| Honorific-Prefix: | Yang Berbahagia Dato' |
| Paul Leong Khee Seong | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | DPCM |
| Birth Name: | Paul Leong Khee Seong |
| Birth Place: | Ipoh, Perak, Federated Malay States (now Malaysia) |
| Office: | Minister of Primary Industries |
| Successor: | Lim Keng Yaik |
| Predecessor: | Abdul Taib Mahmud |
| Primeminister: | Hussein Onn Mahathir Mohamad |
| Deputy: | Bujang Ulis Megat Junid Megat Ayub |
| Term Start: | 28 July 1978 |
| Term End: | 10 August 1986 |
| Constituency: | Taiping |
| Office1: | Chancellor of HELP University |
| Predecessor1: | Inaugural holder |
| Term Start1: | 2012 |
| President1: | Paul Chan Tuck Hoong |
| Office2: | Deputy Minister of Primary Industries |
| Successor2: | Bujang Ulis |
| Predecessor2: | Yusof Rawa |
| Primeminister2: | Abdul Razak Hussein Hussein Onn |
| Minister2: | Musa Hitam Abdul Taib Mahmud |
| Term Start2: | 1974 |
| Term End2: | 1978 |
| Monarch2: | Abdul Halim Yahya Petra |
| Constituency2: | Taiping |
| Constituency Mp3: | Taiping |
| Parliament3: | Malaysian |
| Successor3: | Kerk Choo Ting (BN–Gerakan) |
| Predecessor3: | Constituency established |
| Majority3: | 3,187 (1974) 8,022 (1978) 15,278 (1982) 5,644 (1986) |
| Term Start3: | 1974 |
| Term End3: | 1990 |
| Party: | Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) (1965–1972) Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) |
| Otherparty: | Barisan Nasional (BN) |
| Alma Mater: | University of New South Wales |
| Citizenship: | Malaysian |
| Occupation: | Politician |
Dato' Paul Leong Khee Seong (born 1939[1]) is a Malaysian former politician from the Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) who served as four-term Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia for Taiping between 1974 and 1990. He was also Minister of Primary Industries of Malaysia between 1978 and 1986.[2] He is currently the Chancellor of HELP University.[3]
Leong was born in Ipoh, Perak to a family involved in tin mining and plantation with ancestral roots in Guangdong, China. Before entering politics, he was working in his father's business.
Leong entered the Malaysian politics scene after the 13 May incident. Prior to joining Gerakan, he was a member of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and last served as its Perak Chairman in 1972. Over the next two decades, he served in various posts within Gerakan which saw him eventually occupy the office of Deputy chairman.
Having been elected into Parliament between 1974 and 1990, Leong was appointed as Deputy Minister of Primary Industries in 1974 before being promoted to Minister of Primary Industries four years later.
During his tenure as Malaysia's Minister of Primary Industries, he also held several international posts. These included Chairman of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Negotiating Committee in Tropical Products from 1986 to 1987 and Chairman of the Group of Fourteen on Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Co-operation and Integration in 1986.
Leong graduated from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering in 1963.[4]
Following his retirement from politics, Leong has been active in the corporate sector. Among the many offices he has held includes serving as the Executive Chairman of Nanyang Press Holdings Berhad (2007–2009) and Deputy Chairman of Sin Chew Media Corporation (2004–2007), Independent non-executive director of AirAsia (2004–2013) and TSH Resources Limited (2005–2014).[5]
Since 2010, he has been an Independent non-executive director of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (Malaysia). In 2012, he was appointed as the first Chancellor of HELP University following the university's accordance of university status.
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | P049 Taiping, Perak | (Gerakan) | 14,253 | 53.19% | Loh Poh Seng (DAP) | 11,066 | 41.30% | 27,522 | 3,187 | 75.62% | |||
| Chow Chong Leng (PEKEMAS) | 999 | 3.73% | |||||||||||
| Ng Hoe Hun (KITA) | 479 | 1.79% | |||||||||||
| 1978 | (Gerakan) | 20,915 | 57.21% | Loh Poh Seng (DAP) | 12,893 | 35.27% | 37,593 | 8,022 | 79.72% | ||||
| Abdul Samad Hussin (PAS) | 2,752 | 7.53% | |||||||||||
| 1982 | (Gerakan) | 25,841 | 66.04% | Kong Cheok Seng (DAP) | 10,563 | 26.99% | 40,154 | 15,278 | 74.12% | ||||
| Mohamed Junid (PAS) | 2,726 | 6.97% | |||||||||||
| 1986 | P054 Taiping, Perak | (Gerakan) | 20,969 | 57.78% | Kong Cheok Seng (DAP) | 15,325 | 42.22% | 37,543 | 5,644 | 66.33% | |||