TopicsPolitician AnalysisBen Chong Chen Bin

Ben Chong Chen Bin

Party
GAGASAN · Sabah People's Ideas Party
Coalition
GRS
Constituency
Tanjong Kapor
State
Sabah
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Why this matters to you

As Sabah's Assistant Minister of Finance, Ben Chong is involved in decisions on state budget allocations that affect public services, infrastructure, and development spending across Sabah — including in Tanjong Kapor, where residents near the Tip of Borneo have raised concerns about water supply disruptions, electricity outages, and garbage management as pressing community needs (Source: bernama.com). As the sole Chinese MLA within the GRS governing coalition, Chong is the primary point of contact within the state government for Chinese community concerns under the GRS banner. Tanjong Kapor has 34,001 registered voters, and their assemblyman simultaneously holds a state executive portfolio covering state finance (Source: bernama.com; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Chong_Chen_Bin).

Party History

Katak (party-switcher)

1 party-switch across 2 parties

Career span
2018–2025
Career win rate
100%
Hop win rate
100%
Crossed coalition lines once
  1. WARISAN
  2. PGRS
See every switch
  • 2025WARISANPGRS🔀won

Data from Lompat (by Zach Yek), built on the Malaysian Election Corpus (by Thevesh Thevananthan). CC0.

Summary

Datuk Ben Chong Chen Bin is a three-term Sabah state assemblyman for Tanjong Kapor, currently serving as Assistant Minister of Finance in the GRS state government under Chief Minister Hajiji Noor since December 2025. He is the sole ethnic Chinese elected assemblyman within the GRS ruling coalition, having won the seat under Warisan in 2018 and 2020 before crossing over to GAGASAN/GRS in February 2023. His 2025 election result was confirmed as final by the Election Court in March 2026 after a money politics petition was struck out.

Biography

Datuk Ben Chong Chen Bin is a Malaysian politician who has served as Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Tanjong Kapor since May 2018 [1]. He entered electoral politics in 2018 as a candidate for the newly-formed Parti Warisan Sabah, winning the Tanjong Kapor seat and being appointed State Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry under Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal [1]. He retained the seat in the 2020 Sabah state election on a Warisan ticket but the WARISAN-led state government fell in September 2020 [1]. On 6 February 2023, Chong left Warisan and declared support for the ruling Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition, subsequently joining Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (GAGASAN) [1]. In the November 2025 Sabah state election, Chong won Tanjong Kapor for the third consecutive time under the GRS banner, polling 6,171 votes in an 11-cornered contest with a majority of 359 votes [2]. He was sworn in as one of 17 assistant ministers in December 2025 and subsequently assigned as Assistant Minister of Finance under Minister Masidi Manjun [1]. As of 2025, Chong, aged 47, is the sole ethnic Chinese elected assemblyman within the GRS ruling coalition in Sabah [3]. He holds the Datuk title following the award of the Commander of the Order of Kinabalu in October 2024 [4]. He also serves as Tanjong Kapor Division Chief of GAGASAN [2].

Known for

Ben Chong Chen Bin is the sole ethnic Chinese elected assemblyman within the GRS coalition following the 2025 Sabah state election [3]. He has held the Tanjong Kapor state seat through three consecutive elections under two different parties — Warisan (2018, 2020) and GAGASAN/GRS (2025) — making him the most electorally durable Chinese politician in the Kudat district in the current period. His defection from Warisan to GRS in February 2023 during Sabah's 2023 political crisis was a noted event in state politics.

Political positions

Chong has publicly stated that political stability is his primary consideration. He accepted the absence of a Chinese Deputy Chief Minister in the post-2025 cabinet despite a pre-election pledge by Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, arguing that ethnic community representation should not come at the cost of coalition cohesion [3][5][6]. He supported the entry of Barisan Nasional into the Sabah unity government as a stabilising measure [3][5][6]. In his role as Assistant Minister of Finance, he assisted in the preparation of Sabah Budget 2026 alongside Finance Minister Masidi Manjun [7][8][6]. No detailed public positions on sector-specific policies such as healthcare, education, or housing have been sourced from allowlist outlets.

