claim application and granted SYABAS an injunction to restrain Pua and his agents from further publishing or giving permission to be published "similar defamatory words" against SYABAS.[12] Pua later stated on his blog that he maintains "that the above statement is not defamatory, and will instruct my lawyers to file an appeal in the Court of Appeal".[13]

On 7 July 2012, Pua posted on his blog that although an appeal was underway, he was required to pay the amount of RM200,000 to SYABAS by 16 July 2012. DAP Malaysia subsequently initiated a mass fundraising campaign titled "RM1 for Water Rights: 100,000 Malaysians Support Tony Pua vs Syabas" calling for 100,000 Malaysians to donate RM1 each to help Pua pay for the damages to SYABAS.[14]

He subsequently won the Court of Appeal case. SYABAS appealed the decision to the Federal Court of Malaysia. In the 2015 Federal Court case ([2015] 6 MLJ 187), Pua won the appeal based on the Lucas-Box principle by providing his own reasonable meaning to the impugned words.

Publications

The Tiger that Lost its Roar, a tale of Malaysia's political economy.[15]

Election results
Parliament of Malaysia: P106 Damansara (previously Petaling Jaya Utara), Selangor[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
Year Votes Pct Opponents Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
2008 Tony Pua (DAP) 37,851 67.92% Chew Mei Fun (MCA) 17,879 32.08% 56,257 19,972 73.47%
2013 Tony Pua (DAP) 57,407 81.84% Chew Hoong Ling (MCA) 12,735 18.16% 70,727 44,672 82.82%
2018 Tony Pua (DAP) 121,283 89.00% Ho Kwok Xheng (MCA) 14,380 10.55% 137,639 106,903 83.76%
Wong Mun Kheong (PRM) 617 0.45%

Policies
YB Pua with the team of Trader Malaysia, signed at PJ Startup Festival

In 2012, Pua suggested that the Bumiputera discount for housing and real estate must be abolished for houses above RM500,000. He disagreed with giving discounts on expensive houses such as those priced at or above RM 1 million.[24]

In one of his statements, Pua said the government should reduce the number of civil servants.[25] His idea was rejected by PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim as impractical. Pua said he wants to make the government sector become more efficient and less costly.[26]

Pua was invited by the organizers of the recent startup acceleration program held at Dewan Sivik.[27][28]

See also

References
  1. (in Chinese) 從政理念簡單踏實‧潘儉偉要幫助更多人, 1 June 2008, Sinchew Jitpoh
  2. Pua, Tony (23 February 2008). "Tony Pua for Parliament". Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  3. "Malaysia elections: Damansara parliamentary seat sees biggest victory margin". Bernama. The Straits Times. 10 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  4. Tan, Joceline (18 February 2007). "From cyber world to arena of politics". Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  5. "From cyber world to arena of politics". (18 February 2007). The Star
  6. Tan, Mary Anne (20 July 2001). "Cyber Village does MSC proud". Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  7. Pua, Tony (10 October 2008). "Arrested". Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  8. Ong, Andrew (10 October 2008). "Candlelight Vigil: All but One Freed". Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  9. Zalkapli, Adib (10 August 2010). "Pua gets bullet in mail death threat". Archived from the original on 15 August 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  10. Surach, G (11 February 2011). "Syabas chided over suit". Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  11. NA, NA (19 May 2011). "PJ Utara MP Tony Pua withdraws bid to dismiss Syabas defamation suit". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  12. NA, NA (6 June 2012). "Tony Pua to pay Syabas RM200,000 over defamation suit". Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  13. Pua, Tony (6 June 2012). "Tony Pua Ordered To Pay RM200,000 Damages to SYABAS". Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  14. Pua, Tony (7 July 2012). "100,000 Malaysians Support TonyPua vs SYABAS". Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  15. Pua, Tony (3 June 2011). ""The Tiger that Lost its Roar" – Petaling Jaya Book Launch!". Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  16. "Malaysia Decides 2008". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 3 January 2010. Results only available from the 2004 election.
  17. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 27 May 2010. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  18. "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 19 April 2013. Results only available from the 2004 election (GE11).
  19. "KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM 13". Sistem Pengurusan Maklumat Pilihan Raya Umum (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 24 March 2017.Results only available for the 2013 election.
  20. "my undi : Kawasan & Calon-Calon PRU13 : Keputusan PRU13 (Archived copy)". www.myundi.com.my. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  21. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13". Utusan Malaysia. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  22. "SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE - 14" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  23. "The Star Online GE14". The Star. Retrieved 24 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  24. Diskaun Bumiputera: PAS Selangor tidak selesa syor Tony Pua Archived 14 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  25. Tan, Joceline (18 February 2007). "From cyber world to arena of politics". Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  26. YUEN MEIKENG and RAHIMY RAHIM . "Anwar: No to reducing Civil service", Kuala Lumpur, 10 November 2011. Retrieved on 25 February 2013.
  27. PJ Startup Festival 2019
  28. Ismail, Shafiqah (19 February 2019). "The second PJ Startup Festival is happening this February 2019". Retrieved 10 March 2019.
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