KUALA LUMPUR (June 25): Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong and MCA deputy president Datuk Wee Ka Siong were today appointed to the Cabinet for the first time.

Mah, 53, and Wee, 46, were made Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department. Mah recently recaptured the Teluk Intan Parliamentary seat, when he defeated Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud of DAP in a by-election at the end of last month, with a majority of 238 votes.

He was Teluk Intan member of Parliament in the 1999 and 2004 general elections, but failed to hold on to the seat in the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

In the government, Mah was Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister in 2004 and was made Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister from 2006 to 2008.

Earlier, Mah won Pasir Bedamar state assembly seat in the 1995 general election.

Mah, a Teluk Intan local-born, was given the mandate to lead Gerakan on Oct 26 last year, for the 2013-2016 term.

He holds a Science degree from the London School of Economics and a Masters degree in Manufacturing from City University London, as well as a law degree from the University of East London.

Wee, who hails from Jasin, Melaka, was the Deputy Education Minister from 2008 to 2013.

He holds a Civil Engineering degree from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), a Masters degree in Traffic Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, and a Doctorate in Transport Planning from UTM.

Wee, who is currently Ayer Hitam member of Parliament, had held the seat for three consecutive terms, since 2004.