Datuk Christina Liew (also known as Liew Chin Jin; simplified Chinese: 刘静芝; traditional Chinese: 劉靜芝; pinyin: Liú Jìngzhī) (born 14 September 1953) is a Hong Kong-born Malaysian politician who has served as the State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah for the second term in the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) state administration under Chief Minister Hajiji Noor since January 2023 and the first term in the Heritage Party (WARISAN) state administration under former Chief Minister Shafie Apdal from May 2018 to the collapse of the WARISAN administration in September 2020 as well as Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Api-Api since May 2013. She also served as the Deputy Chief Minister III in the WARISAN administration under Shafie from May 2018 to September 2020, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tawau from May 2018 to November 2022.[1][2][3][4] She is a member and Division Chief of Api-Api of the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and formerly Barisan Alternatif (BA) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition coalitions. She has served as Vice President of PH since September 2017 and State Chairperson of PH of Sabah since August 2017. She has also served as Member of the Central Leadership Council (MPP) of PKR and Division Chairperson of Kota Kinabalu of PKR since July 2022. She also served as the State Chairperson of PKR of Sabah from October 2016 to her removal from the position in August 2022.[5] She was also the Vice President of PKR. She was a member of the United Sabah Party (PBS) and Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), component parties of the Gagasan Rakyat (GR) and Barisan Nasional (BN) coalitions.
Christina Liew Chin Jin | |
|---|---|
刘静芝 | |
| State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah | |
| Assumed office 11 January 2023 | |
| Governor | Juhar Mahiruddin |
| Chief Minister | Hajiji Noor |
| Assistant | Joniston Bangkuai |
| Preceded by | Jafry Arifin |
| Constituency | Api-Api |
| In office 16 May 2018 – 29 September 2020 | |
| Governor | Juhar Mahiruddin |
| Chief Minister | Shafie Apdal |
| Assistant | Assaffal P. Alian |
| Preceded by | Masidi Manjun |
| Succeeded by | Jafry Arifin |
| Constituency | Api-Api |
| Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah III | |
| In office 16 May 2018 – 29 September 2020 | |
| Governor | Juhar Mahiruddin |
| Chief Minister | Shafie Apdal |
| Preceded by | Masidi Manjun |
| Succeeded by | Joachim Gunsalam |
| Constituency | Api-Api |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Tawau | |
| In office 9 May 2018 – 19 November 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Mary Yap Kain Ching (BN–PBS) |
| Succeeded by | Lo Su Fui (GRS–PBS) |
| Majority | 4,727 (2018) |
| Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Api-Api | |
| Assumed office 5 May 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Yee Moh Chai (BN–PBS) |
| Majority | 795 (2013) 2,954 (2018) 5,347 (2020) |
| State Chairperson of the Pakatan Harapan of Sabah | |
| Assumed office 28 August 2017 | |
| National Chairman | Mahathir Mohamad (2017–2020) Anwar Ibrahim (since 2020) |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| State Chairperson of the People's Justice Party of Sabah | |
| In office 2 October 2016 – 6 August 2022 | |
| Deputy | Awang Husaini Sahari |
| President | Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (2016–2018) Anwar Ibrahim (2018–2022) |
| Preceded by | Lajim Ukin |
| Succeeded by | Sangkar Rasam |
| Vice President of the Pakatan Harapan | |
| Assumed office 11 September 2017 | |
| President | Wan Azizah Wan Ismail |
| Chairman | Mahathir Mohamad (2017–2020) Anwar Ibrahim (since 2020) |
| Member of the Central Leadership Council of the People's Justice Party | |
| Assumed office 20 July 2022 | |
| President | Anwar Ibrahim |
| Division Chairperson of the People's Justice Party of Kota Kinabalu | |
| Assumed office 17 July 2022 | |
| President | Anwar Ibrahim |
| Deputy | Zaini Simin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 September 1953 British Hong Kong |
| Citizenship | Malaysian |
| Political party | United Sabah Party (PBS) (1986–1994) Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) (1995–1999) People's Justice Party (PKR) (since 2002) |
| Other political affiliations | Gagasan Rakyat (GR) (1986–1994) Barisan Nasional (BN) (1995–1999) Barisan Alternatif (BA) (2002–2004) Pakatan Rakyat (PR) (2008–2015) Pakatan Harapan (PH) (since 2015) |
| Spouse | Kurnadi Hadikusomo |
| Occupation | Politician |
Christina Liew | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 劉靜芝 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 刘静芝 | ||||||
| |||||||
Personal life
