Teresa Kok

Infobox_Politician
honorific-prefix = Yang Berhormat Puan
name = Teresa Kok Suh Sim (Chinese : 郭素沁)
width =
height =
caption =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1964|3|31|df=y
birth_place =
residence =
death_date =
death_place =
constituency_MP = Seputeh
term_start = November 26, 1999
term_end =
majority = 36,492
predecessor = Liew Ah Kim
successor =
office2 =
constituency_AM2 = Kinrara
assembly2 = Selangor State
majority2 = 5,739
term_start2 = March 8, 2008
term_end2 =
predecessor2 = Dr. Kow Chong Wei
successor2 =
constituency2 =
office3 = Selangor Senior Executive Councillor
term_start3 = March 8, 2008
term_end3 =
predecessor3 =
successor3 =
constituency3 =
party = flagicon|Malaysia DAP - Pakatan Rakyat
religion = Roman Catholic
occupation = flagicon|Malaysia Member of Parliament, Selongor State Legislative Member
majority =
relations =
spouse =
civil partner =
children =
website = [http://www.teresakok.com/ TeresaKok.com]
footnotes =

Teresa Kok Suh Sim (zh-c|c=郭素沁, born March 31, 1964) is a Malaysian Member of Parliament from the Democratic Action Party (DAP).

Background

Kok is a member of the Hakka dialect group and her ancestors were from Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China. She speaks Malay, English and Chinese fluently. Kok is a devoted Catholic.Fact|date=March 2008

She earned her first degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), graduating in the School of Communication, and; a second degree from University Malaya in political science, and a master of philosophy. Her thesis was on UMNO, titled "Factionalism in Umno During Dr Mahathir's Era (1981 - 2001)".

Politics

Kok was political secretary to Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang from 1990 to 1995.In 1995, she contested the Ipoh Barat Parliamentary seat on a DAP ticket but was defeated by the MCA candidate. Kok resigned as political secretary after that to further her studies.

In the 1999 General Elections, Kok won the Parliamentary seat of Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur with a majority of 5,200 and was re-elected in 2004 with a majority of 12,895, the largest winning margin among the 13 elected DAP MPs. In the 2008 General Elections, Kok retained her Parliamentary seat of Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur with a majority of 36,492, the largest majority in any constituency. In the new Selangor executive council, she was named senior executive councillor and put in charge of investment, trade and industry to ensure all fund are directed to all the Malaysians.

Teresa was reelected into Central Executive Committee of DAP during the party's National Congress (23-24 August 2008) in Kuala Lumpur. She is currently the DAP National Organising Secretary, prior to this position she was DAP Publicity Secretary. She is also the National Secretary of DAP Wanita (the women's wing of the DAP) and a member of the DAP Disciplinary Committee. In Parliament, she was a member of the Select Committee on Review of Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.

Kok is the Secretary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC). She was an active lobbyist for Burmese democracy and human rights since 1996 when she was the Coordinator of Political Leaders Network Promoting Democracy in Burma (PD Burma) in Southeast Asian region.

Detention under ISA

Teresa Kok was arrested near OUG Heights at on Friday September 12 2008 under Section 73 (1) of the Internal Security Act (ISA). Under the act, the police have no obligation to disclose the alleged offense if any at all.

Teresa Kok's arrest followed the arrests of prominent blogger activist Raja Petra Kamaruddin and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng (陈云清) from the Sin Chew Daily News earlier on that day. [cite news | title=Teresa Kok, Sin Chew reporter arrested under the same section of ISA| url=http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/12/nation/20080912221723&sec=nation|work=TheStar|publisher=TheStar Online| date=2008-09-12|accessdate=2008-09-12] [cite news | title=Teresa Kok joins ISA list| url=http://m.themalaysianinsider.com/articles.php?id=8918|work=The Malaysian Insider|publisher=Malaysian Insider| date=2008-09-12|accessdate=20Bold text [Link title] 08-09-12] [cite news | title=Teresa Kok Detained Under ISA| url=http://www.mysinchew.com/node/16190?tid=4|work=Sin Chew|publisher=Sin Chew| date=2008-09-13|accessdate=2008-09-13]

