Ewon Ebin
Ewon Ebin | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia | |
| In office 16 May 2013 – 29 July 2015 | |
| Monarch | Abdul Halim |
| Prime Minister | Najib Razak |
| Deputy | Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah |
| Preceded by | Maximus Ongkili |
| Succeeded by | Wilfred Madius Tangau |
| Constituency | Ranau |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Ranau, Sabah | |
| In office 6 May 2013 – 8 May 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Siringan Gubat (UPKO–BN) |
| Succeeded by | Jonathan Yasin (PKR–PH) |
| Majority | 3,611 (2013) |
| Sabah State Minister of Rural Development | |
| In office 16 March 2008 – 14 May 2013 | |
| Governor | Ahmadshah Abdullah (2008-2010) Juhar Mahiruddin (2011-2013) |
| Chief Minister | Musa Aman |
| Assistant Minister | Sairin Karno |
| Preceded by | Joseph Pairin Kitingan |
| Succeeded by | Radin Malleh |
| Constituency | Paginatan |
| Sabah State Minister of Trade and Industrial Development | |
| In office 27 March 2004 – 15 March 2008 | |
| Governor | Ahmadshah Abdullah |
| Chief Minister | Musa Aman |
| Assistant Minister | Jainab Ahmad Ayid |
| Preceded by | Tham Nyip Shen |
| Succeeded by | Raymond Tan Shu Kiah |
| Constituency | Paginatan |
| Assistant Minister of Trade and Industrial Development, Sabah | |
| In office 8 – 16 March 1994 | |
| Governor | Said Keruak |
| Chief Minister | Joseph Pairin Kitingan |
| Minister | Joseph Kurup Tham Nyip Shen |
| Constituency | Ranau |
| Assistant Minister of Tourism, Environment and Arts, Sabah | |
| In office 5 May 1986 – 7 March 1994 | |
| Governor | Adnan Robert (1986-1987) Said Keruak (1987-1994) |
| Chief Minister | Joseph Pairin Kitingan |
| Minister | Tan Kit Sher |
| Constituency | Ranau |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 June 1954 Bundu Tuhan, Kundasang, Ranau, North Borneo, British Empire (now Sabah, Malaysia) |
| Citizenship | Malaysian |
| Political party | PBS (1986-1994) UPKO (1994–2020) PCS (2020-) |
| Relations | Masiung Banah (son-in-law) |
| Occupation | Politician Lawyer |
| Website | https://ewonebin.com/ |
Datuk Dr. Ewon Ebin (born 26 June 1954) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation of Malaysia (MOSTI) and represented Ranau as the Member of Parliament of Malaysia in the Dewan Rakyat for a single term from 2013 to 2018.
In addition, he is also one the former Vice Presidents of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO), a political party in the state of Sabah, in which he was one of the founders after he left Parti Bersatu Sabah in 1994. He formally left UPKO in February 2020, citing that the party leadership had derailed from its original objectives and failed to protect the welfare of its members who are mostly indigenous Sabahans and other Malaysians especially the minority ethnic Chinese and Indians residing in Sabah. His resignation leads 5,000 UPKO members to quit the party, including committee members from the Ranau division.
In March 2020, Datuk Ewon Ebin declared that he will be joining Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) under the leadership of former fellow federal minister Datuk Seri Panglima Anifah Aman.
Outside of politics, he is a lawyer cum social activist who has a great interest in seeking in the problems faced by the natives in Sabah.[1] His thesis that was published at the University of Malaya in 1978 was entitled 'A Ranau Dusun Traditional Law Study in Sabah on Marriage, Divorce and Heritage.'
Personal life
Ewon was born and raised in Bundu Tuhan, Ranau which was a village located at the foot of the tallest mountain in South East Asia and Malaysia known as Mount Kinabalu. He is married with six children and has a Bachelor of Legislative Law (LLB) as well as a PhD degree in cultural studies and indigenous rights that was conferred by the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. After his tertiary graduation, he became a lawyer and owned a law firm in Kota Kinabalu known as Tetuan, Vitales, Ewon & Co. In 1979, Datuk Dr. Ewon was appointed as a First Class Magistrate, in which he served for more than five years until his entry into politics.
Government career
In his political career, Datuk Dr. Ewon held several government positions. Between 1986 and 2002, he served as the Chairman of Sabah Rubber Fund Board, Chairman of Permodalan Bumiputra Sabah, Director of Sabah Bank and Deputy Chairman of the Sabah Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO).
Political career
Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly
Datuk Dr. Ewon's political career began to shine when he was only at the young age of 32. He won the Sabah State Legislative Assembly seat for N.13 Kundasang in the year 1986 under the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) electoral ticket, in which he held the position for almost 15 years.
From 2004 to 2013, he became the first Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for N.31 Paginatan through the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation party (now known as the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation since 2019).