editChristina was born in British Hong Kong to Hakka Chinese parents. Her parents migrated to Tawau in British Crown Colony of North Borneo when she was a few months old.[6] She is married to a Chinese Indonesian of Hokkien origin who migrated to the United States but travels often to live with her and their children.[6][7]
Political career
editIn 1986, Christina stood as a United Sabah Party (PBS) candidate in the Tawau parliamentary seat but lost.[8] After nine years with the party, she left before joining Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in 1995 and became the party State Women chief for Sabah until her resignation in January 1999. Due to her frustration with the detention of People's Justice Party (PKR) activists under the Internal Security Act, she then joined PKR in 2002.[8] In 2013, Christina was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of Sabah State PKR.[9] She is also the State Assemblywomen for Api Api for the state of Sabah. In 2017, she was appointed as the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state chief for Sabah.[10]
1986 general election
editIn the 1986 election, PBS fielded her in the Tawau parliamentary against Democratic Action Party (DAP) candidate Samson Chin Chee Tsu but she lost.[8]
2002 general by-election
editFollowing the disqualification of Yong Teck Lee as Gaya member of parliament and Likas assemblyman since September 2002 due to being found guilty of corruption according to the Election Offences Act 1954,[11][12] a by-election was held in that year with Christina contesting the election under PKR party.[13] The seat was however regained by Yong party of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) with Liew Teck Chan won the seat while Christina came in third place.[14]
2008 general election
editIn the 2008 election, PKR fielded her to contest the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat but she lost to DAP candidate Hiew King Cheu.[15]
2018 general election
editIn the 2018 election, her party fielded her to contest the Tawau parliamentary seat facing the defending candidate from United Sabah Party (PBS), Yap Kain Ching. She won and became the new Member of Parliament (MP) for Tawau.[16] She was also appointed as one of the Deputy Chief Ministers and State Tourism Minister for Sabah following the victory of Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN) with PH coalition of DAP and PKR to forming a new state government, becoming the second woman in the history of Sabah Deputy Chief Minister as well the first Chinese woman to hold the position.[1][2][3]
2022 general election
editIn the 2022 general election, PKR fielded her to defend the Tawau seat and seek reelection as the Tawau MP. However, she failed to do so by losing the election to Lo Su Fui of PBS by a minority of 3,800 votes.
2023 Sabah political crisis
editIn the 2023 Sabah political crisis, Liew, as the Sabah PH Chairperson, led Sabah PH to support Hajiji Noor as the Chief Minister of Sabah, allowing Hajiji to regain the majority support in the Sabah state assembly after the partial withdrawal of support of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by Deputy Chief Minister, State Minister of Works and Lamag MLA Bung Moktar Radin. Following this, Sabah PH left the state opposition and joined the state government. 13 BN MLAs led by Bung Moktar left the state government and joined the state opposition. 5 BN MLAs led by State Minister of Community Development and People's Wellbeing and Tanjung Keramat MLA Shahelmey Yahya remained in the state government. On 11 January 2023, Hajiji also reshuffled his cabinet after the change, Liew was reappointed as the State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment. Shahelmey was promoted to the Deputy Chief Minister and appointed as the State Minister of Works replacing Bung Moktar.
Election results
edit| Year | Constituency | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Tawau | Christina Liew (PBS) | 4,814 | 26.86% | Samson Chin Chee Tsu (DAP) | 8,277 | 46.18% | 17,923 | 3,463 | 63.12% | ||
| Abdul Ghapur Salleh (IND) | 4,663 | 26.02% | ||||||||||
| 2002 | Gaya | Christina Liew (keADILan) | 2,613 | 11.82% | Liew Teck Chan (SAPP) | 15,639 | 70.76% | 22,100 | 11,923 | 44.71% | ||
| Hiew King Cheu (DAP) | 3,716 | 16.81% | ||||||||||
| 2004 | Kota Kinabalu | Christina Liew (keADILan) | 3,492 | 13.92% | Yee Moh Chai (PBS) | 15,993 | 63.77% | 25,078 | 10,806 | 58.16% | ||
| Hiew King Cheu (DAP) | 5,187 | 20.68% | ||||||||||
| 2008 | Christina Liew (PKR) | 9,358 | 33.93% | Hiew King Cheu (DAP) | 9,464 | 34.31% | 27,909 | 106 | 64.09% | |||
| Liew Teck Chan (SAPP) | 8,420 | 30.53% | ||||||||||
| Kong Yu Kiong (IND) | 341 | 1.24% | ||||||||||
| 2018 | Tawau | Christina Liew (PKR) | 21,400 | 48.79% | Yap Kain Ching (PBS) | 16,673 | 38.01% | 43,861 | 4,727 | 73.20% | ||
| Mohamad Husain (PAS) | 2,518 | 5.74% | ||||||||||
| Alizaman Jijurahman (PHRS) | 2,162 | 4.93% | ||||||||||
| 2022 | Christina Liew (PKR) | 16,065 | 31.69% | Lo Su Fui (PBS) | 19,865 | 39.19% | 50,687 | 3,800 | 57.94% | |||