Prior to her arrest, the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia and its columnist for an article had claimed that Teresa Kok had "advised" a mosque in Puchong not to use loudspeakers while making the azan or the Islamic calls to prayer. Teresa Kok had issued a denial against the allegation. [cite news | title= Saya Akan Ambil Tindakan Terhadap Utusan Malaysia & Zaini Hassan| http://teresakok.com/2008/09/11/saya-akan-ambil-tindakan-terhadap-utusan-malaysia-zaini-hassan/ |publisher=Teresa Kok| date=2008-09-11|accessdate=2008-09-14] The Selangor state government was giving all parties involved in making the claim a week to issue a retraction and apology. [cite news | title=Selangor threatens to sue daily| url=http://www.nst.com.my/Thursday/National/2346630/Article/index_html|publisher=NST| date=2008-09-11|accessdate=2008-09-11]

A petition was sent to the mosque to request the mosque's administrators to lower the volume during 'ceramah' or sermons and not during azan. [cite news | title= Petition not about 'azan' but religious 'ceramah' | url=http://malaysiakini.com/news/89587 |publisher=Malaysiakini| date=2008-09-12|accessdate=2008-09-14] The administrator of the mosque as well as the petitioners also confirmed that Kok was not involved in the petition as no direct involvement was adequately showned. [cite news | title= Kok not involved in azan petition, says mosque | url=http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/89639 |publisher=Malaysiakini| date=2008-09-13|accessdate=2008-09-14]

Member of Parliament for Kota Raja, Dr Siti Mariah Mahmood of PAS lodged a police report against a blog website called Pembela Melayu, Selangor Opposition Leader Mohd Khir Toyo for defaming Kok by alleging that Kok had supported a petition by the Chinese in Kinrara against the azan in their area. The website also alleged that Seri Serdang assemblyman Datuk Dr. Satim Diman had raised the issue at the state assembly but did not get a response. [cite news | title= PAS MP lodges report against Khir Toyo| url=http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=25587 |publisher=TheSun| date=2008-09-11|accessdate=2008-09-11] [cite news | title= Kota Raja MP lodges report against Khir| url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/12/nation/2009497&sec=nation |publisher=The STar| date=2008-09-12|accessdate=2008-09-14]

She was released on 19 September 2008 at 1.30pm after serving seven-day detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA). She has claimed that she was made scapegoat in the move to contain the outrage over the alleged racist remarks. "I see my detention as a ploy by Umno to try to cover up the embarassment and the outrage over the racist statements made by (Bukit Bendera Umno division chief) Ahmad Ismail in Penang," she told a press conference shortly after her release at the DAP headquarters. "I wonder why they chose an innocent person like me as I have never made any racist remarks or racist speeches in the past," she said, adding that she has instructed her lawyer to sue the government for her unlawful arrest and detention. She also urged police to investigate her report lodged against Utusan Malaysia, columnist Zaini Hassan and former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo under the Penal Code. [cite news | title= Teresa: "I was made a scapegoat..."| url=http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=25858 |publisher=Sun2Surf| date=2008-09-19|accessdate=2008-09-19] [cite news | title= Teresa Kok released| url=http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_790406d5-cb73c03a-1f195fc0-c0da1060 |publisher=TheEdgeDaily| date=2008-09-19|accessdate=2008-09-19]

Food controversy

Immediately after her release, she was embroiled in a controversy in which she claimed the quality of food served to her during her incarceration was so bad that it was similar to dog foods. [cite news | title= Kok’s ISA meal gripe hammered | url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/23/nation/2090902&sec=nation |publisher= The Star | date=2008-09-23|accessdate=2008-09-27] Utusan Malaysia reported her statement. [cite news | title= Makanan anjing: Bekas tahanan ISA sangkal Teresa Kok | url=http://utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=0922&pub=utusan_malaysia&sec=muka_hadapan&pg=mh_08.htm&arc=hive |publisher= Utusan Malaysia | date=2008-09-22|accessdate=2008-09-27] Kok claimed Utusan was manipulating her words, denied making that statement and instead insisted that she had said that the food was only slightly better than dog food. [cite news | title= Teresa, Selangor State Govt to sue Utusan | url=http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/2359235/Article/index_html |publisher= New Straits Times | date=2008-09-25|accessdate=2008-09-27] Kok later admitted that she had made the statement. [cite news | title= Teresa, Selangor State Govt to sue Utusan | url=http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,177963,00.html |publisher= New Straits Times | date=2008-09-25|accessdate=2008-09-27]

