Sim Tze Tzin

Sim Tze Tzin (born 6 February 1976) is a Malaysian politician from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), and the current Penang state legislative assemblyman for Pantai Jerejak. He is the former political secretary of former Deputy Prime Minister and "de facto" PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Early life

Sim was born in Georgetown, Penang and attended Hu Yew Seah School for his primary education, later moving on to Chung Ling High School. In 1996, he joined the Reserve Army, and became a Junior Lieutenant in 1999. His interest in politics began after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and the Oslo Accord, which he says contributed to his "political awakening". In 1998, he joined the Reformasi movement initiated by Anwar, and founded the Malaysian Students and Youth Democratic Movement (DEMA) "to promote democratic awareness among Malaysian citizens and to protest against the University and University College Act". cite web|url=http://www.simformalaysia.com/meetsim/ |title=Meet Sim |accessdate=2008-03-10 ]

He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 1999. While he was there, he became the first non-Malay elected to the UTM Students' Representative Council, winning over 9,000 votes. He later obtained a Masters of Science (Civil) in Highway Engineering from San José State University, also working part-time in California as an engineer. While in the United States, Sim founded the Malaysia Forum Organization in Stanford University, a group promoting civil society and discussion of Malaysian issues.

Political career

After five years working in the US, Sim returned to Malaysia and joined PKR. Working under Anwar, he played a significant role in the release of a video clip purporting to show the fixing of judicial appointments and court decisions. He was later named as a witness for the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip, but as of March 2008 has not been called to testify.cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=2008 polls - interesting facts | date=2008-03-10 | publisher= | url =http://malaysiakini.com/news/79575 | work =Malaysiakini | pages = | accessdate = 2008-03-10 | language = ]

In 2008, Sim contested the general election under a PKR ticket in the Penang state constituency of Pantai Jerejak. [ cite web|url=http://www.simformalaysia.com/2008/03/10/thank-you-pantai-jerejak-voters/ |title=Thank You Pantai Jerejak Voters |accessdate=2008-03-10 |last=Sim |first=Tze Tzin ] He won by a majority of 1,258 votes. [ cite web|url=http://pru12.spr.gov.my/spr/laporan/5_KeputusanKeseluruhan.php |title=Keputusan Keseluruhan Pilihan Raya Umum Dewan Undangan Negeri Pulau Pinang Bagi Tahun 2008 |accessdate=2008-03-10 |publisher=Election Commission |language=Malay ] He was one of four major players in the Lingam video clip scandal who won election — the others were Loh Gwo Burne (elected as MP for Kelana Jaya), Wee Choo Keong (elected as MP for Wangsa Maju), and Sivarasa Rasiah (elected as MP for Subang).

Personal life

Sim is married.

References

External links

*official|http://www.simformalaysia.com/
* [http://www.malaysiaforum.org/malaysiaforum.html Malaysia Forum]
* [http://www.pantaijerejak.com/ ADUN Pantai Jerejak]