UPKO is another political party in Sabah, which he founded together with Tan Sri Bernard Dompok and other disaffected former leaders from the newly-defeated Parti Bersatu Sabah in 1994.
During his time as a Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly, Datuk Ewon Ebin has held various positions in Sabah State Government, beginning by serving the State namely as Assistant Minister of Tourism, Environment and Arts (1986-1994) and Assistant Minister of Industrial Development and Trade (briefly in March 1994).
In 2004, Datuk Dr. Ewon was appointed by the then-Chief Minister of Sabah, Musa Aman as a full cabinet minister holding one of the key portfolios which is known as the Minister of Industrial Development and Trade (a comeback to his one of his old ministries after serving it for a term as an assistant cabinet minister of the same portfolio way back in the 1990s, which was in 1994).
After serving the above ministerial position for a term in 2008, he was assigned to another portfolio as the Minister of Rural Development until the 2013 General Elections, in which he shifted into federal politics from the state level.
Federal parliamentarian
In the 2013 general election, Datuk Dr. Ewon was elected to the federal Parliament for the seat of P.179 Ranau in the state of Sabah. In his first term in parliament, he was selected to become one of Prime Minister Najib Razak's Cabinet Ministers. He served as the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia, succeeding Maximus Ongkili, who has shifted to another ministry as a result of the election.
Issues
Illegal immigrants issues
On 11 January 2009, Ewon in his capacity as Sabah Rural Development Minister, whilst addressing his ministry's annual speech for the new year as well as his ministry's monthly gathering assembly, reminded the JKKK about the tactics of illegal immigrants who dared to misuse fake identity cards in order to steal the aid of the native hardcore poor. Through home visits that was conducted regularly by his ministry's staff to the poor villagers, the relevant parties would inspect the actual poverty stage of each applicant, thus ensuring that their documents are valid or otherwise.
Rural aid
In November 2012, Sabah Rural Development Minister, Ewon was present as the main guest of honour at the Sindumin state constituency-level JKKK management and administration course which was held in Beaufort. Also present was then-Sabah Assistant Minister of Rural Development, Sairin Karno and the then-Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development, Ghulam Jelani Khanizaman.[2]
Elections
Since 1986, Ewon has been contesting in the Sabah election in Kundasang as well as Paginatan constituencies. In 1986, Ewon won with a majority of 939 votes and was appointed as the state Assistant Minister of Tourism, Environment and Arts.
In the next elections of 1990 and 1994, Ewon (PBS) received 4956 votes; whilst Kasitah Gaddam (BN-UMNO) received 4,017 votes.[3]
The previous State Assembly was formerly known as Ranau and has a (perhaps/somehow average) total of 8639 voters.
In the 1999 elections, Ewon (BN-UPKO) was opposed by Ramdi Indang (BERSEKUTU); Karim Adam (PBS) and Benjamin Yasin (SETIA). Kundasang's jurisdiction had 11,539 voters.
For the 2004 elections, the results were shown as herewith, Ewon (BN-UPKO) received 3,224 votes, whilst Janimin Sailun and Ramli Indang (both Independents) received 1,673 and 937 respectively per candidate; then placed third was Henry Wan Kauting (SETIA) with only 76 votes and Nayon Gudumi (also an Independent) with the smallest vote digit value of 69. As a result of his victory in that year's election, he was promoted to a full state cabinet minister in the portfolio of Industrial Development and Trade, after retaining his seat for more than five consecutive terms.[4]
In the 2008 election, Ewon (BN) received 5206 votes, followed by Paul B. Kerangkas (PKR) 1,749 votes, then placed third was Jahumin Ampadong (BERSEKUTU) who received 157 votes and finally Mat Jaili Samat (Independent), who received only 90 votes. After his victory, he was appointed Sabah's Minister of Rural Development for a term until the 2013 elections.
Election results
| Year | Government | Votes | Pct | Opposition | Votes | Pct | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Ewon Ebin (UPKO) | 15,434 | 49.2% | Jonathan Yasin (PKR) | 11,823 | 37.7% | ||
| 2018 | Ewon Ebin (UPKO) | 13,804 | 31.6%2 | Jonathan Yasin (PKR) | 14,880 | 34.0%2 | ||
| Notes: Table excludes votes for candidates who finished in third place or lower. 2 Different % used for 2018 election. | ||||||||
References
- ^ Women in Southeast Asia: a bibliography,Kok-sim Fan,G.K. Hall, 1982, page 242
- ^ Spearhead rural development
- ^ Sabah's dilemma: the political history of Sabah, 1960-1994, Herman J. Luping, Magnus Books, 1994,page 90
- ^ Information Malaysia,Berita Publ. Sdn. Bhd, 2005, page 772
- ^ "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout (including votes for candidates not listed).
- ^ "Sabah [Parliament Results]". The Star. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
