Biggest Break for Gerakan in East Malaysia

YB Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah

Current Portfolio : Sabah Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Infrastructure Development.
Assemblyman for Tanjung Papat, Sandakan since February 1994 (contested under SAPP ticket.)
Tan left SAPP on September 17, 2008 after disagreement with Party President Datuk Yong Teck Lee over SAPP decision to leave the Barisan Nasional, BN.
Partyless since 17 September 2008 till today 5 May 2009 (almost 8 months), when Tan announced that he is joining Gerakan, together with another former SAPP assemblyman -YB Au Kam Wah.

Full Biodata of YB Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah.

Born : 22 July 1959 (50 years old)
Married to : Datin Carol Yapp Yen En.

Education :
GCE 'O' & A Levels, Kettering Technical College, Northants, United Kingdom
BA (Hons) Law, Manchester Polytechnic, United Kingdom
Barrister-at-Law, Lincoln's Inn, London, United Kingdom

Career :
Lawyer Chin, Lau & Wong Advocate & Solicitor (1981-1994)
Tanjong Papat, Sandakan Assemblyman (1994-now)
Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister(April 1994-November 1995)
Minister of Social Services Sabah (November 1995-March 1999)
Minister of Community Development and Consumers Affairs(March 1999-March 2004)
Minister of Infrastructure Development (March 2004 till now)
Appointed one of 3 Deputy Chief Ministers in May 2007 following former LDP President Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat resignation from cabinet.

Despite being fiery in every assembly sitting, Datuk Raymond is also known for his softer side.

In one particular press conference, he was overcame with grief and almost cried over SAPP decision to leave BN!! (unfortunately i can't find the video in Youtube)!!!

Well, here is an excellent news report or rather news analysis by Bernama's senior writer, Alan Ting following Datuk Raymond Tan decision to join penisular based Gerakan.

BIGGEST BREAK FOR GERAKAN IN EAST MALAYSIA
By Alan Ting
KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 (Bernama) -- Despite being wiped out in Penang, its political base, and suffering a huge setback in the last general election, Gerakan seems to have strengthened its support in East Malaysia.
Since taking root in Sabah in the 1990s, the party has hardly made its presence felt there but the latest political move seems to have given the party the much needed boost in the state.
Gerakan might even have emerged as the biggest winner in the controversy over partyless Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah and former SAPP Youth chief and Elopura assemblyman Au Kam Wah.
Tan has decided to join Gerakan at a time when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is in the state for a two-day visit beginning yesterday.
Things have become clearer now that Tan and Au have decided to join Gerakan as party president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon had flown in together with the prime minister yesterday for the state visit in what a party insider said was "to iron out any obstacle" for the duo to join the party for the "biggest break".
"The discussion went on until late last night. Only today Koh decided to announce it after the matter had been ironed out with the national and state Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership," the party insider told Bernama.
Gerakan has never contested in Sabah and the decision by the two assemblymen to join Gerakan is a significant boost for this multi-racial party as it will automatically have two state assemblymen in Sabah, bringing the total tally in the country to six for the party.
In the last general election, Gerakan contested 12 parliamentary seats and 31 state seats, but won only two parliamentary seats -- Simpang Renggam (Johor) and Gerik (Perak) -- and four state seats -- Derga (Kedah), Ketari (Pahang), Pemanis and Bukit Batu (Johor).
Party sources said Tan, who is also Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister and Tanjung Papat assemblyman, is set to be appointed Gerakan national vice-president while Au is likely to be appointed to the party's powerful decision-making body, the central committee.
The current Gerakan vice-presidents are Datuk Mah Siew Keong and Huan Cheng Guan (elected) and the two appointed vice-presidents, Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye and A. Kohilan Pillay.
Under the party constitution, the party president can appoint up to five vice-presidents.
"The party president has spoken to us about this. We welcome it as it is good for the party," said Huan.
To some political analysts, the duo's decision to join Gerakan is surprising as the party did not have any influence in the state compared to other national-based parties like MCA.
"This is rather surprising. I assume that the duo are more comfortable with Gerakan due to the fact that it is a minority party in the state, unlike MCA which has a strong leadership.
"However, I would like Gerakan to take note that their power base is still Penang, not other states, not far away in Sabah. If they don't have a base in Penang, their survival will be in question," said political analyst Datuk Seah Chee Kim.
However, for others the decision is not surprising at all as there has been close cooperation between Gerakan and other Sabah-based BN component parties as early as when PBS was ruling the state.
In fact, the Sabah chapter of Gerakan was formed in 1994 by PBS dissidents led by Datuk Kong Hong Ming.
While Gerakan is said to be more a Penang-based party, its leaders, for quite some time now, have been working to broaden the party base by working closely with other components in other places.
In fact, the discussion for Tan and Au to join the party started many months ago despite other BN components making similar attempts to court them.
"We have been talking for several months. We are happy that finally, they made up their minds to join us. We hope with this development, more SAPP members can join the party in future," said Gerakan deputy president Datuk Chang Ko Youn.
There are talks that several more elected representatives from SAPP and other Sabah-based opposition parties may join Gerakan after this.
Political observers note that the reaction to Gerakan's success in getting Tan and Au to join the party is much different from when former Independent MP for Sandakan Chong Hon Min wanted to join SAPP when the party was still in BN, receiving strong objection from the LDP.
The objection was understandable as the LDP candidate in the 2004 general election, Datuk Lau Ngan Siew, was defeated by Chong. LDP had cited BN's policy of not accepting an Independent candidate who stood against BN in the previous elections, as their basis for the objection.
Apart from that, the Sandakan seat remained with LDP as the precedent was that, if the person joined the other party, the seat would remain with the original party.
When Datuk Kong Hong Ming left LDP for Gerakan, the Kudat seat remained with LDP. It was the same when Datuk Michael Lim left PBS for SAPP; his seat did not go to SAPP in the subsequent elections.
However, in this case, the question is whether Gerakan will be allocated the two seats in the next general election. But Gerakan may get the seats as SAPP left BN in September last year.
Whatever it is, for now, there is something for Gerakan to celebrate.
Cheers Gerakan!!!