GEORGE TOWN: Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Chow Kon Yeow was sworn in as Penang Chief Minister for a second term at Seri Mutiara here today.

Chow, 65, who is Padang Kota Assemblyman took the oath of office before the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Penang Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak at 9 35 a.m.

The ceremony was also attended by Penang State Secretary Datuk Mohd Sayuthi Bakar and state PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders.

Chow, who was named as the Chief Minister candidate by PH, will lead the Unity State Government following the PH-BN coalition winning 29 out of the 40 seats in the Penang State Legislative Assembly.

He won the Padang Kota seat with a majority of 7,116 votes, securing 8,261 votes against Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate H’ng Khoon Leng, who obtained 1,145 votes.

Chow, who is also Batu Kawan Member of Parliament, or Batu Kawan, has held the Padang Kota state seat since 2008.

He was born in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 14, 1958, and attended Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan Jalan Sungai Besi (1) before continuing his secondary education at Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Jalan Cochrane in 1971.

Chow then went to do his Sixth Form at Tunku Abdul Rahman College and then worked as a draftsman with a private company before continuing his studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia where he studied Social Science in 1980.

He also 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 when he became 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 state seat with a majority of 3,670 votes against BN candidate Dr. Loh Hock Hun.