Destined for greatness: Dr Ling with his mother Tan Jin Choo
The life story of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik as told to journalist Foong Pek Yee shortly after his retirement from active politics in 2003.
Dr Ling was the fourth generation of the Ling family, with a history dated back to Sitiawan, Perak in then Malaya in 1903.
A medical doctor by training, he went on to become the longest serving Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) president and the longest serving Transport Minister (1986 – 2003) in Malaysian history.
By Foong Pek Yee
foongpekyee@gmail.com
Sept 18, 2026
Dr Ling (Sept 18, 1943 – April 4, 2026) was born in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaya on Sept 18, 1943 in the midst of World War 2.
The then Malaya was under Japanese Occupation ( 1941 -1945)
It was a turbulent era and my world then was just my mother Tan Jin Choo and I.
My father Ling Tung Jung died when I was three months old.
Mother and I stayed in a house on stilts by the riverside in Parit Buntar, Perak.
Actually I do not have any memory of this place.
It was an elderly MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association ) member who told me about this place many years later.
But I somehow remember our second house in Kampong Boyan, Taiping, Perak.
It was also a house on stilts where mother and I stayed in a rented room.
One of my early childhood memories is that I got to eat cakes in this house.
The cakes were from a bakery in town, a corner-unit shop owned by our landlord.
We shifted house not long after, and this time around to a bungalow in Taiping.
It was a colourful bungalow, No. 17, off Swettenham Road (renamed to Jalan Istana Larut).
But mother and I occupied the garage in order for her to rent out all the rooms.
Our tenants were an interesting mix, including an Indian family, a European family, army officers and teachers.
Mother was a teacher, and she got somebody to take care of me when she was at work.
I grew up surrounded by many teachers.
I am the fourth generation of the Ling family in Malaya and Malaysia ( since the country’s independence on Aug 31, 1957)
My great grandfather Ling Kwong Mi and my grandfather Ling Ti Kong were among the pioneer batch of Foochows (a dialect group) from China who arrived in Sitiawan, Perak, about 80 km from Ipoh on Sept 9, 1903.
The batch came under a “population transplant” mission by the then colonial government to do rice planting in Perak.
The mission was to feed the labourers who arrived in droves, predominantly from China, to work in the tin mines in Kinta Valley, Perak.
Two Methodist missionaries, Rev Ling Ching Mi (Kwong Mi’s brother) and Rev Dr LHE Luering went to Fujian in China for the recruitment drive.
They set sail for Sitiawan with 484 on board on Aug 4, 1903,
Four died on the high seas from cholera and one from heart failure.
Of the 479 who landed on St John’s Island in Singapore on Aug 22, 1903, for a 17-day- quarantine, 12 passed away from cholera while another 104 “disappeared” in the Singapore crowd.
A total of 363 (236 men, 72 women and 55 children) finally landed in Sitiawan .
The first batch of 303 on board Poh Ann arrived on Sept 9, 1903 followed by the second batch of 60 on board Ban Hin Guan a week later.
But Sitiawan was not the promised land- given land to settle down and do rice planting- as envisaged by the settlers.
To begin with, the land in Sitiawan was not suitable for rice planting.
Literally left in the wilderness, it was their resilience and the help from the Methodist mission that made the difference.
Ching Mi left for China in December 1903.
All is not lost.
A young Ti Kong and his uncle Ding Chin Seng joined forces to take charge of the settlers.
On Jan 1, 1904, barely three months upon their arrival, the settlers got their first school – an attap shed.
The first batch comprised 22 pupils.
Their teacher was Ling Ding Jug and the medium of instruction was Foochow Chinese.
Unfortunately, Chin Seng died in 1906 at the age of 41.
The church was the center when my forefathers arrived in then Malaya.
Life was a struggle for survival in a foreign land, with harsh living conditions and uncertainties all over.
In recognition of Ti Kong’s contributions to society, he was, in 1926, the first person in then Malaya to be appointed Justice of Peace.
Ti Kong passed away in 1938.
Meanwhile, Ching Mi who died in 1915, had a road in Sitiawan named after him.
The renowned missionary was the first Chinese pastor in Sitiawan.
He was also the first Chinese pastor in Singapore in 1897 and the first Chinese pastor in Sibu, Sarawak in 1901 before he got posted to Sitiawan, based on Shih Toong Siong in his book titled “ The Foochows of Sitiawan: A historical perspective.
On May 12, 1969, the birth of Dr Ling’s eldest son, Ling Hee Leong marked the start of the Ling family’s fifth generation.
His second son, Hee Keat, was born in 1972.
Dr Ling also known as Sonny, and his wife Toh Puan Ong Ee Nah also known as Ena Ling, married in 1968 and they have two children.
Beautiful couple: Dr Ling and Ena Ling.
Hee Leong and Hee Keat have two and three children respectively.
Father and sons: Dr Ling with Hee Leong (left) and Hee Keat (right).
The Ling family marked their sixth generation with the arrival of Ling Chang Yuan, also known as Sonny Jr, in 1996. Chang Yuan is the eldest son of Hee Leong and Carol Ong (divorced).
Happiness: Dr Ling also known as Sonny with his grandson Chang Yuan who is named Sonny Jr.
On Aug 28, 2026, the Ling family marked another major milestone – their seventh generation- with the arrival of Robyn Ling Yi Rou, the daughter of Chang Yuan and his wife Liu Jilin.
Our pride and joy: Chang Yuan and Jilin with baby Yi Rou – Photo courtesy of the proud parents.
Photos : Credit to a publication titled A Tribute to…Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik from his colleagues and friends in the Alumni Association of the King Edward VII College of Medicine and the Faculties of Medicine of the University of Malaya and the University of Singapore.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication titled The life story of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior permission from the journalist Foong Pek Yee.
