Lee Chean Chung

Lee Chean Chung is a Malaysian politician, researcher and environmental activist who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Petaling Jaya since November 2022. He served as Member of the Pahang State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Semambu from May 2013 to November 2022. He is a member of the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition. He has also served as the Communications Director of PKR since July 2022, Vice Chairman of PKR of Pahang since 2019, Division Chief of PH of Indera Mahkota since 2018 and Division Chief of PKR of Indera Mahkota since 2011. He also served as the Treasurer-General of PKR from December 2018 to July 2022, Youth Information Chief of PKR from 2015 to 2018, Vice Youth Chief of PKR of Petaling Jaya Utara from 2008 to 2012, Research Officer of the Office of the Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2011 as well as Member of the Board of Directors of Kuantan Port Authority in 2019.

Early life
Lee was born and raised in Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia.

Education
He attended the Multimedia University (MMU) for his undergraduate pursuing Engineering (Majoring in Computer) and continued his post-graduate studies in Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2019, pursuing Master of Science in Transportation and Logistics, as well as Master in Public Administration respectively. Lee was also a Dong Fang Scholar from Peking University, China.

Member of the Pahang State Legislative Assembly (2013–2022)
In the 2013 Pahang state election, Lee was nominated by his party to contest for the Semambu state seat. He won and was elected into the Pahang State Legislative Assembly as the Semambu MLA for the first term. He defeated defending MLA Pang Tsu Ming of Barisan Nasional (BN) and an independent candidate by a majority of 3,200 votes.

In the 2018 Pahang state election, Lee was renominated by his party to defend the Semambu seat. He won again and was reelected as the Semambu MLA for the second term. He defeated candidates of BN and the Gagasan Sejahtera (GS) by the slightly bigger majority of 5,511 votes.

Member of Parliament (since 2022)
Lee moved to the federal politics from Pahang state politics by contesting In the 2022 Malaysian general election and not contesting in the 2022 Pahang state election. Lee was nominated by his party to contest for the Petaling Jaya federal seat. He won and was elected to Parliament as the Petaling Jaya MP. He defeated a total of five candidates who are four candidates from Perikatan Nasional (PN), BN, Homeland Fighters Party (PEJUANG), Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and an independent candidate by a majority of 50,575 votes.

Other careers
Before joining active politics, Lee worked in the United States & Hong Kong-based companies. He joined the Political Studies for Change Unit (KPRU) as a Research Officer after the 2008 general election. His unit provided strategic research support and organised consultative meetings of bills for nearly 30 MPs.

Lee was active in environmental movements and was appointed as the Media Chief for Stop Lynas Coalition (SLC) and the Publicity Chief for Himpunan Hijau 2.0 in 2011 during the movements against Lynas, the largest rare earth processing plant then in the world that was built next to Kuantan.

Lee also has research experience in several fields. His master thesis, titled “GPS Taxi Dispatch System Based on A* Shortest Path Algorithm”, has been cited in several journal articles. In 2019, he co-published a paper on "Institutions for Sustainability: Informal Settlers" in the GSP Conference 2019: Urban Possibilities: Reimagining Philippines. He co-authored books including "Jiwa Merdeka" and "Green Political Reform" (绿色政改), and is a contributor to The Edge, Malaysiakini and Oriental Daily.

Being active in international engagement and training, Lee was awarded the Most Outstanding Alumnus of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Young Politicians (KASYP) program in 2019. He is also the fellow of International Adenauer Network, Professional Fellow of Youth for South East Asia Leadership Initiatives (YSEALI) and American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL), and a graduate of the Political Advisor Course, Graduate School of Government (The University of Sydney). He was invited to speak at the Youth Leadership Academy of the Generation Democracy (2017), Copenhagen Democracy Summit (2020) as well as invitation by the Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy (DIPD) (2020).