Koh Tsu Koon

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Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon (born August 26, 1949 in Penang; simplified Chinese: 许子根; traditional Chinese: 許子根; pinyin: Xǔ Zǐgēn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Khó Chú-kun) is a Malaysian politician. He was the Chief Minister of Penang from 1990 to 2008 and is currently a member of the Dewan Negara, the upper house of the Malaysian Parliament. In April 2009, Koh was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister's Department by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. He was famously known for contributing in "Sungai Pinang" campaign where he took almost 10 years to complete it.

He is currently president of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan), a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Koh Tsu Koon was born in Penang in 1949 and attended Phor Tay Primary School and Chung Ling High School. He graduated from Princeton University in 1970 with a degree in physics, and obtained his Ph.D from the University of Chicago in 1977 in economics and sociology of education. He was a Fulbright scholar at Stanford University from 1980 to 1981.

Koh taught at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang from 1975 and rose to become Deputy Dean of Education in 1978.^[1]

Koh joined Gerakan in 1982. He won a parliamentary seat during the 1982 general election but lost it to Lim Kit Siang in the following election.^[2] The following year, he was elected Gerakan Youth chairman. Koh was the protégé of then Penang Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu, serving as Lim's political secretary and chief aide from 1986 to 1990.^[1]

Koh became a vice president of Gerakan in 1991 and later deputy president in 2005. On April 8, 2007, following the retirement of long-serving president Lim Keng Yaik, he took over the presidency in an acting capacity. He was formally elected president in 2008.^[1]