Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The title of the wife of Datuk is Datin. Origin The oldest ...

Wong Tien Fatt (;

Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Pha̍k-fa-sṳ is an orthography similar to Pe̍h-ōe-jī and used to write Hakka, a variety of Chinese. Hakka is a whole branch of Chinese, and Hakka dialects are not necessarily mutually intelligible with each other, considering the large geogr ...

: ''Vòng Thiên-fat''; 2 October 1954 – 28 March 2019), also known as Stephen Wong, was a

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

politician. He won to be the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Sandakan Sandakan (, Jawi: , ) formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of ...

in Sabah for two terms (2013–2019). He was also a nominated member of the

Sabah State Legislative Assembly The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kadazandusun language, Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogun Sabah'') is a part of the legislature of Sabah, Malaysia, the other being the List of Yang di-Pertua Negeri of ...

and the Minister of People's Health and Wellbeing of

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 ...

(2018–2019). Wong was also state chairman of the

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a Centre-left politics, centre-left social democracy, social democratic political party in Malaysia. ...

(DAP) for Sabah (2015–2019).

Political career

2013 general election

In the 2013 election, Wong faced

Liew Vui Keong Zachary David Liew Vui Keong (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Liù Vî-khiòng''; 18 January 1960 – 2 October 2020) was a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs in the Pakatan Harapa ...

of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and subsequently won the parliamentary seat of Sandakan.

2018 general election

In the 2018 election, was fielded by the DAP again to contest in Sandakan, facing a new candidate Lim Ming Hoo from the LDP. He won the election with a large majority.

Controversies and issues

Criticism of ESSCOM

In 2015, Wong criticised the

Eastern Sabah Security Command The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) is a Malaysian security area that covers 1,400 km of the east coast of Sabah from Kudat to Tawau. It was established by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Najib bin Abdul Razak and announced on ...

(ESSCOM) for its costly formation despite recurring kidnapping cases and expressed disappointment towards the "irresponsible and arrogant attitude by 'sic'' the government leaders as it seems as they are trying to avoid the blame from public". A year before, Wong had urged the government to implement the re-issuance of

identity card An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any documentation, document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID c ...

s in Sabah in response to the many immigrants from the southern

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Acceptance of Sabah State Awards and Datukship

In 2018, Wong accepted the Sabah State Award of Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK) (which carries the title of ''"Datuk"'') in accordance with the Yang di-Pertua Sabah Tun

Juhar Mahiruddin Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Juhar bin Mahiruddin ( ms, جوهر بن ماهرالدين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; born 5 November 1953) is a Malaysian politician who has been the 10th Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah since Januar ...

's 65th birthday; this was in opposition to the DAP's Central Executive Committee policy of disallowing the acceptance of awards and titles by elected representatives and local councillors during their period of active political service. Wong was neither apologetic to the party leadership nor willing to return the award.

Election results

Death

Wong died at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in

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 ...

, Sabah, Malaysia on 28 March 2019 due to a heart attack during a morning hike on the same day. His body was flown back to his hometown of Sandakan to be laid to rest. His death triggered the 2019 Sandakan by-election on 11 May. His former seat was successfully defended by his daughter and DAP candidate

Vivian Wong Shir Yee Vivian Wong Shir Yee () is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sandakan since May 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition coalit ...

by a majority of 11,521 votes.

Honours

Malaysia

* : **

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 (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Tien Fatt 1954 births 2019 deaths People from Sandakan Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent Malaysian people of Hakka descent Malaysian Christians Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) politicians Members of the Dewan Rakyat Members of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Sabah state ministers Commanders of the Order of Kinabalu 21st-century Malaysian politicians