8th February 2023 marked 21st anniversary of his passing.
王鼎昌; Wáng Dǐngchāng;
(22nd January 1936 – 8th February 2002)
Singapore 🇸🇬
In memory: Ong Teng Cheong.
Here's why Ong Teng Cheong is remembered as one.
As the fifth president of the Republic of Singapore, Ong Teng Cheong was Singaporeans' first head of state to be popularly elected through the people's votes in the 1993 Presidential Election.
Fondly remembered after his death as "the people's president", February 8th, 2023 marked the 21st anniversary of his passing.
Ong began his involvement in grassroots activities in the late 1960s when he was staying in Seletar Hills. He was then in his early 30s.
An architect by training, it was Ong's commitment, mannerism and intelligence that was noticed by then Member-of-Parliament for Jalan Kayu, Hwang Soo Jin.
Ong was then appointed the Chairman of the Resident's Association and later introduced by Hwang to Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who once remarked that Ong "had shown a special knack, the ability to get on with ordinary people, and empathise with them."
This was a reading that would later prove spot-on and even prophetic.
Prior to being fielded in the 1972 election, Ong worked with the Ministry of National Development as a town planner from 1967 to 1971.
From 1972 to 1991, Ong served as a People’s Action Party (PAP) MP for the Kim Keat constituency.
His first political appointment came barely three years after being elected, when he was made Senior Minister of State for Communications.
In 1977, he was appointed Acting Minister for Culture, and became Minister for Communications in 1978.
Later, during his tenure as the Minister of National Development, he was an advocate for the development of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, the largest construction project in Singapore's history.
In 1983, Ong replaced Lim Chee Onn as Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).
Two years later, he became the Second Deputy Prime Minister, and held this post till November 1990, when he was promoted again to Deputy Prime Minister.
From 1991 to 1993, he served in the Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency (GRC).
In August that year, Ong resigned from his posts in the Cabinet, the PAP and the NTUC to contest the Presidential Election 1993.
The labour chief Ong Teng Cheong who sanctioned a strike.
Ong's affable qualities were further refined as he spent more than 20 years in the public service and labour movement, before becoming president.
Most notably, his people skills were put to good — and very possibly dramatic — use, during his tenure as chief of the labour movement.
As a union activist in NTUC, Ong was ferocious in working actively and forcefully in the interests of the unions in a way that his predecessor had never been seen to do, and stretched union activism to the limits that would be tolerated by the government.
For example, in January 1986, Ong sanctioned a strike in the shipping industry, the first in Singapore in about a decade.
Not only did he approve of the strike, he did not inform the Cabinet beforehand, out of fear that they would prevent him from going ahead with it.
In a subsequent Asiaweek interview in year 2000 after his tenure as president ended, Ong revealed:
"Some of them were angry with me about that... the minister for trade and industry was very angry, his officers were upset. They had calls from America, asking what happened to Singapore?"
One of those who vigorously opposed Ong's decision to sanction the strike is none other than the former 7th president, of Singapore, between 2011 and 2017, Tony Tan Keng Yam ( now age 83) who was then the minister for trade and industry.
Tony Tan was concerned with investors' reactions to a perceived deterioration of labour relations or an impact on foreign direct investment needed for job creation.
However, Ong viewed the strike as a success:
"I had the job to do... [the strike] only lasted two days. All the issues were settled. It showed the management was just trying to pull a fast one."
He believed it was necessary as "[the] management were taking advantage of the workers".
He was able to — for the lack of a better word — strike a delicate balance because he had the trust of the government and his colleagues, as well as the people and workers he represented.
Ong Teng Cheong As President of Singapore 🇸🇬
As the fifth president of Singapore, Ong served a six-year term from September. 1st, 1993 to August 31st, 1999.
Initially, Ong, who ran for the presidency under the PAP’s endorsement against Chua Kim Yeow, a former accountant general, saw him win marginally after garnering only 952,513 votes while his opponent received 670,358 votes, despite having greater exposure and a more active campaign.
However, when in office, the legacy of Ong's presidency took shape.