References

  1. [1]en.wikipedia.org
  2. [2]freemalaysiatoday.com
  3. [3]malaymail.com
  4. [4]wikidata.org
  5. [5]December 4
  6. [6]0.0.7.233
  7. [7]thestar.com.my
  8. [8]December 11

Political career

  1. May 2018First elected MLA for Tanjong Kapor under Parti Warisan Sabah in the 2018 Sabah state election.⛓
  2. May 2018Appointed State Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry of Sabah under Chief Minister Shafie Apdal and Minister Wilfred Madius Tangau.⛓
  3. September 2020Re-elected to Tanjong Kapor under Parti Warisan Sabah in the 2020 Sabah state election. The WARISAN-led state government lost power to GRS.⛓
  4. 6 February 2023Left Parti Warisan Sabah alongside fellow MLAs Mohammad Mohamarin and Norazlinah Arif, declaring support for the ruling GRS coalition.⛓
  5. February–March 2023Joined Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (GAGASAN), a component party of GRS, alongside several other former Warisan MLAs.⛓
  6. 29 November 2025Won Tanjong Kapor for the third consecutive time, polling 6,171 votes (majority 359) under GRS in an 11-cornered contest.⛓
  7. December 2025Sworn in as one of 17 assistant ministers in the Hajiji Noor second-term cabinet; subsequently confirmed as Assistant Minister of Finance under Minister Masidi Manjun.⛓
  8. 12 March 2026Election Court dismissed Warisan's petition challenging his 2025 Tanjong Kapor victory; declared duly elected to N4 Tanjong Kapor.⛓

Election history

  • 2025Tanjong KaporWon⛓
  • 2020Tanjong KaporWon⛓
  • 2018Tanjong KaporWon⛓

Stance evolution

Public statements grouped chronologically. The party tag shows which party the politician was contesting under at that point.

  1. 2025PGRS
    • After all, the Chinese do not deserve any ministerial positions as many Chinese voters prefer the Opposition.

      Chong commenting on the absence of Chinese representatives in the post-2025 election Sabah Cabinet, as reported by Malay Mail. · Source

    • We want stable politics; that is the most crucial. Otherwise, we would have to keep changing the government or holding elections every two years, and that is not good.

      Chong explaining his acceptance of a GRS cabinet without a Chinese deputy chief minister, as reported by Malay Mail. · Source

  2. 2020WARISAN
    • There is no way assemblymen from the state government will allow the Opposition to take away the people's mandate.

      Chong, then Warisan Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, dismissing opposition claims that Warisan assemblymen were planning to defect to Perikatan Nasional, as reported by The Star. · Source

Perspectives on key issues

  • ExpertFui K Soong, commenting to Free Malaysia Today on December 5, 2025, said Hajiji Noor was under no obligation to appoint Chong as assistant minister, and characterised the appointment as an olive branch to the Chinese community. Fui noted that Chong was elected with the support of non-Chinese voters who make up the majority in Tanjong Kapor.⛓
  • GovernmentMalay Mail reported on December 2, 2025 that Ben Chong was sworn in as one of 17 assistant ministers in Hajiji Noor's second-term cabinet, with his portfolio subsequently confirmed as Assistant Minister of Finance under Finance Minister Masidi Manjun.⛓
  • VerifiedFactsThe Election Court on 12 March 2026 formally declared Chong duly elected to N4 Tanjong Kapor after striking out the Warisan election petition alleging money politics. The court ordered the petitioner to pay RM20,000 in costs to Chong and RM10,000 each to the Returning Officer and the Election Commission (Source: The Star, March 12, 2026).⛓
  • PublicBernama reported ahead of the 2025 election that residents in Tanjong Kapor near the Tip of Borneo raised concerns about water supply disruptions, electricity outages, and coastal garbage as primary issues for the incoming assemblyman.⛓

Notable legal history

In January 2026, Parti Warisan's Terence Au Soon Fui filed an election petition challenging Chong's 2025 Tanjong Kapor victory, alleging money politics under Section 32(a) of the Election Offences Act 1954 (Source: thestar.com.my, January 7, 2026). On 12 March 2026, the Election Court struck out the petition after allowing preliminary objections raised by all respondents. Election Court Judge Justice Amelati Parnell declared Chong duly elected to the N4 Tanjong Kapor seat and ordered the petitioner to pay RM20,000 in costs to Chong and RM10,000 each to the Returning Officer and the Election Commission. The case is finalised (Source: thestar.com.my, March 12, 2026).

Sources

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