Ong Teng Cheong 王鼎昌
5th President of Singapore
In office August 28, 1993 – September 1, 1999
Preceded by	Wee Kim Wee
Succeeded by	Sellapan Ramanathan
Born	January 22, 1936(1936-01-22) Singapore
Died	February 8, 2002 (aged 66) Singapore
Nationality	Singaporean
Political party	People's Action Party
Spouse	Ling Siew May (deceased)
Profession	Architect

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Ong.

Ong Teng Cheong (Chinese: 王鼎昌; pinyin: Wáng Dǐngchāng; January 22, 1936 - February 8, 2002) was the first directly elected President of Republic of Singapore. He was the nation's fifth President, in office from August 28, 1993 to September 1, 1999. Official Presidential Photo Fair use for Image:Ong. ... Flag of the President of Singapore - banner of arms The President of Singapore is the head of state. ... is the 240th day of the year (241st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... Wee Kim Wee (Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; November 4, 1915–May 2, 2005) was the fourth President of Singapore, from 1985 to 1993. ... Sellapan Ramanathan (born July 3, 1924) is the sixth and current President of the Republic of Singapore. ... is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Singapore. ... Party logo with a symbol of red lightning that signifies action. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A Chinese surname, family name (Chinese: ; pinyin: ) or clan name (氏; pinyin: shì), is one of the hundreds or thousands of family names that have been historically used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups in mainland China, Taiwan, and among overseas Chinese communities. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Flag of the President of Singapore - banner of arms The President of Singapore is the head of state. ... is the 240th day of the year (241st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

Life

He studied in Chung Cheng Primary School and The Chinese High School (1950-1955), and is arguably the school's most famous alumnus. The Chinese High School (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), formerly Singapore Nanyang Overseas Chinese Middle School (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: ) was founded by philanthropist Tan Kah Kee on March 21, 1919 in Singapore. ...

Politics

As chairman of the People's Action Party (PAP) and secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress, Ong was considered a firm Lee Kuan Yew loyalist. In January 1986, he sanctioned a strike in the shipping industry, the first for about a decade in Singapore, without telling the cabinet. He said that he did not inform the cabinet or the government because they would probably stop him from going ahead with the strike. There was a major corporate and Cabinet backlash against his decision; however, the strike lasted only two days, and a deal was struck.^[1] Party logo with a symbol of red lightning that signifies action. ... The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC), is a national federation comprising trade unions of workers in the industrial, service and public sectors of Singapore. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is 李 (Li) Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; born September 16, 1923; also spelled Lee Kwan-Yew), was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Shipping is the transport of cargo between seaports by ships, typically large steel vessels powered by diesel engines or steam turbine plants. ...

Ong at the opening of initial section of the MRT at Toa Payoh MRT Station.

During his tenure as the Minister of National Development, Ong was a proponent of the Mass Rapid Transit system. He later became the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister in 1985. Image File history File links OpeningMRT.jpg Opening of MRT Passenger Service at Toa Payoh MRT Station. ... Image File history File links OpeningMRT.jpg Opening of MRT Passenger Service at Toa Payoh MRT Station. ... Toa Payoh MRT Station (NS19) is an underground station of the Mass Rapit Transits North South Line in Singapore. ... A C751B train at Eunos MRT Station. ... This article is about the year. ...

Presidency

Ong ran for the presidency in 1993 under PAP's endorsement. He ran against a reluctant Chua Kim Yeoh, a former accountant general, for the post. A total of 1,756,517 votes were polled. Ong received 952,513 votes while Chua had 670,358 votes, despite the former having a higher public exposure and a much more active campaign than Chua. There was a swing of support over to Chua's side, especially in the educated class. The reason was because of the issue of whether they wanted a PAP man as president to check on a PAP government or whether it would be better to have a neutral independent like Chua.^{[citation needed]} Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ...

However, soon after his election to the presidency in 1993, he became embroiled in a dispute with the government over the access of information regarding Singapore's financial reserves. The government said it would take 56 man years to produce a dollar-and-cents value of the immovable assets. Ong discussed this with the accountant general and the auditor general and came to a compromise that the government needed to give him only a listing of all the properties that the government owns. It took the government a few months to produce the list. But even then the list was not complete. In all, it took the government three years to come up with the information about the reserves that Ong requested.^[1] The government also tried to submit a bill to parliament for the sale of the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB), a statutory board whose reserves are to be protected by the president, to the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), without first informing Ong during the last year of his presidency. Ong's office had to inform the government that the procedure was wrong.^[1] Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... The Post Office Savings Bank (constructed between 1904 and 1912) in Vienna, Austria, was designed by Otto Wagner and became an important early work of modern architecture. ... DBS Bank Branch in Hong Kong. ...

He later decided not to run for a second term as president in 1999. This article is about the year. ...

Death

Ong Teng Cheong's wife, Ling Siew May, died in August 1999 after a cancer relapse. Ong Teng Cheong died on February 8, 2002, at the age of 66 from lymphoma in his home at about 8:14 pm SST after he had been discharged from hospital a few days earlier. is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... This article is about lymphoma in humans. ... Singapore observes a time zone eight hours ahead of UTC, (UTC+8), known as Singapore Standard Time or SGT. It is the same time zone as Australian Western Standard Time, Malaysian Standard Time, Chinese Standard Time and Hong Kong Time. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} 'I Had a Job to Do' Whether the government liked it or not, says ex-president Ong, Asiaweek, 26 9, 10 Mar 2006.

Asiaweek, the English edition, was a news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. ...

External links

• Ong Teng Cheong - In Memory of Singapore's first Elected President, Mr. Ong Teng Cheong (1936 - 2002)

• In Memoriam of Ong Teng Cheong - ChannelNewsAsia

Sinnathamby Rajaratnam (born February 25, 1915, Jaffna, Sri Lanka) is a former Singaporean politician. ... The Prime Minister of Singapore is the head of government of the Republic of Singapore (and prior to 9 August 1965, the State of Singapore). ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is 李 (Lee) Lee Hsien Loong (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; born February 10, 1952) is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. ... Wee Kim Wee (Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; November 4, 1915–May 2, 2005) was the fourth President of Singapore, from 1985 to 1993. ... Flag of the President of Singapore - banner of arms The President of Singapore is the head of state. ... Sellapan Ramanathan (born July 3, 1924) is the sixth and current President of the Republic of Singapore. ...

Presidents of Singapore

Yusof bin Ishak | Benjamin Henry Sheares | Chengara Veetil Devan Nair | Wee Kim Wee | Ong Teng Cheong | Sellapan Ramanathan Image File history File links President_of_Singapore_Flag. ... Flag of the President of Singapore - banner of arms The President of Singapore is the head of state. ... Encik Yusuf bin Ishak, first President of Singapore and Yang di-Pertuan Negara (head of state). ... Benjamin Henry Sheares (August 12, 1907-May 12, 1981) was the second President of Singapore. ... Chengara Veetil Devan Nair, also known as C. V. Devan Nair (August 5, 1923–December 6, 2005), was the third President of Singapore and was elected by Parliament on October 23, 1981. ... Wee Kim Wee (Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; November 4, 1915–May 2, 2005) was the fourth President of Singapore, from 1985 to 1993. ... Sellapan Ramanathan (born July 3, 1924) is the sixth and current President of the Republic of Singapore. ...