Ong Teng Cheong

Ong was born on 22 January 1936 to Ong Keng Wee and Chung Lai Heng in the Straits Settlements (present-day Singapore), the second of five children from a middle-class family. His English-educated father Ong Keng Wee felt that the Chinese language was important if one ever wanted to become successful in business at the time and thus sent all of his children to Chinese-medium schools. Ong graduated with distinctions from The Chinese High School in 1955. Having received a Chinese-language education, Ong saw little opportunity for advancing his studies in the University of Malaya, as English was the university's language medium. In 1956, with the help of his father's friends, Ong ventured abroad. Those years were to shape both his beliefs and passions. Ong studied architecture at the University of Adelaide along with his childhood sweetheart and future wife, Ling Siew May. Both Ong and Ling met each other during a Christmas party while they were still studying in secondary school. and married Ling in 1963. Ong and his wife occasionally recite Chinese poetry and verses they learnt during their younger days. In 1967, Ong joined the Ministry of National Development (MND) as a town planner. After four years of civil service, Ong resigned in 1971, and started his own architectural firm, Ong & Ong Architects & Town Planners, with his wife. ==Political career==

MP and Minister Ong's political career spanned 21 years. He was a Member of Parliament (MP), Cabinet minister and Deputy Prime Minister, before he resigned to become the first elected President of Singapore in 1993. Ong's political beginnings started when he got involved in the grassroots activities in Seletar and was then introduced to Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The People's Action Party (PAP) subsequently fielded him as a PAP candidate contesting in Kim Keat SMC during the 1972 general election. Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) commemorating the opening of the first phase of the Singapore MRT, which was inaugurated by Ong|alt=A silver plaque with the words: Mr Ong Teng Cheong, Second Deputy Prime Minister, inaugurated the first section of the MRT system from Toa Payoh to Yio Chu Kang, and unveiled this plaque at Toa Payoh Station on 7 November 1989 His first political appointment came just three years later when he was appointed Senior Minister of State for Communications. At that time, he was notable for pushing for an extensive rail network in the country, now known as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), the largest construction project in Singapore's history. During his tenure as Minister for Communications, Ong continued to be a proponent and advocate of the MRT system, often coming at odds with his fellow political colleagues who were against such an idea. He was subsequently appointed Second Deputy Prime Minister in 1985. The origins of the MRT was first derived from a forecast by the country's planners back in 1967 which stated the need for a rail-based urban transport system by 1992. However, opposition from the government on the feasibility of the MRT from prominent ministers, among them Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee and Trade and Industry Minister Tony Tan, nearly shuttered the programme due to financial grounds and concerns of jobs saturation in the construction industry. Following a debate on whether a bus-only system would be more cost-effective, Ong came to the conclusion that an all-bus system would be inadequate, as it would have to compete for road space in a land-scarce country. Ong was an architect and town planner by training and through his perseverance and dedication became the main figure behind the initial construction of the system. Ong and other pro-rail advocates eventually won the argument, with the MRT being given the go-ahead in May 1982. Secretary-General of the NTUC Replacing Lim Chee Onn In 1983, Ong succeeded Lim Chee Onn as Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). Historically, the NTUC, representing non-communist trade unions in Singapore, maintained a notably close relationship with the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) as part of a tripartite system involving the government, employers, and unions. This alliance was instrumental to the PAP's consolidation of power during the 1960s. Despite this longstanding partnership, tensions between the NTUC leadership and the grassroots union base had begun to surface by the 1980s. In 1982, Lim, then still Secretary-General, publicly affirmed the deep historical ties between the two organisations, declaring that the "PAP and the NTUC came from the same mother—the struggle with the communists and the colonialists." Nevertheless, internal frictions were becoming more pronounced. According to political analyst Michael Barr, the NTUC leadership had come to be dominated by technocrats aligned with the PAP, many of whom were seen as distant from the traditional labour movement. Older grassroots union leaders increasingly felt sidelined in decision-making processes. Discontent with the NTUC's leadership became more visible in the early 1980s. The United Workers of Petroleum Industry (UWPI), along with the NTUC Triennial Delegates' Conference, publicly opposed government efforts to promote the establishment of house unions, a move that provoked political concern within the PAP leadership. In an open letter, Lee informed Lim that he would be reassigned to head a government ministry, and that Ong would assume the