The life story of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik: Part 11- education
Standing tall: Tunku Abdul Rahman College main campus in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur is synonymous with MCA and the Chinese community’s journey together. The college was upgraded to Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) in 2013 and elevated to Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology ( TAR UMT) in 2022.
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
Gift of love: Dr Ling with his mother Tan Jin Choo. He graduated as a medical doctor from University of Singapore in 1966.
The Chinese saying – Zai qiong,bu neng qiong jiao yu, Zai ku, bu neng ku hai zi (No matter how poor we are, we cannot be poor in education, no matter how hard life is, we cannot let our children suffer)- is the mantra of the Chinese community and MCA.
While the only thing constant is change, the knowledge economy is here to stay.
We need the courage, confidence and perseverance in navigating our life for a better tomorrow.
It was in 1975 when we ((MCA) put in a memorandum on education to abolish clause 21(2) of the 1961 Education Act to make sure no changes be made to alter the characteristics of Chinese schools.
And it was only in 1996 when the government repealed the clause that empowers the Minister to close down vernacular schools ( Chinese and Tamil schools) or convert the schools to other types of schools.
The government’s approval for MCA to set up Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TAR College) in July 1968 saw the college’s pioneer intake of 764 student starting class in rented premises in Kuala Lumpur the following year.
A day in history: It was July 11, 1968 when MCA deputy president Tan Sri Khaw Kai Boh ( facing microphone) and Education Minister Tan Sri Khir Johari ( on his left) announced the establishment of TAR College in Kuala Lumpur.
Our students studied in rented premises with just a ceiling fan, but we learned perseverance the same time.
Grit: TAR College students started to study in rented premises in Kuala Lumpur in 1969 and did so for the next seven years.
We only got our TAR College main campus in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur in 1976.
A heart for the people: Malaysia’ s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al- Haj (second from right )with MCA leaders at the ground breaking ceremony for TAR College main campus in 1973.
A visionary: Sept, 1976 : Tun Tan Siew Sin planted a tree in conjunction with his visit to TAR College main campus. He was instrumental in setting up the college by getting the approval from the government in 1968 and continued to soldier on with party comrades and the Chinese community to turn it into a reality. Siew Sin was MCA president (1961 -1974) and relinguished his party post in April 1974 for health reasons. He passed away on March 17, 1988.
I am proud to note that the graduates were equipped with knowledge and purpose to make a difference to their own life and that of their families, and contribute to nation building.
Some 150,000 graduates walked through the doors of TAR College since its inception some 30 years ago.
Dr Ling was conferred the title Father of Tunku Abdul Rahman College by MCA in 2003.
Under his leadership, the college had expanded in the 1990s to add in five branch campuses; in Penang, Perak, Johor , Sabah and Pahang.
We are always grateful to the government, MCA comrades and the people from all walks of life in helping us to provide quality and affordable education to the people irrespective of ethnic and social economic background.
I witnessed how the poor and needy struggled to make ends meet, first as a doctor with the Penang General Hospital, Butterworth Hospital and as a doctor running my own clinic in Butterworth and then a politician.
I was the Member of Parliament for Mata Kuching in Butterworth, Penang between 1974 and 1986.
People don’t have money to see a doctor when they fell sick. Daily wage earners or those self- employed like odd job workers and fishermen lost their income when they are too sick to work.
Many are trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty, and a good and affordable education for the young will help make life better for them, their family and future generations.
A smooth progression from primary school to secondary school and access to tertiary education goes a long way.
In Butterworth for instance, there was no Chinese secondary school until the mid 1980s.
Pupils from Chinese primary schools found it hard to gain access to Chinese secondary schools in Penang and Bukit Mertajam.
Besides limited places, it was expensive and time consuming for children to travel from Butterworth to Penang and return daily. One way takes more than an hour -go to the jetty to take a ferry to Penang and take a bus to the school.
Many children drop out after primary school or half way secondary school because of the hurdles.
Because of that we managed to get the government to approve to build Chung Ling High School Butterworth in the 1980s.
Again Chinese philanthropists and people from all walks of life donated to build the school.
The people’s dream to have a Chinese secondary school in Butterworth came true when Chung Ling High School Butterworth officially opened in 1986 with its first intake of 350 students.
A historical moment: July 8, 2001 in Ipoh, Perak. Dr Ling (centre) announced the government’s approval for MCA to set up a university named Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) . Flanking him were then MCA secretary- general Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh (right) and then deputy education minister Datuk Hon Choon Kim (left).
Like TAR College, UTAR (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman) started in rented premises in Petaling Jaya with its pioneer batch of 411 students starting class on June, 10, 2002.
That was less than a year after MCA got government’s approval dated July 5, 2001 to set up the university.
A good future: The pioneer batch of UTAR students at the university’s temporary premises in Petaling Jaya in 2002.
I am confident that UTAR will grow and evolve into a premier university .
Making the mark: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad signed a plaque accompanied by Dr Ling (on his right) at the ground breaking ceremony for UTAR main campus in Kampar on Jan 12, 2003.
Education is close at heart for the Chinese community.
Dr Ling’s grandfather Ling Ti Kong was instrumental in setting up a Chinese primary school in Sitiawan, Perak in January, 1904.
With just an attap roof over their heads, the pioneer intake of 22 pupils studied under a teacher and the medium of instruction was Foochow, a Chinese dialect.
The young Ti Kong were among the first batch of 363 Foochows from China recruited by the colonial government to do rice cultivation in Sitiawan.
They arrived in Sitiawan on Sept 9, 1903.
Set up on Feb 27, 1949 as a welfare body, MCA became a political party to represent and take care of the Chinese on Oct 29, 1951.
People first : The first MCA president Tun Tan Cheng Lock , during his presidential tenure between 1949 and 1958, had braved a very turbulent era to help the Chinese community rebuild their lives in then Malaya. Tun Tan (center) was speaking at the Malayan Chinese Education Central Committee meeting in 1953.
In 1952, MCA started adult education classes for the Chinese in new villages .
In 1953, Tun Tan Cheng Lock teamed up with Chinese educationists and set up the Malayan Chinese Education Central Committee to address some of the provisions under the 1952 Education Act which were considered detrimental to Chinese education.
Knowledge is power : MCA organized adult classes for Chinese villagers in the 1950s.
New villages (1948-1960) were set up to house some 500,000 Chinese after the MCA succeeded in stopping the colonial government from deporting them.
There are 452 new villages in the country.
MCA built Chinese primary schools in these villages in its bid to help the villagers rebuild their lives.
MCA , education and the Chinese community are inseparable.
Good fortune: MCA operated welfare lottery to raise funds to help Chinese rebuild their lives in new villages. The colonial government banned political parties from operating welfare lottery starting 1953.
United for a good cause: MCA secretary- general Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh ( third from right) with Chinese educationists in his office in Kuala Lumpur in the 1990s.
I must say fund raising for Chinese education is a good cause and synonymous with MCA.
An exemplary student: Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy (right) studied in TAR College and then Universiti Malaya. He was with Dr Ling officiating the opening ceremony for a walkathon to raise funds for TAR College in 1992.
Unity is power: Dr Ling (front row, second from right) leading party comrades at a walkathon to raise funds for TAR College in 1992. With him were (front row, from right) then deputy president Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek, vice president Datuk Chua Jui Meng, vice president Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy and secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Ting Chew Peh.
Photos: Credit to MCA’s publication titled MCA 50th anniversary (1949-1999).
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