In 1994, he questioned the government’s interpretation of the constitution when the latter introduced a bill to revise the veto powers of the president.
He then asked for the matter to be referred to a special High Court Tribunal, chaired by the Chief Justice.
When the Tribunal ruled in favour of the government, Ong graciously accepted the decision.
In 1997, he refused to approve the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board’s budget until he was satisfied that it would not draw down on the nation’s reserves.
The events resulted in two major institutional developments: The first was the creation of a tribunal of judges for constitutional disputes, and the second was a White Paper, which placed on public record the working principles agreed between the government and the president on protecting the nation’s reserves.
Ong’s presidency was also marked by the initiation of many charitable projects, the largest of which is the annual President’s Star Charity, which was launched the year he was elected President and has since gone on to raise millions of dollars for local charities.
Ong initiated a number of charities during his tenure, such as the President’s Star Charity, which eventually benefitted more than 160 organisations. In the 1999 President’s Star Charity show, Ong stepped up to the stage to personally give a piano performance, accompanied by MediaCorp artistes Kym Ng and Evelyn Tan. Ong played one of the famous pieces during his time, The Moon Represents My Heart, a Mandarin song made famous by Taiwanese legend Teresa Teng. [ Watch here YouTube] It was truly a memorable performance to be remembered for a lifetime.
The late Ong Teng Cheong will always be fondly remembered as the fifth President of Singapore who held office from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999. Ong’s presidency was marked by many charity projects and Ong Teng Cheong was strongly regarded as a people’s President by the citizens of Singapore.
An accomplished musician, Ong would also lend a hand to various welfare causes.
(1947 – Ong Teng Cheong started to learn the piano when he was 11 years old.)
He occasionally played the piano in public events and even conducted the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Ong was very passionate about music, the arts and charity. Being an accomplished musician, Ong had a strong love for the piano and occasionally played the piano at public events.
He even played a major role in setting up the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). Ong had a hand in conducting the SSO and he first commissioned the SSO’s President Young Performers Concert in 1995, to raise funds for selected charities. The President Young Performers Concert was officially launched in 2001, 22 years after the establishment of the SSO. In April 1998, the SSO held a fund raising drive and Mr Ong graced the rehearsals to motivate the orchestra.
Throughout Ong’s six year tenure as the President of Singapore, he was heavily involved in the promotion of the arts and music scene in Singapore. It was his belief that the arts and music would help to create a common Singapore culture and identity, as well as to promote a strong sense of pride and togetherness. Through music and even more so, his personal touch, Ong wanted to make a positive difference in people’s lives and this was what endeared him in the hearts of Singaporeans.
Ong’s personal touch was embodied in an incident that happened in December 1981. Ong, then the Minister of Labour and Communications, had been visiting Block 26 in Kim Keat when he was invited into the home of six-year-old Ng Chuin Ting.
Although the little resident in his constituency had only learned the piano for a month, she voluntarily played for Mr Ong. What transpired subsequently surprised Chuin Ting and her mother; Ong gave an impromptu rendition of “On The Street Where You Live” from the musical “My Fair Lady”. [ click here YouTube] Things went further when both Ong and Chuin Ting got into the mood, with the former playing Jingle Bells and the little fan singing along.
This incident reinforced the notion that Ong was truly a people’s President in people’s minds. At the same time, getting into a duet with a six-year-old girl was an apt demonstration of Ong’s belief that music truly binds people of different backgrounds together and connects people of all ages.
This was accentuated when Ong’s piano teacher Daniel himself commented, “In music, there’s no age limit.” Indeed, even though Ong had studied the piano up to Grade Eight – as the public later found out – nothing would truly stop a young person from taking baby steps towards learning music, so long as he or she was willing to.
Even as the Acting Minister for Culture in the late 1970s, he was determined to transform Singapore from a perceived cultural desert to a city of the arts.
