Betty Chew

{{Short description|Malaysian politician}} {{Family name hatnote|Chew (周)|lang=Chinese}} {{Use British English|date=October 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Betty Chew Gek Cheng | native_name = {{nobold|周玉清}} | native_name_lang = zh-my | image = | image_size = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|8|15|df=y}} | birth_place = Tengkera, Malacca, Malaysia | death_date = | death_place = | office = | term_start = 21 March 2004 | term_end = 5 May 2013 | predecessor = ''Position established'' | successor = Lai Keun Ban | majority = 7,242 | constituency_AM = Kota Laksamana | assembly = Malacca State Legislative | office2 = | term_start2 = 29 November 1999 | term_end2 = 21 March 2004 | predecessor2 = Yew Kok Kee | successor2 = ''Position abolished'' | majority2 = 3,369 | constituency_AM2 = Durian Daun | assembly2 = Malacca State Legislative | office3 = | term_start3 = | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | majority3 = | party = Democratic Action Party (DAP) | other_party = Pakatan Harapan (PH) {{small|(since 2015)}} Pakatan Rakyat (PR) {{small|(2008-2015)}} Barisan Alternatif (BA) {{small|(1998-2004)}} | occupation = Politician | relations = | spouse = Lim Guan Eng | children = 4 | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Betty Chew Gek Cheng''' ({{lang-zh|c=周玉清|p=Zhōu Yùqīng|poj=Chiu Ge̍k-chheng}}; born 15 August 1964) is a Malaysian politician from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition coalition who served as Member of the Malacca State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Kota Laksamana from March 2004 to May 2013 and Durian Daun from November 1999 to March 2004. She also served as Malacca State Women Chief of DAP of as of 2005. She is also the spouse and wife of Lim Guan Eng, the present National Chairman and former Secretary-General of DAP, former Minister of Finance and former Chief Minister of Penang as well as the daughter-in-law of another former Secretary-General and former National Chairman of DAP, Lim Kit Siang.<ref name="voted_out">[https://web.archive.org/web/20051227123015/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2005%2F12%2F19%2Fnation%2F12907765&sec=nation "Guan Eng and wife voted out of Malacca DAP committee"]. (20 December 2005). ''The Star (Malaysia)''.</ref>

In 2005, she suffered a surprise defeat when running for re-election to the DAP Malacca committee, placing second-last, finishing ahead of only her husband. However, while her husband automatically qualified to sit on the committee by virtue of his position as party Secretary-General, Chew did not.<ref name="voted_out" /> Chew was "saddened by the results", but said she accepted her defeat.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090219230314/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2005%2F12%2F20%2Fnation%2F12912017&sec=nation "Betty upset over her ouster"]. (19 December 2005). ''The Star (Malaysia)''.</ref> However, Teresa Kok, a DAP Member of Parliament, suggested there was a conspiracy behind the defeat of Lim and Chew in their re-election campaigns.<ref>Beh, Lih Yi (19 December 2005). [http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/44731 "Mr and Mrs Lim's defeat a 'conspiracy'"]. ''Malaysiakini''.</ref>

In 2006, it was reported that Chew would become the first Malacca assemblyman to give birth while in office. At the time, Chew had 4 children with Lim.<ref>[http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/newsncom.php?itemid=1575 Conflicts and developments] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122140109/http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/newsncom.php?itemid=1575 |date=22 January 2007 }}. (29 December 2006). ''Malaysia Today''.</ref>

In 2008, Chew defeated newcomer Lee Kiat Lee for the Kota Laksamana seat where she had 11043 votes while Lee had only 3801 votes.

==Election results== {| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" |+ Malacca State Legislative Assembly<ref>{{cite web|url=http://semak.spr.gov.my/spr/laporan/5_KedudukanAkhir.php |title=Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri |publisher=Election Commission of Malaysia |language=ms}} Percentage figures based on total turnout.</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title = Malaysia General Election | work = undiinfo Malaysian Election Data | publisher = Malaysiakini | url = http://undi.info/# }} Results only available from the 2004 Malaysian general election.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://keputusan.spr.gov.my/|title=SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE-14|publisher=Election Commission of Malaysia|language=ms|access-date=25 November 2021|archive-date=13 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913134822/https://keputusan.spr.gov.my/|url-status=dead}} Percentage figures based on total turnout.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://election.thestar.com.my/|title=The Star Online GE14|newspaper=The Star}} Percentage figures based on total turnout.</ref> !|Year !|Constituency !colspan=2|Candidate !|Votes !|Pct !colspan=2|Opponent(s) !|Votes !|Pct !|Ballots cast !|Majority !|Turnout |- |1999 |N17 Durian Daun |{{Party shading/Democratic Action Party}} | |{{nowrap|'''Betty Chew Gek Cheng'''}} ('''DAP''') |align="right" | '''7,380''' |'''64.77%''' |{{Party shading/Barisan Nasional}} | |Chew Chong Lin (MCA) |align="right" | 4,011 |35.2% | 11,605 | 3,369 | 73.88% |- |2004 | rowspan="2"|N20 Kota Laksamana |{{Party shading/Democratic Action Party}} | |{{nowrap|'''Betty Chew Gek Cheng'''}} ('''DAP''') |align="right" | '''8,944''' |'''62.74%''' |{{Party shading/Barisan Nasional}} | |Lim Eng Tack (MCA) |align="right" | 5,302 |37.19% | 14,471 | 3,642 | 76.34% |- |2008 |{{Party shading/Democratic Action Party}} | |{{nowrap|'''Betty Chew Gek Cheng'''}} ('''DAP''') |align="right" | '''11,043''' |'''73.35%''' |{{Party shading/Barisan Nasional}} | |Lee Kiat Lee (MCA) |align="right" | 3,801 |25.25% | 15,055 | 7,242 | 79.53% |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chew, Betty}} Category:1964 births Betty Chew Category:Malaysian people of Hokkien descent Category:Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent Category:20th-century Malaysian lawyers Category:Living people Category:Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians Category:Members of the Malacca State Legislative Assembly Category:Women MLAs in Malacca Category:20th-century Malaysian women lawyers