Early career Trained as a lawyer, Yeoh began her career working in Tasmania before returning to Malaysia, where she spent three years at a legal firm in
Petaling Jaya. In 2006, she transitioned to the event management industry. Encouraged by her school friend Edward Ling, Yeoh entered politics by joining the
Democratic Action Party (DAP) the same year. Just two years later, in the
2008 general election, she won the
Subang Jaya state seat with a majority of 13,851 votes, securing 23,459 votes against
Barisan Nasional's (BN) Ong Chong Swen, who received 9,608.
Speaker of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly On 21 June 2013, at the age of 34, Yeoh was sworn in as the Speaker of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly, becoming Malaysia's youngest and first female state Speaker. During the same ceremony,
Nik Nazmi was sworn in as the state's Deputy Speaker. In June 2015, a columnist criticised Yeoh for wearing a
headscarf inside a mosque, labelling her an "enemy within" for seemingly betraying the
Chinese community. Yeoh responded by defending her choice, emphasising that "respecting the dress code of a place of worship does not equate to disloyalty."
2018 general election In the
2018 general election on 9 May, Yeoh won the
Segambut parliamentary seat with 53,124 votes and a
majority of 45,702, She was succeeded as Speaker by
Ng Suee Lim, who was appointed to the position on 26 June 2018.
Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Following her appointment as Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development on 2 July 2018, Yeoh pledged to be a "strong voice for children" in Dewan Rakyat. In February 2019, she announced that the
Sexual Harassment Bill would not be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat during the March session as the results of a recently completed feasibility study were still under careful review. In July 2020, police investigations clarified that a seditious post wrongly attributed to Yeoh was actually uploaded by a portal called "muafakatnasional.net", with no involvement from her. Then, in August 2021, Yeoh called on Prime Minister
Ismail Sabri Yaakob to urgently establish a dedicated Ministry of Children to better address the critical needs of children in Malaysia. Yeoh successfully retained her Segambut parliamentary seat in the
2022 general election on 19 November, winning over 80% of the vote with 65,290 votes and a majority of 56,980 against her opponents from
Perikatan Nasional–Gerakan and BN–MCA.
Minister of Youth and Sports On 3 December 2022, Yeoh was appointed Minister of Youth and Sports in the
Anwar Ibrahim cabinet. However, in 2024,
Wan Ahmad Fayhsal criticised Yeoh for a lack of hands-on leadership amid controversies surrounding the
Paris 2024 Olympics, stating that despite her limited control over sports associations, she bears ultimate responsibility. Following the party's
leadership reshuffle on 16 March 2025, Yeoh continues to hold a prominent role as one of DAP's deputy secretaries-general. In May 2025, the
High Court ruled in her favour in a defamation suit against Kamarul Zaman, ordering him to pay RM400,000 in damages for making false and malicious claims that she was promoting a Christian proselytising agenda through her political platform. == Personal life ==