Leong Yew Koh was the first Governor of Malacca since independence. Being a Kuomintang member himself and serving under the Republic of China government from 1932 and later become the leader of Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Army branch in Perak from 1942 until 1945, he is one of the founder of the Malayan Chinese Association in 1949 and the party first secretary-general.
He was called to the bar in 1920 and served as an advocate and solicitor in the Federated Malay States and was also a member of the FMS Bar Committee until his resignation in 1932.
Republic of China
In 1932, Leong returned to China and served the Chinese government as counsellor of the Ministry of Railway's, legal adviser to the Executive Yuan, members of Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, adviser to the Treaty Commission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and inspector of China consulates in the Philippines, Dutch East Indies, Malaya and South Africa from 1935. He was also the senior commissioner for China in the Sino-British Joint Boundary Commission for the Investigation of the Southern Section of the Undelimited Yunnan-Burma Boundary from 1935 until 1937. He became counsellor to ambassador Chen Kung Po, the Chinese emissary to Rome in 1938. He then left the central government to join the Yunnan provincial government as development commissioner of the Second Frontier District of Yunnan.
War-time era
Resistance activities in Malaya
Through the ensuing Japanese Malayan campaign during the World War II, Leong is the leader of the Malayan Kuomintang-guerrilla branch of the Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Army in Perak where the group controlled the upper portion of the Perak River Valley. After the war ended and subsequent Japanese surrender, a negotiation was held between him and the British Malayan authorities where he agreed for the OCAJA under his authority being absorbed into the national Special Constabulary in 1947 to fight alongside the British against the Communist-influenced Malayan National Liberation Army.
Later life until final years
Political career in Malaya
On 27 February 1949, Tan Cheng Lock founded the Malayan Chinese Association along with Leong and Colonel H. S. Lee. Leong became the first Secretary-General of MCA. He was appointed as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Malacca on 31 August 1957, and served until 30 August 1959. In 1958, he was awarded a federal title of Tun, bestowed by DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya. He was then appointed as the Justice Minister of Malaya in 1959. He died on 12 January 1963 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. He was the first Chinese to be appointed as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri in any of the Malayan states. As of 2015, he is considered as the only Chinese ever appointed as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri in any of the Malaysian states.
