Published on: Saturday, April 14, 2007 |
CHONG, who Friday announced his resignation as a member of the State Cabinet effective Monday, is the only leader from the Berjaya government (1976-1985) who has managed to survive the tumultuous years of Sabah politics.
Chong's sudden resignation announced at a news conference here shocked the Sabah political scene but the political veteran of more than 30 years explained that he would remain as state assemblyman for Tanjung Kapor.
He is State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister.
He has done it all - from putting Pulau Tiga off the west coast of Sabah on the world map through the US reality programme "Survivor" in 2000 to tackling big issues such as the problem of illegal immigrants when he was chief minister (2001-2003).
Born in Kudat on June 2, 1948, Chong was a graduate of New Zealand's Victoria University, earning a degree in law in 1974.
He contested and won the Kudat seat on a Berjaya ticket in the March 1981 state election and was appointed assistant minister to the chief minister the following year.
He held the post until April 1985 when he lost the seat to Datuk Wong Phin Chung of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).
In March 1987, he became a member of the Berjaya Supreme Council but later left the party when it became clear that it was losing ground.
Chong, along with several Chinese leaders, founded the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in 1989 and was made its pro-tem secretary-general.
Two years later, he became its president until he relinquished the post in September last year to make way for 47-year-old lawyer Datuk VK Liew.
He did not contest in the 1994 state election but a year later was appointed a member of the Dewan Negara, and subsequently included in the federal cabinet as a minister in the Prime Minister's Department.
He quit the federal ministerial post in March 1999 to contest in the state polls.
This time, he won back his traditional stronghold of Kudat, and was appointed state minister of Tourism Development, Environment, Science and Technology.
Chong became the 12th Chief Minister of Sabah in 2001 representing the Chinese community in a rotation system mooted by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed in 1994.
When Datuk Seri Musa Aman took over the helm of the state government in 2003, Chong was appointed deputy chief minister as well as the person in charge of the tourism, culture and environment portfolio. - Bernama
