Ong Ka Ting (simplified Chinese: 黄家定; traditional Chinese: 黃家定; pinyin: Huáng Jiādìng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: N̂g Ka-tēng; born 15 November 1956) is a Malaysian politician. He was the former Housing and Local Government Minister from 1999 to 2008 and Acting Transport Minister from May to June 2003 in the Malaysian cabinet. Ong also served as the seventh president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a major component party in Barisan Nasional (BN); from May 2003 to October 2008. He was appointed Special Envoy of Malaysia to China on 1 November 2011.[1] He relinquished the Special Envoy's post on 31 December 2017 after serving three terms.[2][3]

Ong Ka Ting
黄家定
Acting Minister of Health
In office
2 January 2008 – 18 March 2008
MonarchTuanku Syed Sirajuddin
Prime MinisterAbdullah Ahmad Badawi
DeputyAbdul Latiff Ahmad
ConstituencyKulai
Minister of Housing and Local Government
In office
15 December 1999 – 18 March 2008
Monarchs
Prime Minister
DeputyPeter Chin Fah Kui
(Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government I) (1999–2004)
M. Kayveas
(Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government II) (2001–2003)
ConstituencyPontian
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs II
In office
8 May 1995 – 14 December 1999
Serving with Megat Junid Megat Ayub (1995–1997)
Azmi Khalid (1997–1999)
Monarchs
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
Minister
ConstituencyPontian
Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs
In office
1993–1995
Monarchs
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
MinisterMahathir Mohamad
Deputy MinisterMegat Junid Megat Ayub
Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Health
In office
1990–1993
Monarchs
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
MinisterLee Kim Sai
Deputy MinisterMohd Farid Ariffin
7th President of the Malaysian Chinese Association
In office
23 May 2003 – 18 October 2008
DeputyChan Kong Choy
Preceded byLing Liong Sik
Succeeded byOng Tee Keat
Faction represented in Dewan Rakyat
1990–2013Barisan Nasional
Other roles
2011–2017Special Envoy of Malaysia to China
Personal details
Born (1956-11-15) 15 November 1956 (age 67)
Lenggong, Perak, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
Political partyMalaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
Other political
affiliations
Barisan Nasional (BN)
Perikatan Nasional (PN)
SpouseWendy Chong Siew Mei (张秀梅)
RelationsYounger brother of Ong Ka Chuan
ChildrenOng Li En
Ong Xing Yang
Alma materUniversity of Malaya (UM)
OccupationPolitician

Early life

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Ong was born on 15 November 1956 in Lenggong, Perak. He graduated from University of Malaya, majoring in Mathematics and Science in 1980.[4] He began his career as a chemistry teacher in Catholic High School in Petaling Jaya from 1981 until 1986.[5]

MCA former secretary-general for twice, Ong Ka Chuan, is his elder brother.

He is married to Puan Sri Wendy Chong Siew Mei. The couple have two children – Chloe Ong Li En and Ong Xing Yang.

Political career

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From 1986 until 1990, Ong was the political secretary to Ling Liong Sik, the MCA president and Minister of Transport then. After winning the 1990 general elections to be Member of Parliament (MP) of Pontian, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health from 26 October 1990 until 24 February 1991 by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Ong was next appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs from 25 February 1991 through April 1995, before being promoted to be the Deputy Minister of the same Ministry on 3 May 1993.

In 1999, he was promoted to become a full-fledged minister leading the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, a position he held until 2008. In a 2003 leadership transition plan which saw Ong and Chan Kong Choy were elected to succeed retiring Ling and Lim Ah Lek as party President and Deputy President respectively.[6] In 2004, he retained his parliamentary seat of Tanjung Piai with a 23,615 votes majority over the opposition candidate. In January 2008, he was appointed as Acting Health Minister following the resignation of Dr. Chua Soi Lek who was involved in a sex scandal.

In the 2008 general election, Ong succeeded in his bid for the Kulai Parliamentary seat. However, the election was marked by heavy losses for the ruling BN coalition, especially among candidates from the MCA and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC). In the subsequent Cabinet reshuffle, Ong was not retained as a member of the Cabinet by his request, as he wanted to focus his energies in restructuring and re-engineering the MCA to win back Chinese voters' support. His former Cabinet portfolio was handed over to his elder brother, Ong Ka Chuan who was MCA Secretary-General, Perak MCA chief and MP of Tanjung Malim in Perak.

In 2008, he had left the presidency of MCA and had passed the highest post of the party to Ong Tee Keat after the successful party election on 18 October 2008. After leaving the post for one and a half years, on 17 March 2010 Ong Ka Ting announced his intention to contest for the party's presidency in the 28 March party elections.[7] He contested the presidency against incumbent Ong Tee Keat and reinstated deputy president Dr. Chua Soi Lek in a three-corner fight.[8] However he failed in the comeback attempt and was defeated by Dr. Chua.[9]

In 2013, Ong decided not to recontest his parliamentary seat in the 2013 general election thus retire as a six-term MP.[10]

Election results

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Parliament of Malaysia[11][12]
Year Constituency Candidate Votes Pct Opponent(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
1990 P133 Pontian, Johor Ong Ka Ting (MCA) 24,362 61.93% Gan Peck Cheng (DAP) 14,978 38.07% 41,637 9,384 75.06%
1995 P144 Pontian, Johor Ong Ka Ting (MCA) 37,230 88.00% Saleh @ Daud Hassan (S46) 5,079 12.00% 44,772 32,151 74.07%
1999 Ong Ka Ting (MCA) 38,169 82.21% Diong Chi Tzuoh (keADILan) 8,259 17.79% 48,055 29,910 74.43%
2004 P165 Tanjong Piai, Johor Ong Ka Ting (MCA) 28,046 86.36% Tan Hang Meng (DAP) 4,431 13.64% 33,938 23,615 76.14%
2008 P163 Kulai, Johor Ong Ka Ting (MCA) 32,017 61.23% Ng Pack Siong (DAP) 20,273 38.77% 53,676 11,744 79.69%

Honours

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Honours of Malaysia

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References

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  1. ^ "PM Umum Pelantikan Ong Ka Ting Sebagai Duta Khas Ke China". mStar (in Malay). 22 October 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  2. ^ Justin Ong (7 July 2018). "Report: Putrajaya axing special envoys, advisers". The Malay Mail. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Ong bows out of special envoy role". mStar. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting (President from May 2003 – October 2008)" (PDF). Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA). Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Malaysian Representative: Ong Ka Ting". Sinar Project. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Party History (2000 - 2009): 2003". MCA. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  7. ^ "How Ong Ka Ting masterminded his political comeback". Malaysiakini. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Former MCA Sec-Gen: Ka Ting a recycled politician". The Edge. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  9. ^ "MCA Polls: Live updates - Soi Lek is new MCA president". The Star. 28 March 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  10. ^ Chua, Sue-Ann (28 April 2013). "GE13: Ka Ting lends weight to Kulai contest of contrasts". fz.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  11. ^ "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 19 June 2010. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  12. ^ "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Results only available from the 2004 election.
  13. ^ "1,849 conferred royal awards". The Star. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  14. ^ "DPMP 1997". pingat.perak.gov.my. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  15. ^ "SPMP 2000". pingat.perak.gov.my. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Khir: Developed status should spur others on". The Star. 2 December 2005. Retrieved 2 December 2005.
  17. ^ "DPMS 2005". Retrieved 27 April 2022.
Political offices
Preceded by Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) President
23 May 2003 – 18 October 2008
Succeeded by