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Malaysian politician and lawyer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gobind Singh Deo s/o Karpal Singh (Punjabi: ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਿਓ, romanized: Gobind Siṅgh Dio; born 19 June 1973) is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who was appointed as the Minister of Digital in the Unity Government administration under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim since December 2023 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Damansara since November 2022.
Gobind Singh Deo | |
|---|---|
ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਿਓ | |
_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Minister of Digital | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2023 | |
| Monarchs | Abdullah (2023–2024) Ibrahim Iskandar (since 2024) |
| Prime Minister | Anwar Ibrahim |
| Deputy | Wilson Ugak Kumbong |
| Preceded by | Fahmi Fadzil (Minister of Communications and Digital) |
| Constituency | Damansara |
| Minister of Communications and Multimedia | |
| In office 21 May 2018 – 24 February 2020 | |
| Monarchs | Muhammad V (2018–2019) Abdullah (2019–2020) |
| Prime Minister | Mahathir Mohamad |
| Deputy | Eddin Syazlee Shith |
| Preceded by | Salleh Said Keruak |
| Succeeded by | Saifuddin Abdullah |
| Constituency | Puchong |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Damansara | |
| Assumed office 19 November 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Tony Pua Kiam Wee (PH–DAP) |
| Majority | 124,619 (2022) |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Puchong | |
| In office 8 March 2008 – 19 November 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Lau Yeng Peng (BN–GERAKAN) |
| Succeeded by | Yeo Bee Yin (PH–DAP) |
| Majority | 19,972 (2008) 32,802 (2013) 47,635 (2018) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gobind Singh Deo s/o Karpal Singh 19 June 1973 Penang, Malaysia |
| Citizenship | Malaysian |
| Political party | Democratic Action Party (DAP) |
| Other political affiliations | Pakatan Rakyat (PR) (2008–2015) Pakatan Harapan (PH) (since 2015) |
| Spouse | Sangeta Kaur Sidhu |
| Relations | Jagdeep Singh Deo (brother) Ramkarpal Singh (brother) |
| Children | Jaydn Jhan Karpal Singh Deo
Kheeshan Karpal Singh Deo Kayden Karpal Singh Deo Neshaan Karpal Singh Deo |
| Parent(s) | Karpal Singh Gurmit Kaur |
| Alma mater | University of Warwick (LLB) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Website | gobindsinghdeo |
Previously, he served as the Minister of Communications and Multimedia in the Pakatan Harapan administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from May 2018 to the collapse of the government in February 2020.He was the MP for Puchong from March 2008 to November 2022.
Gobind is the National Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan and formerly Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalitions. Known as the "Little Lion of Puchong",[1] he is the son of the late DAP leader Karpal Singh, who was known as the "Tiger of Jelutong". His brothers Ramkarpal Singh and Jagdeep Singh Deo are also elected representatives - Ramkarpal is the MP for Bukit Gelugor (Penang), while Jagdeep is the State Legislative Member for Datok Keramat (Penang). Gobind also created history by becoming the first ever Sikh Cabinet minister in Malaysian history.[2]
Gobind Singh was born on 19 June 1973 in Penang, Malaysia.
He received his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from University of Warwick.
He by profession is a law practitioner and founded his law firm Gobind Singh Deo & Co.[3] based in Damansara, Kuala Lumpur. The firm is operated together with his members lawyers. He was admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 1996, a year after returning from Lincoln's Inn.
In the 2008 general election, Gobind Singh made his electoral debut after being nominated by PR to contest the Puchong federal seat. He won the seat and was elected to the Parliament as the Puchong MP for the first term after defeating Lau Yeng Peng of Barisan Nasional (BN) by a majority of 19,972 votes amid a significant swing and switch of support to the opposition in Selangor.
In the 2013 general election, Gobind Singh was renominated by PR to defend the Puchong seat. He defended the seat and was reelected to the Parliament as the Puchong MLA for the second term after defeating A. Kohillan Pillay of BN y a majority of 32,802 votes.
In the 2018 general election, Gobind Singh was nominated by PH to defend the Puchong seat. He defended the seat and was reelected to the Parliament as the Puchong MLA for the third term after defeating Ang Chin Tat of BN and Mohamad Rosharizan Mohd Rozlan of Gagasan Sejahtera (GS) by a majority of 47,635 votes.
In the 2022 general election, Gobind Singh was renominated by PH to contest for the Damansara federal seat instead of defending the Puchong seat. He won the seat and was reelected to Parliament as the Damansara MP for the first term after defeating Lim Si Ching of Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Tan Gim Tuan of BN by a majority of 124,619 votes.
After PH defeated BN in the 2018 general election and resulted in the first ever transition of power in the Malaysian history, Gobind Singh was appointed as the Minister of Communication and Multimedia on 21 May 2018.[4][5][6][7] He said The Anti-Fake News Act officially gazetted in April will be repealed. Gobind Singh also stated that the proposal to repeal the act would be presented to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for swift action.[8]
He lost the position following the collapse of the PH administration in the 2020 political crisis.
At the 2022 Democratic Action Party National Congress on 20 March 2022, Gobind Singh was reelected to the Central Executive Committee of DAP by 1,782 votes. He is also the candidate with the highest number of votes.[9] He was then reappointed the National Deputy Chairman.[10]
In a cabinet reshuffle on 12 December 2023, Gobind Singh was brought back to the Cabinet after he was appointed as the Minister of Digital, a new ministry formed as a result of a split from the Ministry of Communications and Digital that was led by Minister Fahmi Fadzil. Upon learning the appointment, his brother Ramkarpal resigned from the government as the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Laws and Institutional Reforms to avoid criticisms of nepotism in the case both of them serve in the same government. Gobind also took over the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU) from the Prime Minister's Department. Fahmi added that Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), MYNIC Bhd and the Department of Personal Data Protection would also be under Gobind. Gobind highlighted the need to clarify and fine-tune certain aspects in terms of job scopes that fall under his ministry.
In 2009 he was suspended from Parliament for 12 months for calling the Prime Minister, Najib Razak, a "murderer" in a parliamentary debate and insulting the deputy speaker. He later won a legal challenge seeking to be paid his normal remuneration for his period of suspension.[11]
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | P103 Puchong | Gobind Singh Deo (DAP) | 35,079 | 59.14% | Lau Yeng Peng (Gerakan) | 15,107 | 25.47% | 59,317 | 19,972 | 78.44% | ||
| 2013 | Gobind Singh Deo (DAP) | 62,938 | 66.69% | A. Kohilan Pillay (Gerakan) | 30,136 | 31.93% | 94,367 | 32,802 | 88.19% | |||
| 2018 | Gobind Singh Deo (DAP) | 60,429 | 72.66% | Ang Chin Tat (Gerakan) | 12,794 | 13.27% | 96,437 | 47,635 | 87.47% | |||
| Mohamad Rosharizan Mohd Rozlan (PAS) | 10,255 | 10.63% | ||||||||||
| 2022 | P106 Damansara | Gobind Singh Deo (DAP) | 142,875 | 81.67% | Lim Si Ching (GERAKAN) | 18,256 | 10.44% | 176,625 | 124,619 | 73.9% | ||
| Tan Gim Tuan (MCA) | 13,806 | 7.89% | ||||||||||
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