Khir Toyo

Family

Of half Indonesian and half Malay descent, Khir was born on 6 August 1965, at Tali Air 2, Bt 4, Sungai Burung, Tanjung Karang, Selangor, the fifth child of a total of nine siblings. His father, Joyo Erodikromo, was an immigrant from Java, Indonesia while his mother, Siti Aminah Mohd Taib, is of Malay ethnicity.

He married his first wife Zahrah Kechik in 1990, who was born at Matang Road, Taiping, Perak. They have one biological son (eldest) and adopted 3 daughters and 2 sons.

Khir was married to his second wife Christine Tan @ Christine Zanitrah Zafeerah on August 2016.

Before entering politics, Khir was a dentist by profession.

Career

Khir was active in the youth wing of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), serving on its executive council. In 2000, at the age of 35, he became the Menteri Besar of Selangor at the insistence of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, following the resignation of Abu Hassan Omar. His appointment as Menteri Besar came in his first term as a member of the Selangor State Assembly, having been elected as the member for Sungai Panjang in the 1999 election. His young age led to allegations, which he denied, that he had dyed his hair grey to give voters the impression that he was older.

Khir subsequently served as a member of UMNO's Supreme Council and Chairman of Selangor Barisan Nasional from 2000 to 2008. In 2004, Dr. Mohamad Khir won UMNO Supreme Council with the highest votes. Other positions that he holds in UMNO include the Chairman of the Selangor UMNO Communications Board and UMNO Division Head of Sungai Besar.

He was the Menteri Besar of Selangor until the 12th General Election in March 2008. The state of Selangor fell to opposition hands following its worst defeat in Malaysian history. He was succeeded by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) secretary-general, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. However, he remains the state assemblyman of Sungai Panjang constituency and became Selangor opposition chief. After the election, he ran for the leadership of UMNO Youth, but was defeated by Khairy Jamaluddin. He resigned as the opposition leader in December 2010, after he was charged with corruption over allegations that while he was the Menteri Besar, he was sold a lavish mansion for less than its market value.

Khir Toyo was finally sentenced to a jail term of 12 months for this act and his properties was ordered to be confiscated.

Zero Illegal Squatters Mission

It was a mission set by Khir Toyo himself to make Selangor 'zero squatters' in line with national policy Wawasan 2020. The opposition criticised Khir Toyo for approving housing project in squatters' area and forcing the residents to move out from their illegal homes. They claimed some of the village claim to be illegal homes had been built before independence in 1957 and most squatters living in a prime area are left homeless and received low compensation. The majority of the squatters are forced to rent or live in low-cost flats.

However report show most of the land is under private owner. "The (squatters) are occupying other people's land. The land will never be theirs as they are private land. They want the land but I can't give it to them" – Dr. Khir Toyo

Despite heavy criticism from opposition before this, the new Menteri Besar from opposition party, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim reported said the effort to reduce the number of squatters and to free them from the clutches of poverty, should continue.

In 2007, The state government had achieved 93.6 per cent success in addressing the squatter problem, having evicted 44,701 of the 47,756 squatter families to-date from all the local council areas in the state. The remaining squatters to be moved by August are 1,090 families from the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) and 257 families from the Klang Municipal Council (MPK), the media secretariat in the Menteri Besar's Office said in a statement. A total of 1,708 squatter families were shifted following court cases, resettled to the North Gombak Orang Asli settlement and planned villages, it said. However, four local authorities still had squatters. They are MPS (984), MPK (221), Shah Alam City Council (307) and Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (196).

Bukit Cahaya Reserve

Khir Toyo had been accused of corruption for approving a construction project which trespasses Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam in Shah Alam, a forest reserve.[5] However this land was approved before Khir took over power. To prove his innocence, Khir had asked Anti-Corruption Agency of Malaysia to investigate the incident.[6]. In 2004, Anti-Corruption Agency declared no case against Khir Toyo.

Selangor State Development Corporation

On 30 October, the current State government of Selangor began investigations into irregularities by the Selangor State Development Corporation when it was run by Khir Toyo. A special investigative team which was set up for the purpose would probe how certain senior officers of the corporation were holding 30% shares in a subsidiary. This included an investigation of RM100,000 gift to former Mentri Besar as a bonus. In 2007, the state government only collected RM17mil revenue from sand mining instead of the RM170mil which it was supposed to get.