Yang BerhormatDato' Sri Richard Riot Jaem PJN SSAP PNBS JBS KMN MP
Special Envoy of the Prime Minister toEast Asia
In office 15 May 2020 – 24 November 2022
Monarch	Abdullah
Prime Minister	Muhyiddin Yassin (2020–2021) Ismail Sabri Yaakob (2021–2022)
Preceded by	Tiong King Sing
Minister of Human Resources
In office 16 May 2013 – 10 May 2018
Monarchs	Abdul Halim (2013–2016) Muhammad V (2016–2018)
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Deputy	Ismail Muttalib
Preceded by	Subramaniam Sathasivam
Succeeded by	M. Kulasegaran
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 4 June 2010 – 15 May 2013 Serving with Kohilan Pillay Appu
Monarchs	Mizan Zainal Abidin (2010–2011) Abdul Halim (2011–2013)
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Minister	Anifah Aman
Preceded by	Lee Chee Leong
Succeeded by	Hamzah Zainuddin
Member of theMalaysian Parliament forSerian
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 October 1990
Preceded by	Lainus Andrew Luwak (Independent)
Majority	2,685 (1990) 7,554 (1995) 8,451 (1999) 9,695 (2004) 13,427 (2008) 13,151 (2013) 9,905 (2018) 16,697 (2022)
Deputy President of the Sarawak United Peoples' Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 December 2011 Serving with Lee Kim Shin
President	Peter Chin Fah Kui (2011–2014) Sim Kui Hian (since 2014)
Preceded by	Law Hieng Ding
Personal details
Born	Richard Riot anak Jaem (1951-12-01)1 December 1951 (age 73) Serian,Crown Colony of Sarawak
Nationality	Malaysia
Political party	Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN)(until 2018) Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)(since 2018)
Spouse	Mincha @ Kayen Lingeng
Alma mater	Preston University
Occupation	Politician

Richard Riot anak Jaem (born 1 December 1951) is aMalaysianpolitician who served as theSpecial Envoy of the Prime Minister toEast Asia from 2020 until 2022. A deputy president ofSarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP), he representedSerian in theParliament of Malaysia since 1990.^[1][2]

Born inSerian. He previously was theMinister of Human Resources andDeputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under formerPrime MinisterNajib Razak and former MinisterAnifah Aman from 2010 to 2018.^[3][4] He has also served theChairman of the Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB).

During SUPP's triennial assembly in 2011, Riot was elected as the party's first non-Chinese deputy president.^[5]

Riot first contested and won the Serian parliamentary seat in 1990 as anindependent candidate. He was later re-elected for six consecutive terms beginning in 1995, all on aBarisan Nasional ticket.^[6]

After serving for more than 20 years as a government backbencher, Riot was appointed asDeputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in a minorcabinet reshuffle on 1 June 2010.^[7]

In 2013 he was promoted to a full ministerial position asMinister for Human Resources.^[8]

After the12th Malaysian general election in March 2008, there was speculation that Riot would defect to the oppositionPeople's Justice Party (PKR); however, Riot denied the speculation and the move did not materialised.^[9][10]

In September 2017, Riot was engulfed in a corruption allegation afterRM40 million was found to be missing from the Skills Development Fund Corporation (SDFC) under theMinistry of Human Resources which he helmed as its minister.^[11] Among those arrested by theMalaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) included his political secretary. Riot himself was called in by the MACC and questioned for 10 hours.^[12]

Following the historic14th Malaysian general election in May 2018 which saw the fall of the BN coalition from power, rumours swirled around with speculation that Riot was looking to, yet again, join the PKR, which was now a component party of the rulingAlliance of Hope (PH) coalition.^[13] This was denied by PKR Sarawak state liaison committee chairpersonBaru Bian. Moreover, PH Sarawak chairperson,Chong Chieng Jen, advised his allied parties against accepting Riot in a statement declaring that his own, theDemocratic Action Party (DAP), will not.^[14][15]

Less than a year later in February 2019, Riot was again surrounded by speculation that he may jump ship, this time to theUnited Sarawak Party (PSB) which is a splinter party of the SUPP.^[16]

On 29 February during the2020 Malaysian political crisis, Riot was reported to have left SUPP to join PKR again.^[17] Somehow the inaccurate rumour was quickly quashed after a video clip of him denying the claims went viral the next day.^[18]

• Malaysia
  • Commander of theOrder of Meritorious Service (PJN) –Datuk (2005)^[19][20]
  • Officer of theOrder of the Defender of the Realm (KMN) (1997)^[21]
  • Recipient of the17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal (2025)
• Sarawak
  • Knight Commander of theMost Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (PNBS) –Dato Sri (2017)^[22]
  • Companion of theMost Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (JBS) (1998)^[23]
  • Gold Medal of the Sarawak Independence Diamond Jubilee Medal (2023)^[24]
• Pahang
  • Grand Knight of theOrder of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) –Dato' Sri (2013)^[25]

• List of longest-serving members of the Parliament of Malaysia

• Living people
• 1951 births
• People from Sarawak
• Bidayuh people
• Sarawak United Peoples' Party politicians
• Independent politicians in Malaysia
• Government ministers of Malaysia
• 21st-century Malaysian politicians
• Commanders of the Order of Meritorious Service
• Knights Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak
• Officers of the Order of the Defender of the Realm
• Malaysian MPs 1990–1995
• Malaysian MPs 1995–1999
• Malaysian MPs 1999–2004
• Malaysian MPs 2004–2008
• Malaysian MPs 2008–2013
• Malaysian MPs 2013–2018
• Malaysian MPs 2018–2022
• Malaysian MPs 2022–

• CS1 Malay-language sources (ms)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use British English from October 2014
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Use dmy dates from October 2014