position of Secretary-General of the NTUC. Though the role of Secretary-General was typically held by a Cabinet member, Ong's appointment was notable. At the time, he served concurrently as Minister for Labour and Chairman of the PAP, and was widely regarded as a potential successor to Lee. These concerns were voiced by figures such as Peter Vincent, NTUC President from 1980 to 1984, who suggested that PAP technocrats should remain in advisory roles until they earned the trust of the union movement. In response, Ong actively sought to rebuild trust by increasing consultation with union leaders and reversing the trend of excluding grassroots representatives from top NTUC leadership. His approach was seen as a deliberate effort to restore the legitimacy and inclusiveness of the union hierarchy. Minister for Trade and Industry Tony Tan, vigorously opposed Ong's decision to sanction the strike, being concerned with investors' reactions to a perceived deterioration of labour relations or an impact on foreign direct investment (FDI) needed for jobs creation. Ong viewed the strike as a success, and according to Barr, Ong justified his commitment "in Confucian terms" in a "notion akin to noblesse oblige". Presidency In August 1993, Ong resigned from the Cabinet, the PAP and his position as Secretary-General of the NTUC in order to contest the 1993 Singaporean presidential election. Standing with the endorsement of the PAP, Ong contested against Chua Kim Yeow, a former accountant-general in Singapore's first-ever presidential election. Out of 1,756,517 votes cast, Ong received 952,513 votes while Chua garnered 670,358, despite having conducted a notably modest campaign and possessing a lower public profile. Ong was consequently inaugurated as the first elected President of Singapore, and in accordance with convention, was appointed ex officio Chancellor of both the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). However, shortly after assuming office, Ong encountered significant tension with the government regarding access to detailed information on Singapore's national reserves. While the government initially contended that it would require 56-man-years to compile a precise valuation of immovable assets, Ong consulted both the accountant-general and the auditor-general and concluded that such a valuation could be reasonably expedited. A preliminary list was eventually produced, though incomplete, and it ultimately took the government three years to deliver the information he had requested. In an interview with Hong Kong's Asiaweek six months after leaving office, Ong explained that his insistence on auditing the reserves was guided by his constitutional duty as an elected president to safeguard national assets, both liquid and immovable. He also recounted an instance where he was informed through the press that the government intended to sell the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) to The Development Bank of Singapore Limited (DBS) without notifying him in advance, despite the bank's reserves falling under presidential protection. He described the move as procedurally inappropriate, and although he eventually intervened, the sale proceeded regardless. In 1998, Ong was appointed an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his public service. He chose not to seek a second term in 1999, citing personal reasons, including the illness and subsequent passing of his wife. In his farewell speech on 30 August 1999, he remarked that "having a good government is better than having a good President to check on a bad government", expressing confidence in Singapore's leadership and its governance over the past 35 years. Ong's presidency was also distinguished by his patronage of charitable and cultural initiatives, most notably the founding of the President's Star Charity, an annual event that has benefitted numerous charities, arts organisations and youth groups. In his final year in office, he famously performed a piano rendition of Teresa Teng's The Moon Represents My Heart alongside Mediacorp artistes Evelyn Tan and Kym Ng. Ong stepped down from the presidency at the age of 63. ==Death==

Ong died in his sleep from lymphoma on 8 February 2002, at the age of 66, at his residence in Dalvey Estate at Tanglin at about 8:14pm Singapore Standard Time (UTC+08:00) after he had been discharged from hospital a few days earlier. As a mark of respect, state flags at all government buildings were flown at half-mast, including the Istana, on 11 February instead of on 12 February, the day of Ong's funeral, to avoid state flags being flown at half-mast on the first day of Chinese New Year. ==Legacy==

Ong was also known as "The People's President", as he was the first president to be directly elected by Singaporeans. • The Ong Teng Cheong Student Activities and Leadership Training Centre was opened in his alma mater Hwa Chong Institution on 21 March 2007. • The Singapore Institute of Labour Studies, which opened in 1990, was renamed the Ong Teng Cheong Institute of Labour Studies in March 2002. It was later renamed as the Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute. • In August 2017, a mountain located in south eastern Kazakhstan near the Kyrgyz border, was named Ong Teng Cheong peak. • Two of his autobiographies have been published. The first book, Route to Istana was published a year after being President in 1994 written in Chinese. The second book named: Ong Teng Cheong: Planner, Politician, President was published in 2005 after his death. ==References==