Arif Shah Omar Shah

Datuk Arif Shah bin Omar Shah (born 2 November 1956) is a Malaysian politician. He had served as Member of Penang State Legislative Assembly for Seberang Jaya from 2004 to 2013. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of Barisan Nasional (BN).

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Arif Shah Omar Shah DMSM PJK
عارف شاه عمر شاه‎
Member of the Penang State Legislative Assembly for Seberang Jaya
In office 2004–2013
Preceded by	Raden Muhamad Amin Raden Hadi Munir (BN–UMNO)
Succeeded by	Afif Bahardin (PR–PKR)
Majority	4,464 (2004) 533 (2008)
Personal details
Born	(1956-11-02) 2 November 1956 (age 68)
Citizenship	Malaysia
Political party	United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN)
Spouse	Datin Latifah Asmawi
Children	Izhar Shah Arif Shah
Residence(s)	Persiaran Tenggiri, Seberang Jaya

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Omar Shah is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Arif Shah. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.

He was nicknamed by the local Chinese community as "pek moh" (白毛), meaning "white hair" in Hokkien, because he was full of white hair.

Early life and education

Arif Shah was born on 2 November 1956. Arif Shah can speak Mandarin and Hokkien due to his early education at SRJK(C) Hun Lian, Taiping, Perak and followed by primary school extension at SRJK(C) Chong Hwa Wei Sin, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu. He then continued his education at SMJK(C) Chong Hwa Wei Sin, Kuala Terengganu and continued his studies at Chong Hwa High School, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur. His ability to speak Mandarin and Hokkien abled him to understand the problems of the Chinese community and be able to communicate with them.

Next he studied at the Federal Institute of Technology majoring in civil engineering, then to Graber International, California, United States in the department of building materials.

Misidentification

On 15 March 2008, a demonstration was held in front of the Komtar building, Penang. The demonstration was broadcast by TV3 and RTM. They were orchestrated by the opposition in the Penang State Legislative Assembly. There was a newspaper that wrongly reported that Arif Shah was also present in this gathering, because the picture showed a white-haired man who was thought to be Arif Shah, but was actually Musa Sheikh Fadzir. They objected to the announcement of then-Chief Minister of Penang, Lim Guan Eng to abolish the New Economic Policy and replaced it with the Malaysian Economic Agenda.^[1]

Election results

Penang State Legislative Assembly

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
2004	N10 Seberang Jaya		Arif Shah Omar Shah (UMNO)	10,113	64.16%		Mansor Othman (PKR)	5,649	35.84%	15,962	4,464	79.48%
2008			Arif Shah Omar Shah (UMNO)	9,395	51.50%		Ramli Bulat (PKR)	8,862	48.50%	18,493	533	81.54%

Parliament of Malaysia^[2]

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
2008	P044 Permatang Pauh		Arif Shah Omar Shah (UMNO)	15,524	33.16%		Anwar Ibrahim (PKR)	31,195	66.64%	47,258	15,671	80.84%
							Hanafi Mamat [ms] (AKIM)	92	0.20%

Honours

•  Penang :
  • Meritorious Service Medal (PJK)
•  Malacca :
  • Companion Class I of the Exalted Order of Malacca (DMSM) – Datuk (2007)

References

1. Tugas Tunjuk Perasaan Diambil Umno
2. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Percentage figures based on total turnout.

External links

• Laman YB Arif Shah