Tan Sri

Malay titles

The Malay language has a complex system of titles and honorifics, which are still used extensively in Malaysia and Brunei. Singapore, whose Malay royalty was abolished by the British colonial government in 1891, has adopted civic titles for its leaders....

 Dr David Tan Chee Khoon (March 4, 1919 – October 14, 1996) was a major figure in Malaysian politics from 1959 to 1978, at one point being nicknamed "Mr. Opposition" for the outspoken views he presented in Parliament

Parliament of Malaysia

The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The King as the Head of State is the third component of Parliament....

. He was the official Leader of the Opposition in Parliament from 1964 to 1978, when he retired. Although he was originally a leader of the Labour Party of Malaya

Labour Party of Malaya

The Labour Party of Malaya was a political party of Malaya that was active between 1952 to 1969. It was originally formed as a confederation of state based labour parties known as the Pan-Malayan Labour Party or PMFP.-Origins:...

 and the Socialist Front coalition which Labour had joined, Tan later co-founded Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia

Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia

The Malaysian People's Movement Party is a political party in Malaysia. The party was founded on March 24, 1968, and , it is part of the ruling National Front coalition....

 (Gerakan), and also Pekemas after he became disillusioned with Gerakan.

Early years and education

Tan was born into a Chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

 immigrant family in 1919 in Cheras

Cheras, Selangor

Cheras is a bustling suburb that stretches from the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur to Kajang in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. It hosts a large number of housing estates and shopping malls and is well connected via highways and trunk roads...

, Selangor

Selangor

Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...

. His parents were Tan Chin Ghee and Tay Kim Siew. On weekends, Tan rose at 5.30 a.m. to feed livestock, and then cycled five miles to tap rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

. When he returned at 4 in the afternoon, he would tend the vegetable patch and fruit trees in his garden. The Tans were devout Methodist Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s, and attended Cantonese-language services regularly. At the age of 13, Tan lost his left eye in an accident when he tried to carve his name into a rubber tree with a knife

Knife

A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...

.

Tan's first formal education was at the Pudu English Girls' School (despite him being a boy), but he later attended the Victoria Institution

Victoria Institution

Victoria Institution is a premier secondary school for boys and one of the oldest schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The school is widely known as V.I. and a student of Victoria Institution bears the name Victorian....

 (VI). From VI, Tan transferred to Kajang High School, where he was an active Boy Scout

Persekutuan Pengakap Malaysia

Persekutuan Pengakap Malaysia is an organisation for boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 17, based in Malaysia. Persekutuan Pengakap Malaysia is part of the global Scouting movement and national member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement...

. In 1938, Tan competed for the Queen's Scholarship to study medicine in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. However, he had to settle for a scholarship to the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 instead. Even this initially appeared impossible, as he was rejected due to the loss of his eye; however a personal appeal from his headmaster gained him admission to the college. However, soon after Tan entered the College in 1939, Tan had his education interrupted by the outbreak of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and the occupation of Malaya

British Malaya

British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

 and Singapore by the Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

; Tan spent this period at his home in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

. When the British returned at the end of the war in 1945, Tan resumed his studies. Tan held several posts in the Medical College's Students' Union, and also helped draw up the constitution for the students' union of the University of Malaya

University of Malaya

The University of Malaya is located on a campus near the centre of Kuala Lumpur, and is the oldest university in Malaysia. It was founded in 1905 as a public-funded tertiary institution...

 Singapore campus (which would later become the National University of Singapore

National University of Singapore

The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....

).

Initial political involvement

After graduating from medical school in 1949, Tan spent two years at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital before later going into private practice. In 1952, he joined the newly-founded Labour Party, and campaigned for it in the 1955 Federal Legislative Council election. Although Labour was soundly defeated, Tan remained committed to it because of his belief in socialism

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

, which the party shared. Tan helped Labour prepare memoranda submitted to the Reid Commission

Reid Commission

The Reid Commission was an independent commission responsible for drafting the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya prior to Malayan independence from Britain on 31 August 1957.-History:...

, which drew up the Constitution

Constitution of Malaysia

The Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957, is the supreme law of Malaysia. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the States of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore joined the Federation...

 for Malaya, which achieved independence in 1957.

In 1959, Tan became the chairman of the Selangor Election Committee of the Socialist Front, a coalition between the Labour Party and Parti Rakyat. Labour managed to take advantage of internal discord in the ruling Alliance

Barisan Nasional

Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...

 coalition, and made major gains in the 1959 general election.

