The 6th Malaysian Chinese to be a Tun (Updated)

In conjunction with the Malaysian King's birthday recently, His Majesty conferred awards on 1,862 people. Three were honoured with the Seri Setia Mahkota (SSM), the highest Malaysian award for civilians which carries the title Tun.

One of them was former Federal Minister and former Gerakan party president Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik who did not defend his seat in the recent Malaysian general election. The awards made him only the fourth Malaysian Chinese recipient of the Tunship who are still alive and one of the total six including two who had passed away. (When the quota for high-end national awards such as the Tunship is exhausted, it can only be awarded again when there is a 'vacancy' caused by the death of a title holder. I am not sure what the quantum is, but you can be rest assured that I will report back to you once I find out.)

The other 3 are another former Federal Minister and former MCA party president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, former Penang Chief Minister and former Gerakan president Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, and former Malaysian Senate President Tun Omar Yoke-Lin Ong.

The two Malaysian Chinese Tuns who had passed away were former MCA leader Tun Tan Cheng Lok and his son former Finance Minister Tun Tan Siew Sin. The duo held the distinction of being the only father-and-son team who both led the MCA (a Chinese party and a component of Malaysia's ruling coalition, the National Front) and both became Tun.

There you are - the only six Malaysian Chinese who were awarded the nation's highest civilian title since the formation of Malaya in 1957 and Malaysia in 1963.

My Say: It is not easy to be awarded the Tunship in Malaysia, just as it's not easy to become a Sir in Britain. You have to be really somebody in Malaysia to be called a Tun.

To illustrate my point, among those who became a Tun only after their retirement were long-serving (22 years) former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his predecessor Tun Hussein Onn (1976-1981), father of present Education Minister Datuk Hishamuddin. Hussein's predecessor Abdul Razak (father of present Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Najib) got his Tunship while he was Deputy Premier under first Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rahman. (Hishamuddin and Najib are cousins as their mothers are sisters.) Other former Deputy Prime Ministers awarded the Tunship included the late Dr Ismail, the late Ghafar Baba and Musa Hitam.

At the State level (Malaysia has 13 States), those senior enough to qualify for the Tunship are normally the Yang Di-Pertua Negeri or Governor. Malaysia has 4 States (Sabah, Sarawak, Melaka and Penang) without a Ruler or Sultan and are governed by a Yang Di-Pertua Negeri. The remaining 9 States each has a Malay Ruler or Sultan and they are above the civilian awards as they have the own their Royalty awards. Even then, the Tunship is not immediately given when someone swears in as a governor. He (so far no she) only gets it when a 'vacancy' arises or at the next Agong's (king) birthday.

In the case of Sabah, those ever awarded the Tunship since the formation of Malaysia in 1963 can be counted by the fingers. They were the first Governor, the late Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun; 2nd Governor, the late Tun Pengiran Raffae; 3rd Governor, the late Tun Fuad Stephens; the 4th Governor, the late Tun Hamdan Abdullah; the 5th Governor, the late Tun Ahmad Koroh; the 6th Governor, the late Tun Adnan Robert; the 7th Governor, the late Tun Said Keruak; the 8th Governor, Tun Sakaran Dandai; and the present Governor, Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah (not related to Tun Hamdan).

So far no Sabah Chief Minister, past or present, has received the Tunship. Dr Lim Chong Eu of Penang, then, made history as the first ex-CM to be made one. However, I expect present Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud to be given a Tunship when he retires, being the longest-serving Chief Minister not just of Sarawak but also of a Malaysian State - 27 years and counting - beating Chong Eu's record of 21 years. For comparison, so far no Sabah Chief Minister has served for more than 10 years. Present CM Datuk Musa Aman is currently serving his 5th year, already a record of sorts since the National Front (BN) took over from PBS in 1994 as his predecessors never served more than 2 years under BN's unique rotation system for the Chief Ministership. The rotation was however scrapped after the 2004 election.

By the way, Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu have something in common; apart from the fact that they are both medical doctors, i.e. they were both MCA leaders (largest Chinese party in Malaysia) who ended up leading Gerakan (2nd largest Chinese-based party in the ruling National Front).

Infact Chong Eu (as he was fondly referred to) was a MCA president in the mid-1960s when for some reasons he left and founded the Gerakan party instead. MCA was part of the then ruling coalition of Alliance party and was a Chinese party. On the other hand, Gerakan, despite having a Chinese-majority membership, branded itself multi-racial as it also had some Indian members.

Despite being in the Opposition then, Gerakan crashed MCA in Penang (one of Malaysia's 13 states) in the 1969 election and formed the State Government. Chong Eu became the new Penang Chief Minister taking over from Datuk Wong Pau Nee of MCA. However, Gerakan joined the National Front (successor of Alliance) a few years later at the invitation of the then Prime Minister Tun Razak. Gerakan as part of the National Front government went on to rule Penang until the recent general election. However, Chong Eu himself had to step down as Chief Minister as he was fedeated in the 1990 election by 'Mr Opposition' of Malaysia, Lim Kit Siang. Anyway, it was only befitting that after serving as Penang Chief Minister for 21 years (only 1 year short of Mahathir's record as PM) Dr Lim Chong Eu was made a Tun after his retirement. After all, he was known as Penang's Father of Development. Under him, Penang became modernised and industrialised with multi-national companies investing in Penang.

Similarly, Dr Lim Keng Yaik also started as a MCA leader though I'm not sure if he was ever President. Infact, when I was a trainee reporter in the early 1970s, he was already a Federal Minister representing MCA. However, due to internal squabbles, Keng Yaik too left the MCA and, just like fellow-doctor Chong Eu, ended up in Gerakan.

When Chong Eu relinquished the Gerakan presidency in the 1980s, Keng Yaik became the new president, defeating Chong Eu's choice, Datuk Paul Leong. This was despite Keng Yaik then being only a State Executive Councillor (equally to a State Minister) in Perak while Leong, Chong Eu's anointed successor, was a Federal Minister and therefore supposed to have more clout.

With his elevated status in the party, Keng Yaik later succeeded Leong as Federal Minister. The doctor stayed in the Malaysian Cabinet until the recent election. He did not contest, having earlier relinquished the party presidency to former Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Khoon (Chong Eu's successor). However, unlike Chong Eu and Leong, Keng Yaik managed to get Gerakan members to accept his chosen successor Tsu Khoon. Unfortunately, Tsu Khoon was defeated in the recent election and therefore could not succeed Keng Yaik as a Federal Minister.

Whatever it is, Keng Yaik, having served as a Federal Minister for more than two decades in a political career spanning more than 3 decades, deserved the Tunship.

Congratulations Tun!