Religion Buddhist Name Chong Kiat | Party Liberal Democratic Party Succeeded by Musa Aman | |
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Preceded by Datuk Seri Panglima Osu Sukam Born 2 June 1948 (age 75)
Kudat, British North Borneo ( 1948-06-02 ) Political party Liberal Democratic Party Education Victoria University of Wellington | ||
JANGAN SEMBELIH BUMIPUTERA SABAH!
Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat (Chinese: 章家傑; pinyin: Zhāng Jiājié; born 2 June 1948) was the 13th Chief Minister of Sabah, Malaysia. He is also the former president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
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History in politics
Born in Kudat, Chong was a graduate of New Zealand's Victoria University of Wellington, earning a Masters law degree (LLM first class honours) in 1975.
He contested and won the Kudat seat on a Berjaya ticket in the March 1981 state election and was appointed assistant minister to the chief minister the following year. He held the post until April 1985 when he lost the seat to Datuk Wong Phin Chung of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
In March 1987, he became a member of the Berjaya Supreme Council but later left the party when it became clear that it was losing ground.
Chong and several Chinese leaders founded the LDP in 1989 and was made its pro-tem secretary general. Then in 1991, he became the party's president. He did not contest in the 1994 state election but a year later was appointed as Senator in the Dewan Negara, and subsequently included in the federal cabinet as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department. He quit the federal ministerial post in March 1999 to contest in the state polls. This time, he won back his traditional stronghold of Kudat, and was appointed state minister of Tourism Development, Environment, Science and Technology.
Chong became the 13th Chief Minister of Sabah in 2001 representing the Chinese community in a rotation system mooted by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1994.
When Musa Aman took over the helm of the state government in 2003, Chong was appointed deputy chief minister as well as the person in charge of the tourism, culture, and environment portfolio. It was then the rotation system was scrapped and from then onwards, the Chief Minister post was held by the United Malays National Organisation.
In April 2007, Chong resigned from the Deputy Chief Minister post under Datuk Musa Aman's cabinet, citing matters of principle.