Ong’s promotion of the arts in an official capacity started early. In 1978, when Ong was the Acting Culture Minister, he created the Singapore Cultural Foundation, whose mission was to “essentially play a catalytic role in creating a vibrant cultural life.” The Foundation, he added, had the objective of creating “a congenial atmosphere in which cultural activities can thrive and local talents can blossom forth.” Under Ong’s patronship, the Foundation raised $1.2 million in donations within three months of its creation.
In the same year, 1978, Ong launched the Singapore Festival of Arts (SFA). This annual event was paired with the Festival of Asian Performing Arts (FAPA), another programme that had an Asian-centric flavour, as biennial events hosted in alternate years. Eventually, the two events were merged in 1999 to become the Singapore Arts Festival (SAF), which underwent changes before being renamed the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA), as we know it today.
Ong’s dedication to the promotion of the arts and culture also led to engaging debate among Singaporeans. Ong had, in 1979, invited cultural bodies and even individuals to contribute ideas on how best to better the culture among the public.
Responding to his call, many suggested the setting up of arts schools, particularly within universities, where students would benefit from good facilities and quality training. However, some argued that it would be precipitous to create such schools when the social environment then was hardly ready for the influx of future artists and musicians. It would be more important, they suggested, to teach art- and music-related subjects in universities. Grooming people trained in and who were appreciative of the arts would allow these future leaders to create an ecosystem in the country in which art forms would fluorish and mature.
For someone so passionate about arts and music and a love for his people, Ong had serious views about these cultural forms. His emphasis on music education cannot be overstated. In 1979, he reportedly rapped some schools for removing music lessons from their timetables. Ong truly believed that the best way to engage people in music was during their youth, and that young people had to utilise their time wisely.
In 1988, Ong held the role of the Chairman of the Advisory Council on Culture and the Arts. The council’s report, which detailed the policies governing the growth of these areas in Singapore and was released the following year, made a strong recommendation for the construction of a new performing arts centre – an idea first mooted by Ong in 1975. Ong, then the Minister of Culture, was subsequently involved in the designing of the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, which was finally completed and unveiled in October 2002.
1992 – Ong first conducted the SSO when it played a new Chinese composition called Golden Orchid, which was arranged by composer Shen Ping Kwang.
He was also the driving force behind a move by the NTUC to commission Singaporean orchestral works based on local songs such as Di Tanjung Katong and Singapura.
He left his mark on the Singapore arts scene, as his efforts led to the first Singapore Festival of the Arts.
The Advisory Council’s report also led to the eventual setup of the National Arts Council (NAC) and the National Heritage Board (NHB), agencies that have been playing a key role in shaping Singapore’s arts and cultural landscape.
Given that Singapore was rapidly industralising and rising in status as a regional financial centre, it was fitting that attention be given to the non-economic aspects of the country’s growth. In the words of the Advisory Council, “We have reached a stage in our economic and national development when we should devote greater attention and resources to culture and the arts in Singapore. Culture and the arts add to the vitality of the nation and enhance the quality of life.”
In the years that followed, the NAC would champion the performing, visual and literary arts forms, while the NHB would preserve and promote Singapore’s rich cultural heritage. Ong’s leadership of the Advisory Council benefitted Singapore in no small ways.
A sad but touching final moment on the piano marked Ong’s demise. Ong had just been discharged from hospital and had been unable to play the piano for weeks, owing to his fight with lymphoma. On 7th February 2002, however, he made the effort to play his late wife’s favourite tunes before going to bed. Ong passed away peacefully in his sleep the day after. As Ong’s eldest son Tze Guan recounted, “That was the last significant thing he did before embarking on his journey to meet mum.”
Ong’s contribution to Singapore’s arts scene did not go unnoticed. Following Ong’s death by cancer on 8 Feb 2002, the National University of Singapore launched the Ong Teng Cheong Professorship in Music. The Professorship helps to fund musicians to teach at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.
During ex-President S R Nathan’s speech on 2nd October 2002 to launch this Professorship, he paid tribute to the late President Ong for his dedication to and personal involvement in the local arts landscape. He noted that Ong had taken a personal interest in developing and encouraging young Singaporean musicians and artists, paying close attention to every performer and artist who participated in such events as the President’s Charity Art Exhibition and the President’s Charity Concert.
