Anthony Loke Siew Fook[a] (born 28 April 1977) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Transport for the first term in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim since December 2022 and previously in the Pakatan Harapan administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from May 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Seremban since May 2013, Rasah from March 2008 to May 2013 and Member of the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Chennah since May 2013, Lobak from March 2004 to May 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the PH and formerly Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalitions. He has served as the 6th Secretary-General of DAP since March 2022, 2nd Parliamentary Leader of DAP from July 2018 to March 2022 and previously as National Organising Secretary of DAP and Youth Chief of DAP or Chief of Socialist Youth (DAPSY). He was also the Leader of the Opposition of Negeri Sembilan and State Chairman of the PR of Negeri Sembilan.
Anthony Loke Siew Fook | |
|---|---|
| 陆兆福 | |
 | |
| Minister of Transport | |
| Assumed office 3 December 2022 | |
| Monarchs | Abdullah (2022–2024) Ibrahim Iskandar (since 2024) |
| Prime Minister | Anwar Ibrahim |
| Deputy | Hasbi Habibollah |
| Preceded by | Wee Ka Siong |
| In office 21 May 2018 – 24 February 2020 | |
| Monarchs | Muhammad V Abdullah |
| Prime Minister | Mahathir Mohamad |
| Deputy | Kamarudin Jaffar |
| Preceded by | Liow Tiong Lai |
| Succeeded by | Wee Ka Siong |
| 6th Secretary-General of the Democratic Action Party | |
| Assumed office 20 March 2022 | |
| Deputy | V. Sivakumar Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji Liew Chin Tong |
| National Chairman | Lim Guan Eng |
| Preceded by | Lim Guan Eng |
| 2nd Parliamentary Leader of the Democratic Action Party | |
| In office 11 July 2018 – 20 March 2022 | |
| Secretary-General | Lim Guan Eng |
| Preceded by | Lim Kit Siang |
| Succeeded by | Nga Kor Ming |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Seremban | |
| Assumed office 5 May 2013 | |
| Preceded by | John Fernandez (PR–DAP) |
| Majority | 12,553 (2013) 30,694 (2018) 30,841 (2022) |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Rasah | |
| In office 8 March 2008 – 5 May 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Goh Siow Huat (BN–MCA) |
| Succeeded by | Teo Kok Seong (PR–DAP) |
| Majority | 13,151 (2008) |
| Member of the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly for Chennah | |
| Assumed office 5 May 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Siow Chen Pin (BN–MCA) |
| Majority | 1,098 (2013) 1,155 (2018) 2,200 (2023) |
| Member of the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly for Lobak | |
| In office 21 March 2004 – 5 May 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Khoo Seng Hock (BN–MCA) |
| Succeeded by | Siow Kim Leong (PR–DAP) |
| Majority | 1,842 (2004) 6,928 (2008) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Anthony Loke Siew Fook 28 April 1977 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia |
| Political party | Democratic Action Party (DAP) (since 1994) |
| Other political affiliations | Gagasan Rakyat (GR) (1994–1996) Barisan Alternatif (BA) (1999–2004) Pakatan Rakyat (PR) (2008–2015) Pakatan Harapan (PH) (since 2015) |
| Spouse | Ng Chi Ling |
| Alma mater | National University of Malaysia (BSc) University Malaya (MPA) |
| Website | lokesiewfook |
Early life and education
editLoke was born as Loke Siew Fook in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. He was educated at St. Paul's Institution and Seri Ampangan High School. He graduated from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2000 with a Bachelor Degree of Science (BSc) in development science.[1]
His grandfather Loke Ching Fatt (Chinese: 陸禎发) is the owner of the Loke Ching Kee (Chinese: 陸禎記) restaurant where the now famous Chinese New Year dish yee sang became popular.[2][3] He presented a history book on the dish in an audience with the Yamtuan Besar Tuanku Muhriz on January 31st 2020.[4]
Political career
editIn 1994, Loke joined DAP at the age of 17, the minimum age requirement of a DAP member.
In the 2004 Negeri Sembilan state election, Loke made his electoral debut after being nominated by DAP to contest for the Lobak state seat. He won the seat and was elected to the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly as the Lobak MLA for the first term. He retained his seat and was reelected to a second term in the 2008 state election.
In the 2008 general election, Loke was also elected to the Parliament as the Rasah MP.
In the 2013 general and state election, he switched seats at both state and federal levels, contesting and winning Chennah in the legislative assembly and Seremban in the parliament.
Loke apologised to Mahathir after over 40 billboards featuring the latter have to be covered under orders from Election Commission of Malaysia.[5]
Loke defended both his Parliament (Seremban) and State (Chennah) seats in 2018 election (GE14) by defeating MCA's candidates, Chong Sin Woon (Parliament) and Seet Tee Gee (State) with a majority of 30,694 votes and 1,115 votes respectively.[6][7]
Following the 2018 general election, Mahathir was appointed as the Prime Minister to lead the PH government. On 21 May 2018, Loke was named as the Minister of Transport by Prime Minister Mahathir.[8][9] On 24 February 2020, Loke was removed as the Minister of Transport after the PH was ousted from power in the 2020 political crisis.
