Selangor Ongs' Clansmen Association

(My father, standing fourth from left; Ong Hei Sia, sitting fourth from left)

My late father was one of the passive founding members of this little known association of Chinese men with surname Ong in Selangor, which actually includes Kuala Lumpur for this purpose. It was founded in the 60s and I still remember my father going to the preliminary meetings, getting a lift from Ong Hei Sia, who used to own an Esso petrol station in Jalan Ipoh, near the roundabout leading to the Jalan Kuching roundabout which further leads to Jalan Kepong.

Hei Sia was rather generous, contributing tens of thousands of ringgit (a new Mercedes 200 costed only Rm20,000 then) towards the setting up of the association, which had its beginning in rented premises in Jalan Silang. Years later, the association managed to raise enough funds to buy its own premises in Jalan Ipoh Kechil, a decent 3-storey corner shophouse, behind Tan Chong showroom cum headquarters at junction of Jalan Raja Laut and Jalan Ipoh..

During the initial period, we were proud to have some VIPs like Chief Justice H.T. Ong, his brother Justice H.S.Ong and Minister, Ong Kee Hui to grace some of the events. Incidentally, CJ H.T.Ong actually attended my wedding dinner in 1976! Unaware of his presence, the association treasurer chided me and took the trouble to lead us to his table to offer a toast to him and his wife. I got married during my 6-week holiday in KL and the event was organised by my parents, which was my excuse for being blur then.

Later, we had MCA President, Tan Koon Swan to attend one or two SOCA dinner functions. More recently, former MCA President, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and wife, Toh Puan Edna Ong attended a dinner held at the Dewan Heng Gok Hai, named after the man who put up the building, which is located at the entrance to SMK MBS Sentul, my alma mater. (Just went past it last weekend, renamed Dewan HGH Convention Centre and below it, S.R.J.(C)Sentul). Heng is also Ong to the Teochews, like Wang to Taiwanese and Wong to Cantonese and some Hainanese, like lawyer Ronnie Wong Chin Yiam, my former MBS classmate. Yet, Ong Ka Ting and Ong Tee Keat, though spelt the same, are not of our surname!

Before Dewan HGH, big dinner events used to be held at the Thean Hou Temple hall, on a hill off Jalan Syed Putra. Some members consider this as a Hainanese temple not sure if it is so or just because of office bearers like Tan Loon Swan and other Hainanese. I believe Tan Koon Swan had some misunderstanding with his former boss, Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, who used to live opposite the temple, over Feng Shui.

More recently, my only contact with office-bearers when I attended a dinner function is a son of Ong Ee King, a past President (not Ben E King) and an Advisor (someone who declined to be an office-bearer and retained, ie. can afford to contribute or buy Rm1,000 or Rm2,000 tickets for a table for 10, besides past generous contributions), Ong Hock Eng, who happens to be a minerals exporter who buys minerals from my in-laws! He probably has business dealings with a past President, Dato Wong Chin Chye, a tin miner and politician from Rawang.

The top floor of SOCA’s own building in Jalan Ipoh Kechil is reserved for own use and is still being used to house tablets of deceased members, which included my parents’. During festivals like, Spring, Autumn and Chinese New Year, members and their families would gather to pray to deities and deceased members. This is followed by lunch.

The traditional ancestor worship has also created problems of worship to descendants of members, who have become Christians. While some do not mind holding joss sticks, treating it as only symbolic and traditional, others will not get involved at all and preferred to stay away from functions. Even during wedding ceremonies at home, offering tea to ancestors at the altar had caused serious friction among in-laws.

The ground and first floors are rented out to provide some basic income. I am not proud to say that I am not a member for various reasons. My brothers’ children were getting money prizes as encouragement for getting good results in schools and I find it too obvious if I were to do so. The main reason was my migration to Perak, which means I should be joining, if I were to, the one in Taiping for example, which again is too far for me. Anyway, we have had one or two treasurers who did not account for some monies collected, which put off quite a number of would be members and office bearers. Last but not least, I also find associations to be a place where people look up to people who are successful, whether financially or otherwise, preferably willing to contribute money substantially. The rest tend to be bystanders making up the number or people who like to be associated with VIPs and political leaders.

I would like to imagine myself as Honorary Treasurer if I was given the chance, but I am afraid my strict rules concerning financial transactions would have been stressful if I were to come across hanky panky dealings. My late second brother was at one time, elected to be in charge of ‘English-speaking’ members but he was too busy then to have done anything fruitful. The members and their children were and are predominantly Chinese educated.

I did a check and found that the association does not have a website. It would be nice to start one, even if unofficially, to see how far our Ongs in Selangor have spread to. For example, I would be proud to say that my children are now in London, Brighton and Maastricht!