Tony Pua

Education

Tony Pua left home when he was 13 to do his secondary schooling in Singapore on an ASEAN scholarship from the Singapore government. He attended Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College. He then went on to Oxford University where he read PPE at Keble College on a MTC scholarship.

Early career

Pua worked for Andersen Consulting (now renamed Accenture) as a consultant after he graduated from Oxford. Two years later, in March 1997, he started Cyber Village when demand for e-business consultancy grew.

With his combined savings and those of his parents amounting to RM20,000 and another RM30,000 chipped in by three friends, he went ahead to open an office in Overseas Union Garden, Old Klang Road, KL with four staff.

In August 2001, Cyber Village became the first Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC)-status company to list on the Singapore Dealing and Automated Quotation System (Sesdaq). Its public offer of 400,000 shares drew an over-subscription of approximately 2.7 times. In January 2009, Cyber Village had successfully undergone a management buyout under the Koyo Group.

Bersih 1.0 anniversary vigil arrest

On 9 November 2008, Tony Pua was amongst the 23 arrested during a candlelight vigil in Petaling Jaya to commemorate the first anniversary of the Bersih street demonstration. Pua, along with Kampung Tunky state assemblyman, Lau Weng San, were allegedly manhandled by the police when they were arrested. Pua alleged that he was kicked, shoved and had his shirt torn by the Selangor police. Pua was released on police bail on the morning of 10 November 2008 and was later charged for illegal assembly.

Death threat

On 10 August 2010, Tony Pua received a live 5.56mm bullet along with a threatening note posted from Tangkak, Johor. The bullet and the note were mailed to his constituency service centre in Damansara Utama. The note stated that Pua should watch out and that the whereabouts of his family, his house and his car were known.

Pua stated that the threat was perhaps related to his proposal to the Selangor government to slash Bumiputera discounts for homes and commercial property priced above RM 500,000 in the state, although he had also added that the 7% discounts enjoyed by Malays and other Bumiputeras should be retained for homes below RM 500,000.

SYABAS suit

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

Pua argued that Syabas, as a public authority performing a public service, had no locus standi in making a defamation claim. He also said that 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 as the public had a right to know. Pua also filed a counter-suit, claiming that 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.

On 6 June 2012, the Malaysian High Court had found that SYABAS had succeeded in making its case against Pua for defamation ordered Tony Pua 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. The court found that "whilst the plaintiff may be encountering cash flow issues, the court does not believe that it is looking to this case to replenish its coffers." 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."

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 "RM1 for Water Rights: 100,000 Malaysians Support Tony Pua vs Syabas” an online public mass fund-raising campaign, calling for 100,000 Malaysians to donate RM1 each to help Pua pay for the damages to SYABAS.

Publications

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

Abolishing Bumiputra discounts for higher-priced housing

Tony Pua suggested that the Bumiputera discount for housing and real estate must be abolished for houses above RM500,000. He said that he does not oppose affirmative actions. However, he disagrees with giving discounts on expensive houses such as those priced at RM 1 million or RM 2 million.

Reducing civil servants

In one of his statements, Tony Pua said that the government should reduce the number of civil servants. However, his idea was rejected by PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim as not practical. Tony said that he only wants to see the government sector becoming more efficient with less cost.