Liow Tiong Lai

Dato' Sri Liow Tiong Lai (Chinese: 廖中莱; pinyin: Liào Zhōnglái; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liāu Tiong-lâi; born 13 October 1961) is a Malaysian politician who has served in the Cabinet of Malaysia as Minister of Transport since 2014. Previously he was Minister of Health from 18 March 2008 to 5 May 2013. He has been President of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a major component party of the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition, since 2013, and the Member of Parliament for Bentong, Pahang, since 1999.

Born in Jasin, Malacca in 1961, Liow had ambitions of being a doctor but graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia instead. He later obtained his MBA from the University of Malaya.

He is married to Datin Sri Lee Sun Loo and has three children. He is a strong advocate of healthy eating, especially eating organic food.

Liow officially joined the Malaysian Chinese Association in 1981. Soon after graduating from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 1986, he joined MCA as a research assistant with a monthly salary of RM700. He became press secretary and later political secretary to MCA deputy president Lim Ah Lek from 1989 to 1999. After two decades of steady rise in the party, he was elected as MCA Youth Chief in 2005 and was elected as a Vice-President in 2008.

Liow was first elected as Member of Parliament for Bentong in 1999. In 2006, he was appointed as Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports in a Cabinet reshuffle. Following the 2008 general elections, Liow became Minister of Health under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He remained in this position after Najib Tun Razak assumed the premiership in April 2009.

Call for Second Deputy Prime Minister

In October 2008, Liow, who was the outgoing National Youth Chief of the MCA, raised the prospect of a second Deputy Chairman of Barisan Nasional to be appointed from among its component parties. The call was made at the MCA's internal party elections. As the Deputy Chairman of Barisan Nasional would be appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, it would mean creating a second Deputy Prime Minister position. Observers felt that Liow's proposal was simply a gimmick for him to win the internal MCA party elections.

While MCA accepted UMNO's leadership of the Barisan Nasional coalition, MCA felt that its seniority in the coalition should be reflected through a second Deputy Chairman's position that would be filled by the MCA. Liow said, "MCA is the second largest component party. The proposed deputy president should be represented by the MCA."

Various MCA leaders backed Liow's proposal. Wee Ka Siong, the incoming MCA youth chief, said: "It (Barisan top leadership) must be well represented. We don’t want to see any kind of perception that Barisan is nominated by one or two parties. We don’t want to paint a picture where Barisan is dominated by one party and its decisions are accepted by the rest." Chan Kong Choy, MCA's deputy president, said: "The history in Barisan Nasional shows that there is no hard and fast rule that only the senior leaders of any party can automatically assume the positions in the coalition. Tan Michael Chen (a former MCA deputy president) was the Barisan Nasional secretary-general in 1974."

In response to Liow's call, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said, "The present Barisan setup is still workable. There is a history behind why the Barisan chairman is the Prime Minister and the deputy chairman is the Deputy Prime Minister and all the heads of the component parties become vice-chairmen. Since 1974 when Barisan was formed, it has been working very well. I don't think it is correct to say you cannot express your views because your post is only a vice-chairman. Sometimes you come and don't say anything at all, then even if you become deputy, it's useless."

Liow had planned to raise the issue at the Barisan Nasional level after the MCA had approved it. After winning his internal party elections, Liow, who had become the new MCA Vice-President, said: "One step at a time. Let us reform Barisan first. We reform Barisan, (and only) then we will reform the government."

MCA crisis

From late 2009 to early 2010, Liow became embroiled in a leadership crisis in MCA, vocally opposing the "Greater Unity Plan," a temporary political alliance between the factions aligned to president Ong Tee Keat and deputy president Chua Soi Lek. Liow led a third faction pushing for new elections, but was unable to persuade two-thirds of the central committee to resign, which would have triggered an election under the party constitution.

The crisis came to a close after Chua resigned on 4 March 2010. The subsequent election saw Chua being elected president, while Liow defeated Kong Cho Ha in the contest for deputy president.

MCA presidency

In the 2013 general election, MCA suffered its worst electoral result in its history. Liow himself barely survived in his own parliamentary seat, winning by a majority of only 379 votes. MCA had previously passed a resolution not to take up cabinet posts in the government if it failed in the 13th general election. As a result of its poor performance, Chua announced that MCA would not take up its allotted cabinet posts, and Liow therefore was not appointed to a cabinet position.

In the following party poll for the presidency, Chua did not enter the contest, and Liow defeated Ong Tee Keat and Gan Ping Sieu, and was thus elected President of MCA on 21 December 2013. Shortly after Liow was elected, the MCA convened an extraordinary meeting to reverse several resolutions, including the resolution that stipulated that MCA members should not serve in federal and state governments.

The cabinet was reshuffled on 25 June 2014, and Liow was appointed as Minister of Transport in the aftermath of the MH370 incident. He was sworn in as Minister of Transport by Yang Di-Pertuan Agong on 27 June 2014.

Liow made a special appearance in the 15Malaysia short film "Healthy Paranoia", playing himself.