Tan Koon Swan

Tan Sri Dr. Tan Koon Swan (simplified Chinese: 陈群川; traditional Chinese: 陳群川; pinyin: Chén Qúnchuān; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Kûn-chhoan; born 24 September 1940) is a controversial Malaysian political and corporate figure. He was the fifth president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a component party of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition; from November 1985 to September 1986.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Tan (陈).
Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dr.

Tan Koon Swan

PSM
陈群川
5th President of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
In office
24 November 1985 – 27 August 1986
Preceded byLee San Choon
Succeeded byLing Liong Sik
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Gopeng, Perak
In office
1986–1987
Preceded byConstituency created
Succeeded byTing Chew Peh (MCA)
Majority6,135 (1986)
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Damansara, Kuala Lumpur
In office
1982–1986
Preceded byV. David (DAP)
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Majority14,522 (1982)
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Raub, Pahang
In office
1978–1982
Preceded byAbdullah Majid (UMNO)
Succeeded byTan Tiong Hong (MCA)
Majority5,964 (1978)
Personal details
Born (1940-09-24) 24 September 1940
Puchong New Village, Selangor, British Malaya (now Malaysia)
Political partyMalayan Chinese Association (MCA)
Other political
affiliations		Barisan Nasional (BN)
Spouse(s)Catherine Chong (1st)
Penny Chang (2nd)
RelationsTan Loon Swan (brother)
Children2 children by 1st wife
3 daughters by 2nd wife
OccupationPolitician, Businessman
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese陳群川
Simplified Chinese陈群川

Personal life

Tan was born in Puchong New Village in Selangor on 24 September 1940 to a poor family.[1] He helped out at his parent's hawker stall while still in school.[2] He studied in a missionary school, and after leaving school, he worked as a clerk with Lembaga Lektrik Negara (LLN) while studying part-time to finish his High School Certificate (HSC). He also worked as a laboratory technician with LLN, then moved on to be an investigator of Inland Revenue Board and a tax consultant with Esso.[1]

Tan married his first wife, Catherine Chong, who is a paraplegic and has two children with her. He then got together with his second wife, Penny Chang, fathering another three daughters.[3]

Tan, after facing many hiccups in life, is still a respected member of society. He is a born-again Christian who likes to maintain a low profile.[4]

Political and business career

In 1970, Tan became the General Manager of Genting Highlands Berhad, helping Lim Goh Tong to establish Genting Highlands Resort as a successful tourist destination. In 1976, he attended a senior management course at Harvard University.[1]

In 1977, he was invited by the then MCA president Lee San Choon to head the Koperatif Sebaguna Malaysia (KSM) and Multi-Purpose Holdings Berhad (MPHB), the corporate structure through which the MCA hoped to encourage Chinese participation in all areas of economic development.[5] He joined the party and became involved in politics.

In 1978 general election, Tan made his political debut and elected as the Member of Parliament (MP), winning a parliamentary seat in Raub, Pahang. The following year, he was elected to the party's Central Committee and appointed Chairman of MCA Wilayah Persekutuan State Liaison Committee. In 1982 general election, he cinched a landslide victory for the parliamentary seat in the opposition stronghold of Damansara, Selangor.[6] 1984 saw him appointed as vice-president of the MCA.

In March 1984, Tan was sacked as vice-president from the MCA along with Lee Kim Sai as well as other members for urging the party to investigate its member records for the presence of non-existent people, an issue that had sparked off factionalism and crisis within the party.[7] However, he and the other 13 were all reinstated two months later with the support of 1,600 MCA members in an extraordinary general meeting.[8] In November 1985, he was voted to be president of the MCA winning 76.9% of the votes cast, the largest majority in the party's history, and the first challenger since 1954 to win national leadership.[9][10]

In a memoir published by Robert Kuok, it was revealed that the MCA leadership approached Kuok to provide a bail payment for Tan in 1986. The amount paid by Kuok was S$20 million.[11]

Pan-El crisis

Tan remained a highly prominent member of the corporate sector, controlling numerous companies, including Sigma International, which had a 22.6% stake in Pan-Electric Industries (Pan-El),[12] a Singaporean-based company. Pan-Electric entering receivership forced the closure of the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur stock exchanges between 2 to 4 December 1985, to try to contain the fallout on leveraged stockbroking firms.[13] On 12 December 1985, Tan signed an agreement that gave the troubled company S$ 20 million of funds through an interest-free loan and allowed it to resume trading.[14][15]

In 1986, he was charged in Singapore with abetting criminal breach of trust relating to the collapse of Pan-El. He was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment by Singapore High Court Justice Lai Kew Chai. In Lai's judgement, Lai said Tan's offences had "struck at the very heart, integrity, reputation and confidence of Singapore as a commercial city and financial centre".[16] After his sentencing, Tan in 1987 relinquished his position as MCA President[6] and MP for Gopeng, Perak that he just won in 1986 general election earlier.[17]