| Chin Ket Chuin (WARISAN) | 11,263 | 22.22% | ||||||||||
| Mohd Salleh Bacho (Independent) | 1,776 | 3.50% | ||||||||||
| Herman Amdas (PEJUANG) | 1,067 | 2.11% | ||||||||||
| Chin Chee Syn (Independent) | 651 | 1.28% | ||||||||||
| Year | Constituency | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Luyang | Christina Liew (keADILan) | 3,711 | 37.69% | Melanie Chia Chui Ket (SAPP) | 5,965 | 60.58% | 9,846 | 2,254 | 59.42% | ||
| 2013 | Api-Api | Christina Liew (PKR) | 5,853 | 49.64% | Yee Moh Chai (PBS) | 5,058 | 42.90% | 12,099 | 795 | 80.20% | ||
| Wong Yit Ming (SAPP) | 713 | 6.05% | ||||||||||
| Felix Chong Kat Fah (STAR) | 152 | 1.29% | ||||||||||
| Marcel Jude Ms Joseph (IND) | 14 | 0.12% | ||||||||||
| 2018 | Christina Liew (PKR) | 8,174 | 57.04% | Yee Moh Chai (PBS) | 5,220 | 36.43% | 14,729 | 2,954 | 76.40% | |||
| Lim Kat Chung (SAPP) | 598 | 4.17% | ||||||||||
| Len Lip Fong (PKAN) | 244 | 1.70% | ||||||||||
| Chan Chee Ching (IND) | 94 | 0.66% | ||||||||||
| 2020 | Christina Liew (PKR) | 7,796 | 67.80% | Yee Moh Chai (PBS) | 2,449 | 21.29% | 11,499 | 5,347 | 60.05% | |||
| Pang Yuk Ming (PCS) | 431 | 3.75% | ||||||||||
| Chin Su Phin (LDP) | 317 | 2.76% | ||||||||||
| Lo Yau Foh (PPRS) | 280 | 2.43% | ||||||||||
| Chong Tze Kiun (GAGASAN) | 97 | 0.84% | ||||||||||
| Sim Sie Hong (IND) | 72 | 0.63% | ||||||||||
| Ng Chun Sua (IND) | 41 | 0.36% | ||||||||||
| Marcel Jude (IND) | 16 | 0.14% | ||||||||||
Lawsuit
editIn 2014, Christina is one of three people that were ordered to pay damages to Borneo Samudera Sdn Bhd (BSSB) for unlawfully inducing the Bahagak Smallholders Scheme participants to breach their joint venture agreement (JVA) with BSSB.[19]
Honours
edit
Sabah :
Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) – Datuk (2018)[20]
Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (2024)[21]
References
edit- ^ a b Mohd Izham Unnip Abdullah; Olivia Miwil (16 May 2018). "Madius, Christina antara anggota Kabinet Shafie Apdal" (in Malay). Berita Harian. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ a b Nancy Lai (16 May 2018). "Liew, Sabah's second woman Deputy Chief Minister". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ a b Mary Chin (18 May 2018). "First Chinese woman DCM". Daily Express. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ "Liew Wants To Create Tourism Hotspots". Bernama. Malaysian Digest. 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Liew has no problem being replaced as Sabah PKR chief". The Star. 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
- ^ a b "Liew demands apology from NGO Sec". Daily Express. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ^ Murib Morpi (20 June 2013). "RCI member shoots down claim Christina Liew an Indonesian". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ^ a b c "Keadilan choice surprises many (Sabah)". The Star. e-borneo. 19 July 2001. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ "Christina Liew Dilantik Timbalan Pengerusi PKR Sabah". Bernama (in Malay). mStar. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ Zam Yusa (30 August 2017). "Christina Liew announced as Sabah PH chairperson". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- ^ "Yong fails to obtain leave to appeal". Bernama. Sabah State Ministry of Resource Development and Information Technology Development. 3 September 2002. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ "Yong disqualified as Gaya MP". Malaysiakini. 18 September 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ "BN, Keadilan dan DAP berentap dalam pilihanraya kecil Gaya" (in Malay). Malaysiakini. 3 October 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
- ^ "Keadilan leader withdraws from line-up". Malaysiakini. 18 December 2002. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
Ng had earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the party, especially its performance in Sabah's Gaya parliamentary seat by-election in October.
- ^ a b "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout (including votes for candidates not listed).
- ^ "Pakatan Harapan announces state chiefs". Free Malaysia Today. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- ^ "Sabah [Parliament Results]". The Star. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ "N53 Senallang". Malaysiakini. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ "Liew to pay record RM557mil". Daily Express. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
In the suit, BSSB as plaintiff had named Siti Rahfizah Mihaldin as first defendant, Samsuri Baharudin as second defendant and opposition PKR's Api Api Assemblywoman Christina Liew as the third defendant.
- ^ "Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak head list of 1,158 Sabah award recipients". Bernama. Borneo Post. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ "Sarawak Premier heads Sabah TYT's Awards list". www.thestar.com.my.