Entering Parliament

In 1964, Tan contested both the Parliamentary seat of Batu in Kuala Lumpur and the Selangor State Assembly seat of Kepong

Kepong

Kepong is a major township in the borders Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, located about 6 km from the KLCC, to the south of Sungai Buloh, to the east of Bukit Lanjan, to the west of Selayang and to the north of Jalan Duta. The main access roads to Kepong are Damansara-Puchong Expressway, Jalan...

. Although the Alliance crushed the opposition, Tan won both seats — with a margin of victory of two votes for his Parliamentary seat, officially the smallest ever margin of victory in a Malaysian election as of 2004 — and was one of only two Labour Members of Parliament (MPs). Tan would not relinquish either seat until his retirement. During his tenure as an MP, Tan became known for thoroughly probing government policies and making his views known. As a result, he was popularly known as "Mr. Opposition". Tan was known for his opposition to wanton amendments of the Constitution in Parliament, and also for his outspoken opposition to the establishment of Malaya (and later Malaysia) as an Islamic state, which he felt contravened the Constitution. He was also known for his devotion to his constituents, making himself available to them at least two days a week in his office. Tan made no secret of his religion, and freely peppered his Parliamentary speeches with quotations from the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

, leading the first Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman

Tunku Abdul Rahman

Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, AC, CH was Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya from 1955, and the country's first Prime Minister from independence in 1957. He remained as the Prime Minister after Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore joined the...

, to remark how much he sounded like a preacher

Preacher

Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...

.

When the Labour Party was taken over by Chinese-educated members with more leftist views—eventually leading to the party's deregistration by the government, Tan left the party to form Gerakan, with the objective of attracting Malays

Malay people

Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...

 away from race-based parties such as the United Malays National Organisation

United Malays National Organisation

The United Malays National Organisation, is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence....

 (UMNO), a major party in the Alliance catering to the Malay majority of the population. Gerakan, together with the Democratic Action Party

Democratic Action Party

The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...

 (DAP) which took similar stances to Gerakan, were very successful in the 1969 general elections, and appeared to be on the verge of denying the Alliance the 2/3 Parliamentary majority required to amend the Constitution. In Selangor, Tan's home state, the State Assembly was tied between Alliance and opposition assemblymen.

Tan organised a victory parade on May 12, and received permission from the police to hold it. However, the participants deviated from the authorised route, jamming traffic, and entered a predominantly Malay area of Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

, where they shouted racial epithets. On May 13, UMNO organised a retaliatory march, and armed groups of Malays gathered at the capital, Kuala Lumpur. The march degenerated into a racial riot, and the violence continued for two days. Official statistics later put the total dead in the area of 200, although unofficial ones give a figure five times higher. A state of emergency was declared, and Parliament was suspended. The newly-formed National Operations Council

National Operations Council

The National Operations Council or Majlis Gerakan Negara was an emergency administrative body which attempted to restore law and order in Malaysia after the May 13 Incident in 1969, when racial rioting broke out in the federal capital of Kuala Lumpur. From 1969 to 1971, the NOC governed the...

 (NOC), led by Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, took power. Parliament did not reconvene until 1972.

Pekemas

In 1972, Gerakan co-founder Lim Chong Eu

Lim Chong Eu

Tun Dato' Seri Dr. Lim Chong Eu was a Malaysian politician who served as the second Chief Minister of Penang for a record 21 years. He was also the founding president of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, a member of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional. He was termed the "Architect of Modern...

 led Gerakan into the newly-expanded Alliance (renamed as the Barisan Nasional or National Front). Tan strongly opposed this move because he felt it endorsed the race-based parties in Barisan Nasional. As a result, Tan left the party and founded Pekemas (Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia, or Social Justice Party of Malaysia), also a non-communal party. Four other MPs joined him in defecting from Gerakan. Despite this, Tan supported the controversial government-supported New Economic Policy

Malaysian New Economic Policy

The Malaysian New Economic Policy , was an ambitious and controversial socio-economic restructuring affirmative action program launched by the Malaysian government in 1971 under the then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak. The NEP ended in 1990, and was succeeded by the National Development Policy in...

 (NEP), which expanded the privileges given to Bumiputra

Bumiputra

Bumiputera or Bumiputra is a Malay term widely used in Malaysia, embracing indigenous people of the Malay Archipelago. The term comes from the Sanskrit word bhumiputra, which can be translated literally as "son of land"...