In 1988, Tan was also sentenced and imprisoned in Malaysia, declared a bankrupt, and reportedly owed over RM 400 million, at the time roughly equivalent to more than 100 million US dollars. He was ordered to pay RM1000 a month to the Official Assignee and the New Straits Times estimated it would take him 35,316 years to pay off his outstanding claims.[18] In the mid-1990s, after full repayment, Tan was discharged from bankruptcy.[19]

In 2012, a book by the former chief prosecutor Glenn Knight revealed that Chief Justice Yong Pung How stated in a 1996 hearing that Tan Koon Swan had been wrongfully charged in the Pan-El case.[20][21][22] However, the book has been heavily criticised as containing factual errors.[23][24]

Awards and recognition
  • The World Chinese Economic Forum awarded Tan a lifetime achievement award in November 2012.[25]

Honours of Malaysia

Election results
Parliament of Malaysia[27]
Year Constituency Government Votes Pct Opposition(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
1978 Raub, Pahang Tan Koon Swan (MCA) 11,411 56.16% Wan Sai Kai (DAP) 5,447 26.81% N/A 5,964 N/A
Tengku Puji Tengku Abd Hamid (PAS) 3,462 17.04%
1982 Damansara, Kuala Lumpur Tan Koon Swan (MCA) 34,659 59.43% V. David (DAP) 20,137 34.53% 58,772 14,522 67.88%
Ramli Mohamed Yasin (PAS) 3,527 6.05%
1986 Gopeng, Perak Tan Koon Swan (MCA) 1 14,009 60.37% Quek Swee Siang (DAP) 7,874 33.93% 23,723 6,135 67.71%
Abdul Majid Salleh (PAS) 981 4.23%
Leong Wai Man (SDP) 341 1.47%

Note: 1 Incumbent Tan Koon Swan had resigned in 1987 after his conviction in the Pan-El case in 1986.

See also

References
  1. "Tan Koon Swan". Malaysian Chinese Association. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  2. Ho Khai Leong (2012). Leo Suryadinata (ed.). Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent: A Biographical Dictionary. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 1081–1083. ISBN 978-9814345217.
  3. CHEONG SUK-WAI (1 August 2009). "Duo show it's possible to overcome failure". Singapore ST. The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  4. "The Sunday Interview With: Former MCA President Tan Koon Swan". New Straits Times. 2 October 2005.
  5. "Portrait of Success". Malaysian Business. 1 December 1985. pp. 8, 9.
  6. Past Presidents: Tan Koon Swan Archived 12 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "The Malaysian Chinese Association has expelled 14 leading members including vice president, Tan Koon Swan". The Wall Street Journal Asia. 29 March 1984. pp. 1, 3.
  8. "An EGM of 1,615 "dissident" members of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday (6 May) voted to reinstate the 14 expelled leaders led by Tan Koon Swan". The Wall Street Journal Asia. 7 May 1984. pp. 1, 3.
  9. "Mr Tan Koon Swan was yesterday elected president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) by a landslide". The Wall Street Journal Asia. 25 November 1985. p. 16.
  10. "MCA: New Beginning". Malaysian Business. 1 December 1985. p. 5.
  11. "Robert Kuok's memoir stirs debate - Nation | The Star Online". www.thestar.com.my. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  12. Chris Sherwell (25 November 1985). "Prospects Improve For Pan Electric Rescue / Attempts to save debt-ridden Singaporean company". Financial Times. p. 30.
  13. "The Pan-Electric crisis hits the stock market - Singapore History". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  14. "Singapore Pact to Aid Troubled Firm". San Francisco Chronicle. 12 December 1985. p. 47.
  15. "An interim agreement has been signed by parties concerned to save Pan Electric Industries of Singapore and pave the way for a rescue and reconstruction of the debt-ridden concern". The Wall Street Journal Asia. 12 December 1985. pp. 1, 11.
  16. "The Malaysian Bar - Former Singapore High Court judge Lai Kew Chai dies". www.malaysianbar.org.my. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  17. "Koon Swan saga: Will the truth emerge?". Malaysians Must Know the Truth. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  18. "Unknown". New Straits Times. 4 May 1989. Cite uses generic title (help)
  19. "Tan Koon Swan no longer a bankrupt". New Straits Times. 20 September 1995.
  20. Knight, Glenn (2012). Glenn Knight, The Prosecutor. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions. p. 163. ISBN 978-981-4302-33-3.
  21. "Koon Swan wrongfully jailed". The Edge (Malaysia). Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  22. "Koon Swan case 'a mistake'". The Star. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  23. "A-G Chambers: Errors in Glenn Knight's book". The Star. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  24. "Of pleading guilty and going topless". The Star. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  25. "Former MCA president Tan Koon Swan to get lifetime achievement award". The Star. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  26. "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat". Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia).
  27. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
Political offices
Preceded by
Lee San Choon		 Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) President
24 November 1985 – 27 August 1986		 Succeeded by
Ling Liong Sik
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