James Peter Julitih Ongkili (13 March 1939–20 March 2006) was a Malaysian politician. He was the Minister of Justice from 1982 to 1986 and Deputy

Chief Minister of Sabah The Ketua Menteri Sabah or Chief Minister of Sabah is the head of government of the Malaysian state of Sabah. Since September 2020, the position has been held by Hajiji Noor from the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Perikatan Nasiona ...

from 1976 to 1981. He was also the Member of

Sabah State Legislative Assembly The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogun Sabah'') is a part of the legislature of Sabah, Malaysia, the other being the governor of Sabah. The assembly meets at the Sabah Sta ...

for

Tamparuli Tamparuli is a small town and a sub-district of Tuaran on the west coast of Sabah, Malaysia. It is populated mainly by native Dusuns, while a sizeable Chinese community (of whom most are Hakkas) runs most of the shops in the town proper. As wi ...

from 1976 to 1981 and Member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for

Tuaran Tuaran ( ms, Pekan Tuaran) is the capital of the Tuaran District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 128,200 in 2019 with half the population consists of ethnic Dusuns, most of the Lotud eth ...

from 1978 to 1986.

Family

James was born on 13 March 1939 in Kampung Karanaan,

Tambunan Tambunan ( ms, Pekan Tambunan) is the capital of the Tambunan District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 35,667 in 2010. It is located 80 kilometres east of the state capital, Kota Kinabalu ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

. His widow, Datin Margaret Ganduong Ahing (born 1937), was a native of

(from the village of Kiulu) and the couple had 6 children. His brother,

Maximus Ongkili Datuk Seri Panglima Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili (born 26 October 1953) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Chairman of the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECOS) since February 2023. He served as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department f ...

was a federal minister from 2004 to 2022 and has been the President of

United Sabah Party The United Sabah Party ( ms, Parti Bersatu Sabah, abbreviated PBS) is a political party of Sabah. The PBS was founded by Joseph Pairin Kitingan in 1985 and it is Sabah's oldest local party. In August 2020, PBS confirmed that they would be usin ...

since 2017.

Education

He firstly attended St. Theresa's Primary School, Tondulu and St. Martin's Secondary School, Tampasak in his hometown of Tambunan and later attended St. Francis Xavier's Secondary School, Keningau for his upper secondary education stage and later completed his sixth form in La Salle Secondary School Tanjung Aru, Kota Kinabalu. In addition, he also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

and a PhD from the

University of Malaya The University of Malaya ( ms, Universiti Malaya, UM; abbreviated as UM or informally the Malayan University) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest and highest ranking Malaysian institution of highe ...

Early career

He began his career as a district officer in

Kinabatangan Kinabatangan ( ms, Pekan Kinabatangan) is the capital of the Kinabatangan District in the Sandakan Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 10,256 in 2010. Kinabatangan is mostly populated with the Orang Sungai ...

from 1965 to 1967 and later in

Keningau Keningau ( ms, Pekan Keningau) is the capital of the Keningau District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is the fifth-largest town in Sabah, as well one of the oldest. Keningau is between Tambunan and Tenom. The town had an es ...

from 1967 to 1969. In addition, he served as a lecturer in

from 1969 to 1976.

Politics

In April 1976, James contested for the

state seat on the ticket of BERJAYA and was appointed as the Sabah State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Later, he was then appointed as the Second Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah cum State Minister of Industrial and Rural Development on 17 July 1976. On 18 March 1977, he was elected as the Deputy President of BERJAYA. In the 1978 general election, he contested for the

federal seat. On 2 June 1983, he was appointed as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (in charge of Parliamentary Affairs and Law) and became the ex-officio Minister of Justice on 14 July 1984 under Prime Minister

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

. In July 1986, he announced that he was retiring from politics and in May 1988, he quitted BERJAYA. However, two months later, he established Sabah People's Party and became the first president of the party. In July 1990, he contested in the 1990 Sabah state election for the

state seat on a PRS ticket but he lost to

Wilfred Bumburing Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing (born 2 December 1951) is a Malaysian politician. He is a member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly and a former Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the seat of Tuaran, Sabah (2008–2013). ...

from

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

. On 1 August 1990, he announced his retirement as President of PRS and from the political arena. But, in March 1991, he announced that he joined

Election result

Health

As a result of stroke attacks, he used a wheelchair for 10 years and had to consume 6 different types of medication after suffering a third stage stroke. He passed away at Queen Elizabeth Hospital,

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

on 20 March 2006, aged 67. His funeral was held in the Catholic Church of St. John the Evangelist, Kampung Labuaya,

on 22 March and was buried right in the front courtyard of his house at Bukit Aman Villa, Kiulu,

Honours

* : **

MY-PAH_Order_of_the_Crown_of_Pahang_-_Knight_Companion_-_DIMP

Knight Companion of the

Order of the Crown of Pahang The Esteemed Order of the Crown of Pahang ( Malay: '' Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Pahang Yang Amat Mulia'') is a knighthood order of the Sultanate of Pahang. History The order was founded by Sultan Abu Bakar on 27 December 1968. It is awarded ...

(DIMP) – Dato' (1976) * : ** MY-SAB_Order_of_Kinabalu_-_PGDK

Commander of the

Order of Kinabalu The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu (Malay: ''Darjah Yang Amat Mulia Kinabalu'') is the only order conferred by the Governor of Sabah, Malaysia. Background The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu is established by virtue of Section 3(a) of State Honou ...

(PGDK) – Datuk (1978)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ongkili, James Peter 20th-century Malaysian politicians University of Queensland alumni Malaysian Roman Catholics University of Malaya alumni Sabah People's United Front politicians Kadazan-Dusun people United Sabah Party politicians Members of the Dewan Rakyat Members of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly 1939 births 2006 deaths