Ong Pang Boon (b. 27 March 1929, Kuala Lumpur - ) was a former cabinet minister holding several key portfolios as Minister of Home Affairs, Education, Labour and Environment. Beginning his political career as the Organising Secretary of the People's Action Party (PAP) in 1956, he rose to become the Assistant Secretary-General of the PAP in 1963 till 1981. As a Chinese-educated old guard in the PAP, Ong had close ties with the Chinese-speaking grassroots. He was also instrumental in introducing bilingualism to the school curriculum and in advocating the study of Chinese.
Education
1935 - 1938 : Ming Chung Public School, Kuala Lumpur.
1939 - 1941 : Confucian Middle School, Kuala Lumpur.
1947 - 1949 : Methodist Boys' School, Kuala Lumpur.
1950 - 1954 : University of Malaya, B.A. (Hons).
Politics
1955 - 1956 : Joined the People's Action Party (PAP), Secretary of Tanjong Pagar Branch.
Aug 1956 - 1963 : Appointed full time Organising Secretary of the People's Action Party.
Dec 1957 - 1959 : Elected to City Council and appointed Deputy Mayor of Singapore.
May 1959 - 1963 : Elected to the Singapore Legislative Assembly from the Telok Ayer Constituency.
1959 - 1963 : Minister for Home Affairs.
1963 - 1981: Assistant Secretary-General of the People's Action Party.
1963 - 1970 : Minister for Education.
1971 - 1981 : Minister for Labour.
1981 - : Minister for Environment.
1984 : Left the cabinet and served as a Director at the Hong Leong Group the following year.
1988 : Retired from politics.
Award
1990 : Order of Temasek (First Class)
Family
Wife: Chan Choy Siong, Member of Parliament for Delta from 1959 to 1970. She died in a car crash in 1981at the age of 49. She left behind two daughters and one son.
Author
Jenny Tien
References
Lam, P. E, & Tan, Y. L K. (Eds.). (1999). Lee's lieutenants: Singapore's old guard. (pp. 132-168). Australia: Allen & Unwin.
(Call no.: RSING 320.95957 LEE)
Ministry of Culture. (1977). Biographical notes of the President, Prime Minister and ministers. Singapore: Publicity Division, Ministry of Culture.
(Call no.: RSING 328.59570922 BIO)
Singapore Tatler. (1995). Singapore chronicles (p. 37). Singapore: Illustrated Magazine.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 SIN)
Sai, S. M., & Huang, M. (1999, July 11). A hand in making history - champions of a new view of Chinese-ness. The Straits Times, p. 32.
Vasoo, S. (2000, October 9). The old guards today. The Straits Times, p. 42.
Pang Boon says thanks to Telok Ayer residents. (1988, August 9). The Straits Times, p. 13.
The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
