KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Chua Tee Yong’s appointment as a deputy minister marks the latest rise in his political fortunes and appears to reflect his father, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s, continued influence within the Najib administration.

The 33-year-old Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister was also recently appointed to monitor MCA’s formidable party assets, estimated at about RM2 billion. He was also appointed to the party’s presidential council in April.

Tee Yong (picture) told The Malaysian Insider in a brief reaction that he was grateful for the opportunity to serve as deputy minister.

“I want to thank the MCA leadership and the prime minister for providing me the chance and the valuable opportunity,” he said. “I can’t say I expected it.”

Tee Yong contested his father’s Labis parliamentary seat following Soi Lek’s resignation in the wake of the sex DVD scandal and won the seat handily with a 4,094-vote majority over DAP’s Teo Eng Ching.

His victory on his first try in Labis in the 2008 election despite the “tsunami” and the sex DVD scandal reflected Soi Lek’s continued influence and popularity in the Johor constituency.

Tee Yong’s political career took another step forward when he was appointed to the MCA central committee in November last year during the tail end of the party’s power struggle.

His appointment was widely perceived to be part of the compromise between bitter rivals, then MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Soi Lek, then freshly reinstated from his suspension from his party over the sex DVD scandal, as they joined forces to hold off the challenge from Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and his allies.

Tee Yong is also an occasional columnist for The Malaysian Insider.