In April the following year, the Ong Teng Cheong Concert was held at the Esplanade. Featuring young Singapore music talents, this concert was assigned as the event to mark the close of the Music Box Festival.
This was a deliberate move by The Esplande Company and would have moved the heart of Ong. Indeed, in his 2002 speech, ex-President Nathan had described the Esplanade as being “most symbolic of Teng Cheong’s imprint on our artistic landscape”. Very aptly, schools were permitted to use the Tote Board Arts grant to subsidise the tickets, in a clear attempt by the Government to make the performing arts accessible to the young.
Although it has been 21 years since the passing of Ong, the role he played in growing the arts and music scene in Singapore, will forever be remembered by Singapore citizens and music lovers worldwide. May his legacy live on and may the arts scene in Singapore achieve greater heights!
Ong also took his role as the guardian of Singapore’s reserves seriously by questioning the type and quantity of assets the government owned. This episode played out as a public dispute between him and the government over the access of information regarding Singapore’s financial reserves.
Ong’s stand was that he could not carry out his duties if he was unaware of how much reserves Singapore has. He said in the Asiaweek interview in 2000 that he had a job to do, whether the government liked it or not.
In his later years, he also opposed the sale of POSB (Post Office Savings Bank) to DBS (The Development Bank of Singapore) in 1998 during his last year in office. He felt that the sale was procedurally inappropriate and did not regard the president’s significance as the guardian of the reserves. This was due to the fact that POSB at that time was a government statutory board whose reserves came under the president’s protection.
Ong’s popularity was by the end of his presidential term evident.
After his wife, Ling Siew May, passed away weeks before he stepped down as president, there was an outpouring of condolences from the public. As a child, she was struck by rheumatic fever, leaving a heart valve permanently damaged. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in January 1997 and by July 1999, it was in an advanced stage. Her last public appearance was at the President’s Charity Ball on 9th July at which President Ong performed a piano recital for an audience of 650 people. She died at 11.25 am on 30 July 1999 at the National University Hospital.
At her cortege, girls from the Nanyang Girls’ High Choir tearfully sang Zhu Guang Li De Ma Ma (Mother in the Candlelight). https://youtu.be/_W18uaw8zgU
Before his death in February 2002 at the age of 66 from lymphoma, he had asked to be cremated and for his ashes to be placed at Mandai Columbarium with those of ordinary citizens instead of Kranji State Cemetery, where late dignitaries are usually buried.
Singapore flags flew at half mast on the government buildings, including the Istana, to pay him his last respects. It was the first time in Singapore’s history this was ever done.
However, Ong’s standing as the people’s president was celebrated only after his passing, as his status and achievements have been lionised mostly after his death.
This is perhaps due to the perception that he is the first popularly-elected, and possibly the only president so far, who exercised his powers boldly and fully.
It should also be noted that as president, Ong said:
"Some people still ask whether my long previous association with the PAP will stop me from acting independently. The answer is 'no'. My loyalty is first and foremost to the people of Singapore. It has always been so and it will always remain so."
Ong Teng Cheong's Other Half
Ling Siew May (born :1937, in Shanghai, China – departed: 30 July 1999, in Singapore) was the wife of the late former President Ong Teng Cheong, and principal partner at Ong & Ong Architects. She took over the company in 1993 and continued to work even after Ong was elected as president. Her notable architectural achievements include the preservation and restoration of Chijmes. See Chijmes
Her Early Life
The fourth of six children, Ling’s father had been posted to a British firm in Singapore where he worked as a clerk in 1942. She arrived as an 11-year-old “owning little more than the clothes on her back”. During World War II, the Japanese occupied Singapore and Ling’s father lost touch with the family. During this time, Ling was sent to an orphanage in Shanghai where she lived for five years. Two of her brothers died during the war. However, by 1948, Ling’s father managed to find his family and brought them to Singapore where Ling was enrolled at an English and Chinese school concurrently, enabling her to master both languages.
