GEORGE TOWN, Aug 13 — Penang Pakatan Harapan (Harapan) chairman Chow Kon Yeow was sworn in as chief minister for a second term at Seri Mutiara here today.
Chow, 65, who is Padang Kota assemblyman, took the oath of office before Yang Dipertua Negeri of Penang Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak at 9.35am.
The ceremony was attended by Penang Secretary Datuk Mohd Sayuthi Bakar and state Harapan and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders.
Chow, who was named chief ministerial candidate by Harapan, will lead the unity state government following the Harapan-BN bloc winning 29 out of the 40 seats in the Penang assembly.
He won the Padang Kota seat with a 7,116 majority, securing 8,261 votes against Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate H’ng Khoon Leng, who gained 1,145.
Chow, who is also Batu Kawan MP, has held Padang Kota since 2008.
He was born in Kuala Lumpur on November 14, 1958, and attended SRJK Jalan Sungai Besi (1) before continuing his secondary education at SMJK Jalan Cochrane in 1971.
Chow then did his Sixth Form at Tunku Abdul Rahman College and worked as a draughtsman with a private company before continuing his studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia, where he studied social science in 1980.
He had a brief stint as a reporter and, subsequently, as a sub-editor with the National Echo following his graduation in 1984.
Chow’s political career began as Lim Kit Siang’s political secretary in 1986 and then as Penang DAP assistant secretary in 1989.
He contested for the first time in the 1990 general election and won the Pengkalan Kota seat with a 3,670-vote majority against BN candidate Dr Loh Hock Hun.
— Bernama
