Mary Yap

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yap (葉).

Mary Yap Kain Ching (Chinese: 叶娟呈; pinyin: Yè Juānchéng) is a Malaysian politician and the former Deputy Minister of Higher Education in the Cabinet of Malaysia.^[1][2] She is a member of United Sabah Party (PBS).

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Mary Yap PGDK ASDK JP
叶娟呈
Deputy Minister of Higher Education
In office 29 July 2015 – 9 May 2018
Monarchs	Abdul Halim Muhammad V
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Minister	Idris Jusoh
Preceded by	Herself as Deputy Minister of Education
Succeeded by	Teo Nie Ching as Deputy Minister of Education
Constituency	Tawau
Deputy Minister of Education II
In office 16 May 2013 – 29 July 2015 Serving with Kamalanathan Panchanathan
Monarch	Abdul Halim
Prime Minister	Najib Razak
Minister	Muhyiddin Yassin Idris Jusoh
Preceded by	Mohd Puad Zarkashi as Deputy Minister of Education Saifuddin Abdullah as Deputy Minister of Higher Education
Succeeded by	Herself (Higher Education) Chong Sin Woon (Education)
Constituency	Tawau
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Tawau
In office 5 May 2013 – 9 May 2018
Preceded by	Chua Soon Bui (SAPP)
Succeeded by	Christina Liew (PKR–PH)
Majority	4,979 (2013)
Personal details
Born	(1951-03-10) 10 March 1951 (age 74) Tawau, North Borneo (now Sabah, Malaysia)
Citizenship	Malaysian
Political party	United Sabah Party (PBS) (2013–present)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN) United Sabah Alliance
Occupation	Politician

Personal life

Mary was born on 10 March 1951 in Tawau, Crown Colony of North Borneo and spent most of her childhood there before being sent to Kota Kinabalu to live with relatives after Form 3 to continue her studies.^[3] She is a devout Christian of the Protestant tradition belonging to the Basel Christian Church of Malaysia denomination.^[4]

Educational career

Mary started her career as a lecturer and teacher in the 1970s. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in 1974 from Universiti Malaya on a federal scholarship and a Diploma of Education from the same university the following year.^[3] In 1994, she completed her Master of Education (TESOL) from the University of Leeds, Britain.^[3] She was the principal of a prestigious private school in Malaysia when she retired in 2007.^[4] She was an advisor to the Minister of Education on the Cluster Schools of Excellence Movement from 2007 to 2009. The Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organisation awarded her the second Lý Chánh Đức Award.^[3] She was appointed to the Women's Advisory Council for Sabah as a member and the chair of Education Committee in 2009. Along the same year, she was appointed to the PINTAR Foundation. In 2013, she completed her PhD program.^[4] From 2013 to 2015, she was the Deputy Minister of Education.^[5] Later she became the Deputy Minister of Higher Education for Malaysia from 2015 to 2018. On 10 November 2017, she opened the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Research Centre of the National University of Malaysia.^[6]

Political career

Prior to the 2013 general election, she contest the parliamentary seat in her hometown of Tawau and won, subsequently became a Member of Parliament for the town.^[7]

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia^[8][9]

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
2013	P190 Tawau		Yap Kain Ching (PBS)	21,331	54.88%		Kong Hong Min (PKR)	16,352	42.07%	39,787	4,979	77.20%
							Chua Soon Bui (SAPP)	633	1.63%
							Ahmad Awang @ Madon (IND)	553	1.42%
2018			Yap Kain Ching (PBS)	16,673	39.00%		Christina Liew Chin Jin (PKR)	21,400	50.05%	43,861	4,727	73.20%
							Mohamad Husain (PAS)	2,518	5.89%
							Alizaman Jijurahman (PHRS)	2,162	5.06%

Honours

• Sabah :
  • Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) – Datuk (2008)^[10]
  • Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (ASDK) (2002)^[11]
  • Justice of the Peace (JP) (2005)^[12]