KUALA LUMPUR: Two Malaysian-born individuals are now members of parliament in Australia.
The first is Penny Wong - the first Malaysian-born to become a parliamentarian in the land Down Under – who was appointed as Australia's new foreign minister today.
The 54-year-old was born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and graduated with a law and arts degree from the University of Adelaide in 1992.
Wong was elected as a senator for South Australia in 2001, and went on to defend her seat in 2007, 2013 and 2016. This makes Wong the fourth longest serving senator in Australia.
Wong also made history as the first female to become the Leader of the Government in the Senate in 2013, and subsequently the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate after her party's defeat in the 2013 elections.
Given Wong's vast experience, few were surprised to see her return to the political limelight.
The real dark horse, however, was Muar-born Sam Lim, who wrested the Tangney seat in Western Australia from incumbent Ben Morton.
Morton, assistant minister to outgoing prime minister Scott Morrison and his cabinet, defended the seat for two terms.
In fact, Lim's victory marked the first time the Labour Party clinched the Tangney seat in almost four decades.
Lim, 61, came from humble beginnings as his family had no proper access to water and electricity for the first 15 years of his life.
Lim later served as a police officer for two years in Malaysia before he moved to Australia with his family in 2002.
Lim joined the Western Australian police force and was even named as Western Australia's police officer of the year in 2020.
Lim, who can speak 10 languages, also spent a short stint training dolphins at a safari park in Malaysia before leaving for Australia.
"I love it because dolphins are so genuine, they never hurt you. If you feel hurt, you jump into the swimming pool and the dolphin will come to you and try to comfort you," he told ABC News on Sunday.
Australia witnessed a change of government after nine years on Sunday, after the Labour Party led by Anthony Albanese ousted Morrison's Liberal-National coalition.
Albanese was sworn in as Australia's 31st prime minister on Monday.