Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hannah Yeoh, as the current Member of Parliament for the Segambut constituency in Kuala Lumpur, has been hard at work in delivering aid, food and funds assistance to the needy and worst affected by the pandemic. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail from July 2018 until the administration’s collapse in February 2020. In her role as Deputy Minister, she was known as a fearless and vocal advocate for women’s rights, community and various other issues of public interest.

The 42-year-old is one of the few politicians in the country who has risen to the challenges of public office and excelled. Born and bred in Subang Jaya, she furthered her studies at the University of Tasmania, where she obtained her law degree. Yeoh started off as a practicing lawyer in Australia before coming home to do the same in Petaling Jaya for three years. Then, on the urging of a schoolmate, coupled with a strong spirit of servitude, she ventured into politics.

Quitting her job and devoting her time fully as a politician shortly before the March 2008 general election paid off as she won her home ground Subang Jaya seat. In the next 2013 general election, she was reelected as the Subang Jaya state assemblyperson for a second term. That same year, she was appointed as Malaysia’s first woman speaker for Selangor State Assembly. At 34, she was also the youngest speaker of any legislative assembly in the country. It was in 2018’s general election, at the behest of her party, that she ran for the Segambut parliamentary seat, in which she won and has been serving at since.