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 | |
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| 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 | 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
Loke 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
In 1994, Loke joined DAP at the age of 17, the minimum age requirement of a DAP member. In 2004 Loke was elected to the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly for the seat of Lobak, and retained his seat in the 2008 election, when he also won election to the federal parliament for the constituency of Rasah. In the 2013 election he switched seats at both state and federal levels, contesting and winning Chennah in the legislative assembly and Seremban in the federal parliament.
Loke apologised to Pakatan Harapan Chairman Mahathir Mohamad after over 40 billboards featuring the leader 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]
In the first Pakatan Harapan Cabinet following victory in GE14, Loke was announced as the new Minister of Transport by Prime Minister Mahathir.[8] He was among the first of 14 Cabinet ministers. He was sworn in on 21 May at Istana Negara.[9]
On 20 March 2022, on the 17th DAP National Congress, Loke was re-elected into the Central Executive Committee with 1625 votes, the 3rd highest vote, after Gobind Singh and Chow Kon Yeow.[10] He was then appointed as DAP's 6th Secretary-general after Lim Guan Eng had stepped down from the role after 17 years.[11]
Controversies and issues
In 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
| 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
Notes
References
External links
