Ong Ka Ting

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting (Chinese: 黄家定; pinyin: Huáng Jiā Dìng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: N̂g Ka-tēng; born 15 November 1956) is a Malaysian politician and a former Housing and Local Government Minister and Acting Health Minister in the Malaysian cabinet, and served as President of the Malaysian Chinese Association from May 2003 to October 2008. He was appointed Malaysian Prime Minister's Special Envoy to China in 2011.^[1]

Early life

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

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

From 1986 until 1990, Ong was the political secretary to the then Minister of Transport. After winning the general elections in 1990, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health from 26 October 1990 until 24 February 1991. 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 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 Datuk Seri 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 coalition, especially among candidates from the MCA and the 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 Malaysia Chinese Association (MCA) and had given the highest post of president to Ong Tee Keat on 18 October 2008 after the successful party election.

On 17 March 2010, Ong Ka Ting announced his intention to contest for the party's presidency in the 28 March party elections after leaving the post for one and a half years. He was defeated by Chua Soi Lek.^[2] He retired from Parliament at the 2013 election, having decided not to recontest his seat.^[3]

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