Ling met Ong Teng Cheong at a Christmas party in 1952 when she was 15 years old and he, 16 years old. They shared a common love for Chinese poetry and theatre. They later studied architecture together at the University of Adelaide, Australia. Ling graduated in 1963 and married Ong that same year.
Her Education & Career
Between 1951 and 1956, Ling studied at Nanyang Girls’ High School where she excelled as an essayist, mathematician and calligrapher. In 1963, Ling obtained her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Adelaide, Australia — the first Asian woman to do so. In 1972, she set up Ong & Ong Architects with her husband, where she was the principal partner. She continued to work even after Ong Teng Cheong was elected as president, making her Singapore’s only working first lady. Even when her health deteriorated, she completed the new campus for her alma mater Nanyang Girls’ High School at Linden Drive, which was also her last project.
Her Social Contribution
Ling was a patron of at least five charities and associations, such as the Girl Guides, but had a soft spot for Nanyang Girls’ High School, where she served on the board of directors and to which she had donated more than half a million dollars of her own money. In recognition of her contributions to her alma mater, the school started the Ling Siew May Scholarship, which is worth $1,000, to be awarded to the top Secondary 4 student “who embodies the three tenets of the Integrated Programme, being reflective, responsive and responsible”.
Spotlight on four young music talents who played musical instruments with the President Ong Teng Cheong.
The Straits Times, 31 December 1994, Page 10.
" After the recital, we were playing Christmas carols by ourselves when President Ong Teng Cheong asked if he could join us. Of course, we said yes. He then sat on the piano stool and played along with us. " - cellist Noella Yan
ON MONDAY, the spotlight at the Victoria Concert Hall will fall on four young girls when they perform their first public recital together.
The recital of violin, piano and cello solos and piano trios will feature works by famous composers like Bach, Mozart, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Scarlatti, Fricker and Dinicu. ( 'Dinicu' here)
Recently, the former winners of the National Music Competition gave a private recital at the Istana on Christmas Eve. But this was not what made the occasion memorable for them.
"After the recital, we were playing Christmas carols by ourselves when President Ong Teng Cheong asked if he could join us," says Noella Yan.
"Of course, we said yes. He then sat on the piano stool and played along with us."
Yan, 14, learnt to play the piano before she took up the cello under her father. Now a cellist with the Singapore Youth Orchestra, she joined the renowned Purcell School in London in June this year.
The former student of Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' Secondary School says: "Now I can pursue both my academic studies as well as specialise in music studies."
Like Yan, Rachel Chen, 13, also went to England to pursue her music studies at the Chetham's School of Music in Manchester in January this year.
While she missed her family sometimes, the pianist finds life in the school, where everybody loves classical music, congenial.
For Grace Li Yan'en, 11. a first violinist with the Singapore Youth Orchestra and a student at Tao Nan Primary School, juggling music and play is not much of a problem if "you organise your time properly".
But she admits feeling left out sometimes. "All my friends don't appreciate music at all. Music is like a side-dish to them."
The youngest among the quartet is 10-year-old Tang Tee Khoon. But age is not a deterrence to the winner of the Best Performer Award at the 1993 National Music Competition.
A first violinist with the Singapore Youth Orchestra, she is a student in the Gifted Education programme at Nanyang Primary School.
"Group work is very much emphasised in our programme, so I don't really feel lonely. Our teacher also takes good care of us because there are only 20 people in the class."
This recital by the four young talents is presented by the Emmanuel Music Society set up four years ago to promote music talents through music camps, work shops, recital, school and family concerts.
Four Young Talents will be on at the Victoria Concert Hall on Monday at 5 pm. Tickets at $3 and $5 are available from Emmanuel Music Society, Gramercy Music, Hi-Fi Corner. the Teacher Parent Store or at the door on the day of concert from 4 pm.
31st August 1999, Ong Teng Cheong stepped down as President of Singapore. .
State Funeral in Singapore 🇸🇬
In Singapore's history, only two ex-presidents out of six did not have a state funeral: Devan Nair, who passed away in Canada, and Ong Teng Cheong, who passed away in Singapore.
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