Hannah Yeoh gets thumbs-up from former Speaker
(The Star) – Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh made history of sorts by not only becoming the first woman Speaker of a state assembly but the youngest to be appointed to the post.
Since the country’s independence in 1957, men have been at the helm of the Dewan Negara, Dewan Rakyat and the state assemblies.
Yeoh, 34, was named by Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim for the Speaker’s post when he led 10 executive councillors to take their oath of office before Sultan Sharafuddin Shah at Istana Alam Shah on Thursday.
Khalid named Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad as the deputy speaker.
Yeoh of the DAP and PKR’s Nik Nazmi will be installed on June 21, when all the councillors are sworn-in on the first day sitting of the new assembly.
Interestingly, both the Subang Jaya and Seri Setia state seats are under the Kelana Jaya parliamentary constituency.
Yeoh and Nik Nazmi, both of whom read law in university, are second-term assemblymen, having successfully defended their seats which they won in the 2008 general election.
Yeoh’s Twitter account was flooded with congratulatory messages, and she responded by saying: “TQ all for the well wishes! MB’s announcement is a nomination by PR leadership”.
Former Speaker Datuk Teng Chang Khim, who was appointed to the state executive council, said a challenging role awaits Yeoh.
“We did not pick her because of her gender. Our consideration was her capabilities,” said Teng, who is Selangor DAP vice-chairman.
Teng said while he was the Speaker, he had assessed Yeoh’s performance in the state assembly as well as in committee meetings.
“She performed well in Selcat (Selangor Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency). And having a legal background certainly is an advantage,” he added.
Teng said one of the democratic reforms needed to be carried out would be to pass the Selangor Legislative Assembly Service Commission Enactment (Selesa) drafted in 2009, which was not passed previously “due to some obstacles”.
The draft defines the function and role of the executive and legislative branches of government in the state, including clearer roles and functions of the legislative assembly through the state assembly, executive council through the Mentri Besar and state exco members and judiciary under the Federal Constitution.
Asked what the obstacles were, Teng said the previous exco had blocked it.
“Now that I’m in the exco, I will get rid of these obstacles,” he said.