Her complaint caused the government to investigate the quality of food served to detainees in Malaysian police lock-ups. [cite news | title= Malaysia to investigate poor food quality in police lock-ups | url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1432504.php/Malaysia_to_investigate_poor_food_quality_in_police_lock-ups_ |publisher= Monsters and Critics | date=2008-09-23|accessdate=2008-09-27]

Threats

On September 27th 2008, two Molotov cocktails were thrown into the family home of Seputeh MP Teresa Kok in Taman Rainbow, Jalan Ipoh. A warning letter containing threatening words and vulgarities was also attached to a bottle left outside the house. At the time, Teresa’s parents and her siblings were in the house, none was hurt in the incident. [http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/27/nation/20080927093718&sec=nation] [cite news | title= TERESA KOK SEES MOLOTOV COCKTAIL INCIDENT AS SCARE TACTIC | url=http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/bnm/20080927/tts-teresa-bomb-993ba14.html|publisher=Yahoo! News | date=2008-09-28|accessdate=2008-09-28]

Lawsuit Against Utusan

Teresa Kok has filed a RM30mil suit against Utusan Melayu Berhad and the paper’s columnist Zaini Hassan over an article that allegedly defamed her. She claims the article portrayed her as a racist, a religious bigot, an untrustworthy person and a chauvinistic politician who was against Islam. [cite news | title= Kok files suit against Utusan | url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/10/10/courts/2236732&sec=courts|publisher=The Star Online|date=2008-10-10|accessdate=2008-10-10] [cite news | title= Kok sues Utusan and editor | url=http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/Frontpage/2371148/Article/index_html|publisher=NST Online|date=2008-10-10|accessdate=2008-10-10] [cite news | title= Kok Sues Utusan For RM30 Million | url=http://www.mysinchew.com/node/17152?tid=14|publisher=SinChew|date=2008-10-09|accessdate=2008-10-09]

Controversy

Hill slope development allegation

The Sun's journalist and columnist R. Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandez alleged that Teresa Kok and Ronnie Liu were organizing a meeting between Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (REDHA) and the Selangor Chief Minister Khalid Ibrahim to lobby a repeal of a moratorium on hill slope development in Selangor. [cite news | title= Hillslope policy to be reversed? | url=http://www.sun2surf.com/articlePrint.cfm?id=24720 |publisher= The Sun | date=2008-08-14|accessdate=2008-09-27] [cite news | title= No to hillslope projects | url= |publisher= The Star | date=2008-04-04|accessdate=2008-09-27] Kok denied the allegation and stated that it was only a meeting. [cite news | title= The accusation that the Selangor Government intends to reverse policy on the ban on hill slope development is fictitious | url=http://www.dapmalaysia.org/english/2008/aug08/bul/bul3513.htm |publisher= DAP | date=2008-08-18|accessdate=2008-09-27]

Book

In 2004, Kok published a book compiling articles she wrote for the then Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh. She continues to write a weekly column for the Chinese daily Sin Chew.

Election results

*Parliament

*State Legislative Assembly

References

Others

* Kok, Teresa (2002). [http://www.hakam.org/news290102_mp.htm "Government Should Not Send The Rohingya Refugees Who Broke Into The UNHCR Office Back To Burma"] . Retrieved Nov. 5, 2005.
* Kok, Teresa (2005). [http://teresakok.blogsome.com/profile/ "Teresa Kok Suh Sim"] . Retrieved Oct. 29, 2005.

External links

* [http://teresakok.com/ Teresa Kok's blog] .
* [http://www.parlimen.gov.my/DewRakyat_KedAhli_detail.php?id=209 Teresa Kok's Parliamentary Web Page]