 (Malays and other indigenous people) under Article 153 of the Constitution

Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia

Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia grants the Yang di-Pertuan Agong responsibility for “safeguard[ing] the special position of the ‘Malays’ and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities” and goes on to specify ways to do this, such...

 because he felt tougher affirmative action

Affirmative action

Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...

 was required to address Malay poverty.

In the 1974 general election, Pekemas suffered a terrible defeat, with Tan being the only successful candidate out of 36 candidates for Parliament. Pekemas' campaign against the government was predicated on denying them the requisite 2/3 majority for amending the Constitution, which Tan opposed. The DAP and the Sarawak National Party

Sarawak National Party

Sarawak National Party known by its acronym as "SNAP", is a political party in Malaysia. It was a member party of Barisan Nasional since Sarawak joined Malaysia until 2004 when it was expelled from Barisan Nasional...

 (SNAP) became the largest opposition parties in Parliament, with nine seats each. This effectively hamstrung Tan's and Pekemas' agenda in Parliament. Health problems also constrained Tan's effectiveness, and he announced his retirement from politics in 1977, although he held his Parliament and Selangor State Assembly seats until their terms expired the next year. Upon his retirement, most of Pekemas' supporters defected to the DAP.

Non-political activities

Tan was famed for his involvement outside the political arena. From the 1950s till 1978, Tan was a member of the Council of the University of Malaya. He was instrumental in the selection of Ungku Aziz as a Professor of Economics — Ungku Aziz would go on to become Vice-Chancellor of the University. In 1967, Tan was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Council, and was promoted to Chairman four years later. The University Chancellor later awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Laws.

In 1967, Tan was elected President of the Malaysia Medical Association, which he had joined as an honorary member. The same year, he was given a grant of land from Harun bin Idris

Harun bin Idris

Dato' Seri Harun bin Haji Idris was a Malaysian politician. He was born in Selangor, Malaysia. He worked as a field officer with the publicity department until 1948, when he was appointed District Officer for Gemas and Tampin, in the Malay Administrative Service.After a short spell as magistrate...

, then Chief Minister of Selangor, and Tan's political opponent, to build a new private hospital — a pet project of Tan's. In 1972, Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak personally opened the Sentosa Medical Centre.

Tan was also active in education, and served on the Board of Managers and Board of Governors at many schools, including Batu Road School, Methodist Boys' School Kuala Lumpur, Victoria Institution

Victoria Institution

Victoria Institution is a premier secondary school for boys and one of the oldest schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The school is widely known as V.I. and a student of Victoria Institution bears the name Victorian....

 and Kajang High School. Due to his demonstrated interest in education, the government later appointed him to the Higher Education Advisory Council, which formulated policies for local universities.

Tan was a committed Christian, and attended Wesley Church in Kuala Lumpur, where he served as a member of its Official Board from 1953 onwards.

Retirement

Upon retiring, Tan devoted much of his time to his hobbies, which included reading (at the time of his death, he had accumulated 5,000 books), cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, and the study of military history

Military history

Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....

, with a special focus on the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

. He also wrote a column for The Star

The Star (Malaysia)

The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the . It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000...

, which also published a column by the Tunku, until the government tightened its regulations on the press in 1988. Tan later alleged that he had wanted to write soon after his retirement, but was prevented from doing so because he was formerly in the opposition.

In 1980, Tan was given the title Tan Sri by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong

Yang di-Pertuan Agong

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957 when the Federation of Malaya gained independence....

 (King). Tan also wrote his autobiography, Tan Chee Koon: From Village Boy To Mr Opposition. Tan later claimed that it was this title which made him acceptable to the establishment, thus permitting him to write for the newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

s.

In 1993, Tan suffered a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 which paralysed him, preventing him from walking. Tan died on October 14, 1996, and his funeral

Funeral

A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...

 was held at Wesley Church,next to Methodist Boys' School Kuala Lumpur.

Tan's son, Tan Kee Kwong, joined Gerakan in 1995, when he was elected as MP for Segambut

Segambut

Segambut is a sub-district and a parliamentary constituency in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.From the high-end condominiums of Mont Kiara and Sri Kiara to the middle-class areas of Taman Sri Segambut and Bandar Manjalara, and the rural areas of Segambut Dalam and Kampung Sungai Penchala, the Segambut...

. He has been elected to an additional two terms, since, and has been a Vice-President of Gerakan since 1999. Tan Kee Kwong quit Gerakan to join Parti Keadilan Rakyat

Parti Keadilan Rakyat

The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...

early September, citing that race-based politics is on the decline.