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The life story of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik: Part 11 – education

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And it was only in 1996 when the government repealed the clause  that empowers the Minister to close down vernacular schools  ( Chinese and Tamil  schools) or convert the schools to other types of schools.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).

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.

The life story of Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik : Part I

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.

No ordinary community

The destination: This is the place in Sitiawan in Sept 1903  where 363 Foochows from China  landed after surviving the perils of sea and a cholera outbreak.
Jan 15, 2023
By Foong Pek Yee
THE year was 1903 in Malaya, against a backdrop of erratic weather conditions and plunging rice yields.
And a rice growing community in Foochow, China, became the colonial government’s target- recruit them for a rice growing project in Sitiawan, Perak.
The Methodist Episcopal Mission (MEM) was tasked to bring in the Foochows, and Rev Ling Ching Mi and Rev HLE Dr Luering went to China for the mission.
And  in Sept 1903,  363  Foochows landed in Sitiawan – the pioneer batch of Foochow settlers.
But the rice growing project never took off.
The land and facilities like irrigation and drainage for the project as  promised to them were not there.
They were instead made to trek about six kilometers  into the jungle where they stayed in seven longhouses for the next six months.
While  Rev  Dr Luering was stationed in Ipoh about 80 km away from Sitiawan, Rev Ling Ching Mi also  got a transfer back to China in Dec 1903.
Ling Ching Mi got his nephew Ling Ti Kong to take care of the settlers.
And Ling Ti  Kong also roped in Ding Chin Seng (husband of his father’s sister) to help him.
Ling Ching Mi, Ling Ti Kong and Ding Chin Seng were Foochows.
By Jan 1904, the Foochows  had set up  a day school under an attap shed with 22 pupils and a Foochow speaking teacher Ling Ding Jug for an eight hour class daily including an hour long break.
This is true to the Chinese  who subscribe to: ” Education for and the wellbeing of the children must never be compromised due to poverty.
 The shed also doubled as a church on Sundays.
By  early 1904  each family was given a three-acre- plot for them to build their own house and reared pigs, poultry and plant vegetables and fruits for a living.
The Foochows also went into rubber planting not long after.
Forever grateful:  Ling Leong Choong, 62, says this was one of the three wells that fed  the villagers for decades until piped water came to Sitiawan in the 1970s. The wells are in the compound of the house for Pioneer Methodist Church pastors  or “Muk Su Lao” in Chinese. 
Showcase: Set up in 2003, Sitiawan Settlement Museum was  formerly the ” Muk  Su Lao”along  Jalan Lin Chen Mei  in Sitiawan. It provides a glimpse of life in Sitiawan in the good old days and the missionary work in then Malaya. 
One-stop-centre:  The” Muk Su Lao” was the place for the Chinese to go for help in the old days.
Great job:  Shih Toong Siong who wrote the book “The Foochows of Sitiawan ” is a Foochow born and educated 
in Sitiawan.
 Hall of Fame: Some of the prominent figures in Malaysia and Singapore who are descendants of the Foochows in Sitiawan  and documented in the  book – The Foochows of Sitiawan.
While the Sitiawan Settlement Museum  gives a glimpse of history,  the book ” The Foochows of Sitiawan” by Shih Toong Siong is most enlightening.
 Rev  B.F. Van Dyke who became the first resident missionary in Sitiawan together with Ling Ti Kong and Ding Chin Seng  were credited for building a church costing $900( to replace the attap shed) and an orphanage in Sitiawan in 1905
Rev Van Dyke – an American of Dutch origin- was a missionary school teacher from the Anglo Chinese School, Singapore in 1900 before his posting to Sitiawan in March 1904.
Unfortunately Rev Ding Chin Seng passed away in 1906. He was 41.
Ours is 289:  Ling Leong Choong who was born and bred in Sitiawan  says the rubber tappers had labels engraved on to the latex sheets to prove ownership. And 289 was the label for his family, pointing to the samples on the wall.  
Way of life:   Bicycle was the most common and only mode of transport for the poor  in the old days.  The equipment used by rubber tappers are among items displayed at the Sitiawan Settlement Museum.
Simple lifestyle:  A typical kitchen of the Foochows in the old days.
With their farming background, the settlers were also among the first to go into rubber planting in 1905.
And that perhaps is also one of the reasons for many Foochow oil palm smallholders in Sitiawan today.
This pioneer  batch of Foochows may be  small in numbers but they definitely had earned an important place in history.

A brilliant career spanning seven decades

He never allows distractions to get in his way.

By Foong Pek Yee
It was the 1985 world tin crash that literally crushed the mine workers and the economy.
Massive unemployment, business shutdowns  saw many left their hometown in droves looking for a living.
It was a picture of grim in Kampar-a rich tin mining town-but all is not lost.
A tin miner in Kampar was determined to revive the town.
He is Tan Sri Hew See Tong who envisioned a modern self- contained town built on ex mining land.
True to the Chinese saying: “We rise from where we fell”, he built Bandar
Baru Kampar meaning Kampar new town.
Today, the town is  an education hub  complete with a private hospital.
An icon’s journey : On May 25, 2022, the hearse carrying Tan Sri Hew See Tong along Jalan Universiti in Bandar Baru Kampar where UTAR,  UTAR Hospital and Westlake International School are located.
It has the trappings of a modern township.
 Hew’s first and big breakthrough was in 2003 when the Kuala Lumpur based Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) opened its Perak branch campus in Bandar Baru Kampar.
.
The township got a major boost when Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) opened its main campus there in 2007.
TARC was set up and owned by MCA in 1969, while UTAR is a not for profit private university  owned by UTAR Education Foundation.
Both institutions  were built by public donations, and they were well known for their affordable fees that make tertiary education accessible to the middle and low income groups.
 MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik ( 1986 – 2003) is credited for expan
ding TARC and getting government approval to build a private university (UTAR) in 2001.
Dr Ling and a group of MCA  leaders including Hew took the lead to raise funds for TARC expansion and  building UTAR.
Hew , three-term Kampar Member of Parliament (1995-2008),started  Westlake International School (WIS) in Bandar Baru Kampar in 2013.
And  last month (April) marked another  milestone for Bandar Baru Kampar when UTAR Hospital opened its 100-bed  traditional and complementary medicine department.
Its  250-bed Western Medicine department is scheduled for opening next year.
A fund raising campaign for the hospital is ongoing and Hew was actively raising funds until a few days before he breathed his last.
To complete the story on Kampar, Hew single- handedly designed the Kinta Tin Mining (gravel pump) Museum in Bandar Baru Kampar.
And the scenic lake in Bandar Baru Kampar which is an ex mining pond is testimony to the town’s origins
Picture perfect: The lake is surrounded by development, with the Hew residence fronting it.
A life of dedication that makes a difference to the lives of many, Hew passed away last Sunday (May 22, 2022).
He was 91.
An education icon, Hew is a loving husband, father and grandfather, and a great friend to many from all walks of life.