On 20 March 2022 in the 17th DAP National Congress, Loke was reelected into the Central Executive Committee with 1625 votes, the 3rd highest vote, after Gobind Singh Deo who was reappointed the National Deputy Chairman and Chow Kon Yeow who was reappointed the National Vice Chairman.[10] He was then appointed as the 6th Secretary-General of the party, replacing Lim Guan Eng who held the office for 17 years.[11]
Loke again defended his Seremban federal seat in the 2022 general election. After that, PH Chairman Anwar was appointed Prime Minister leading a coalition government of PH, Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and other parties. On 3 December 2022, Anwar reappointed Loke as the Minister of Transport almost after 3 years.
During his second term in the role, Loke introduced many policies to digitalise the transport system.
In the 2023 Negeri Sembilan state election, Loke was reelected as the Chennah MLA for the third term after defeating PN candidate.
Controversies and issues
editIn February 2019, Loke's wife sat next to him during an official meeting with his Chinese counterpart, sparking controversy. Tee Ching Seng, the head of MCA's international communication and diplomacy bureau, questioned why Loke's wife was present at the official meeting.[12]
Election results
edit| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | N11 Lobak | Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP) | 5,991 | 59.08% | Khoo Seng Hock (MCA) | 4,149 | 40.98% | 10,338 | 1,842 | 70.87% | ||
| 2008 | Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP) | 9,244 | 80.00% | Siow Koi Loon (MCA) | 2,316 | 20.00% | 11,714 | 6,928 | 77.26% | |||
| 2013 | N01 Chennah | Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP) | 5,128 | 55.99% | Siow Foo Wen (MCA) | 4,030 | 44.01% | 9,372 | 1,098 | 83.75% | ||
| 2018 | Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP) | 5,031 | 50.91% | Seet Tee Gee (MCA) | 3,876 | 39.22% | 10,051 | 1,155 | 82.94% | |||
| Jamalus Mansor (PAS) | 975 | 9.87% | ||||||||||
| 2023 | Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP) | 5,888 | 61.49% | Rosmadi Arif (BERSATU) | 3,688 | 38.51% | 9,576 | 2,200 | 65.80% | |||
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | P130 Rasah | Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP) | 34,271 | 61.87% | Yeow Chai Thiam (MCA) | 21,120 | 38.13% | 56,654 | 13,151 | 78.56% | ||
| 2013 | P128 Seremban | Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP) | 45,628 | 53.12% | Yeow Chai Thiam (MCA) | 33,075 | 38.52% | 87,617 | 12,553 | 85.64% | ||
| Abd Halim Abdullah (BERJASA) | 6,866 | 8.00% | ||||||||||
| John Fernandez (IND) | 221 | 0.26% | ||||||||||
| Bujang Abu (IND) | 83 | 0.10% | ||||||||||
| 2018 | Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP) | 55,503 | 60.45% | Chong Sin Woon (MCA) | 24,809 | 27.02% | 93,254 | 30,694 | 84.65% | |||
| Shariffuddin Ahmad (PAS) | 11,506 | 12.53% | ||||||||||
| 2022 | Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP) | 63,920 | 51.85% | Mohd Fadli Che Me (PAS) | 33,076 | 26.83% | 124,729 | 30,844 | 79.32% | |||
| Wong Yin Ting (MCA) | 24,584 | 19.94% | ||||||||||
| Mohamad Jani Ismail (PEJUANG) | 1,336 | 1.08% | ||||||||||
| Izat Lesly (IND) | 373 | 0.30% | ||||||||||
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ simplified Chinese: 陆兆福; traditional Chinese: 陸兆福; pinyin: Lù Zhàofú; Cantonese Yale: Luhk Siuh-fūk; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lio̍k Tiāu-ho̍k
References
edit- ^ "Anthony Loke infographic". Bernama. 21 May 2018. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ "撈生出處掀爭議‧陸志就：無人能證實撈生來源‧芙蓉40年代已有魚生". Sin Chew Jit Poh. Sin Chew Jit Poh. 30 January 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ Chew, Amy (16 May 2021). "Malaysian-Chinese politician's surprising link to a popular raw fish salad". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "七彩鱼生创办人后裔 陆兆福与森王室成员捞生". E-Nanyang (in Simplified Chinese). 31 January 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "Kami minta maaf Tun M". Astro Awani. 2 May 2018. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Raja Rahim, Raja Noraina (10 May 2018). "PKR wins big in Negri Sembilan". New Straits Times. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ "DAP's Anthony Loke wins Seremban parliamentary seat". The Star (Malaysia). 10 May 2018. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- ^ Langewiesche, William (1 July 2019). "What Really Happened to Malaysia's Missing Airplane" – via The Atlantic.
- ^ "PM Mahathir Mohamad announces Malaysia Cabinet". Channel NewsAsia. 18 May 2018. Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
- ^ "Gobind receives highest votes in DAP polls". The Star. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ "Loke elected new DAP secretary-general". FMT. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
- ^ "Loke's wife at official meeting courts controversy". The Star. 28 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
- ^ a b "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Results only available from the 2004 election.
- ^ a b "KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM 13". Sistem Pengurusan Maklumat Pilihan Raya Umum (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
- ^ a b "my undi : Kawasan & Calon-Calon PRU13 : Keputusan PRU13 (Archived copy)". www.myundi.com.my. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
- ^ a b "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13". Utusan Malaysia. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
- ^ a b "SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE - 14" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
- ^ a b "Federal Government Gazette, Results of Contested Election Parliamentary Constituencies for the State of Negeri Sembilan" (PDF). Election Commission. Retrieved 13 June 2018.[permanent dead link] Percentage figures based on total turnout.