Richard Riot Jaem | |
|---|---|
| Special Envoy of the Prime Minister toEast Asia | |
| Assumed office 15 May 2020 | |
| Monarchs | Abdullah (2020–2024) Ibrahim Iskandar (since 2024) |
| Prime Minister | Muhyiddin Yassin (2020–2021) Ismail Sabri Yaakob (2021–2022) Anwar Ibrahim (since 2022) |
| Preceded by | Tiong King Sing |
| Constituency | Serian |
| 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 | Murugesan Kulasegaran |
| Constituency | Serian |
| Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 4 June 2010 – 15 May 2013 Serving with A. Kohillan Pillay | |
| 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 |
| Constituency | Serian |
| Member of theMalaysian Parliament forSerian | |
| 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 | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2011 | |
| 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 (nowSarawak,Malaysia) |
| Citizenship | Malaysian |
| Nationality |  Malaysia |
| Political party | Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) |
| Other political affiliations | Barisan Nasional (BN) (–2018) Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) (since 2018) |
| Spouse | Mincha @ Kayen Lingeng |
| Occupation | Politician |
Richard Riot anak Jaem (born 1 December 1951) is aMalaysianpolitician who has served asSpecial Envoy of the Prime MinistersMuhyiddin Yassin,Ismail Sabri Yaakob andAnwar Ibrahim toEast Asia since May 2020 and theMember of Parliament (MP) forSerian since October 1990.[1] He served asMinister of Human Resources andDeputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the BN administration under former Prime MinisterNajib Razak and former MinisterAnifah Aman from June 2010 to May 2018.[2][3] He is a member of theSarawak United People's Party (SUPP), a component party of theGabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition. He has also served Deputy President of SUPP since December 2011 and Chairman of the Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB). He is also presently one of the longest-serving MPs.
During SUPP's triennial assembly in 2011, Riot was elected as the party's first non-Chinese deputy president.[4]
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 aNational Front (BN) ticket.[5]
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.[6]
In 2013 he was promoted to a full ministerial position as Minister for Human Resources.[7]
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.[8][9]
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.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13][14]
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.[15]
On 29 February during the2020 Malaysian political crisis, Riot was reported to have left SUPP to join PKR again.[16] Somehow the inaccurate rumour was quickly quashed after a video clip of him denying the claims went viral the next day.[17]
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | P160Serian | Richard Riot Jaem (IND) | 10,349 | 57.45% | William Aham | 7,664 | 42.55% | 18,516 | 2,685 | 66.93% | ||
| 1995 | P172Serian | Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP) | 12,116 | 60.26% | Marcellus Munjan (IND) | 4,562 | 22.69% | 20,690 | 7,554 | 65.40% | ||
| Michael Runin (PBS) | 1,753 | 8.72% | ||||||||||
| Andrew Nyabe (IND) | 959 | 4.77% | ||||||||||
| Betram Sading Jihok (IND) | 716 | 3.56% | ||||||||||
| 1999 | P173Serian | Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP) | 12,491 | 71.77% | Anthony Polycarp Munjan (STAR) | 4,040 | 23.21% | 17,974 | 8,451 | 59.76% | ||
| Shamsuddin Abdullah @ Pok Ungkut (IND) | 872 | 5.01% | ||||||||||
| 2004 | P199Serian | Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP) | 13,960 | 76.60% | Henry Ginai Langgie (IND) | 4,265 | 23.40% | 18,686 | 9,695 | 59.13% | ||
| 2008 | Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP) | 15,793 | 86.97% | Belayong Jayang (SNAP) | 2,366 | 13.03% | 18,516 | 13,427 | 66.36% | |||
| 2013 | Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP) | 19,494 | 74.33% | Edward Andrew Luak (DAP) | 6,343 | 24.19% | 26,562 | 13,151 | 78.79% | |||
| Johnny Bob Aput (STAR) | 390 | 1.49% | ||||||||||
| 2018 | Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP) | 17,545 | 63.99% | Edward Andrew Luak (DAP) | 7,640 | 27.86% | 27,880 | 9,905 | 74.09% | |||
| Senior William Rade (IND) | 2,234 | 8.15% | ||||||||||
| 2022 | Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP) | 22,876 | 57.23% | Alim Impira (IND) | 6,179 | 15.46% | 40,620 | 16,697 | 61.24% | |||
| Elsiy Tinggang(PSB) | 5,630 | 14.08% | ||||||||||
| Learry Jabul (DAP) | 5,289 | 13.23% | ||||||||||
Malaysia :
Officer of theOrder of the Defender of the Realm (KMN) (1997)
Commander of theOrder of Meritorious Service (PJN) –Datuk (2005)[18]
Recipient of the17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal (2024)
Pahang :
Grand Knight of theOrder of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (SSAP) –Dato' Sri (2013)[19]
Sarawak :
Companion of theMost Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (JBS) (1998)[20] Knight Commander of theMost Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak (PNBS) –Dato Sri (2017)[21]| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Human Resources (Malaysia) 2013–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Malaysia) 2010–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of Malaysia | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSerian 1990–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Deputy President ofSarawak United Peoples' Party 2011–present | Incumbent |
| Combating terrorism, extremism and human trafficking | |
|---|---|
East Asia   | |
India and South Asia       | |
Middle East         | |
People's Republic of China | |
United States of America | |
