Dato' Sri Wong Soon Koh (; born 16 May 1942), is 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 A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who has served as State Leader of the Opposition of

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

since November 2020 and Member of the

Sarawak State Legislative Assembly The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is the legislative chamber of the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Sarawak; the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak forms the other part of the legislature. The Assembly is modelled after the ...

(MLA) for

Bawang Assan Bawang Assan is a state constituency in Sarawak, Malaysia, that has been represented in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is the legislative chamber of the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian s ...

since September 1991. He served as the State Minister of Finance II of

from 2004 and State Minister of International Trade and E-Commerce from May 2017 to his resignation in July 2019, State Minister of Local Government and Community Development from September 2011 to May 2016 and State Minister of Environment and Public Health from 2008 to September 2011. He is a member of and has also served as 1st and founding

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

Parti Sarawak Bersatu The United Sarawak Party ( ms, Parti Sarawak Bersatu, abbreviated PSB) is a multi-racial political party based in the state of Sarawak. In 2021, PSB managed to retain their four seats ( Batu Lintang, Engkilili, Ba'kelalan and Bawang Assan), ...

(PSB) since 2015 and was previously a member of the

Sarawak United Peoples' Party The Sarawak United Peoples' Party, or SUPP (; ms, Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak; Iban: ''Gerempong Sa'ati Rayat Sarawak'') is a multiracial centre-right local political party of Malaysia based in Sarawak. The SUPP president is Dr. Sim Kui Hi ...

(SUPP).

Education

Wong graduated from the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

(UWA) in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts.

Political career

In September 2011, Wong was reappointed as Second Minister for Finance and reassigned as Minister for Local Government and Housing by Abdul Taib Mahmud. In May 2014, Wong was sacked from

(SUPP), while still being SUPP Sibu branch chairman, by then-president Peter Chin Fah Kui. The party was reportedly unhappy with Wong's decision to appoint a number of community leaders. Soon before he was officially sacked, Wong announced in a hurriedly called press conference that he was joining a newly formed party, Sarawak People's Energy Party (TERAS), together with former Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) president William Mawan Ikom. Less than three months later, Wong announced that he was leaving TERAS to form a new party, United Peoples' Party (UPP), bringing with him three other elected state assemblymen. In May 2017, Wong was reassigned by the sixth Chief Minister of Sarawak

Abang Abdul Rahman Johari Abang Openg Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Abang Haji Openg ( Jawi: ابڠ عبد الرحمن جوهري بن ابڠ اوڤيڠ; born 4 August 1950), familiarly known as Abang Jo or Abang Johari, is a Malaysian politician who has served as Premier of ...

to head the new Ministry of International Trade and E-Commerce as UPP still being pro-

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...

(BN) party. In late 2018, Wong's party, UPP, announced that it was changing its name to United Sarawak Party (PSB). In July 2019, Wong tendered his resignation as the International Trade and e-Commerce Minister and second Minister of Finance from the state Cabinet, marking PSB turning its status into

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Personal life

Wong's spouse is Pauline Leong. Their only son Andrew Wong Kee Yew, suspectedly died of stroke on 10 February 2019 at their family home in

Sibu Sibu (; Hokchew Romanized: ''Sĭ-bŭ'') is a landlocked city in the central region of Sarawak. It is the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The city is located on the island of Borneo and covers an area of . It i ...

. Andrew, former deputy chairman of

Sibu Municipal Council The Sibu Municipal Council ( Malay: ''Majlis Perbandaran Sibu'', abbreviated SMC or MPS) is the municipal council which administers the district of Sibu in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. History Sibu Municipal Board Sibu Municipal Board was fou ...

, is married and has two children, a son and a daughter.

Election results

Honours

* : **

MY-SAR Order of the Star of Sarawak - 2 ribbon PNBS -JBS-PBS-ABS-BBS

Member of the Order of the Star of Sarawak (ABS) ** Commander of the Order of the Star of Hornbill Sarawak (PGBK) – Datuk (1994) ** MY-SAR Order of the Star of Sarawak - 2 ribbon PNBS -JBS-PBS-ABS-BBS

Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of Sarawak (PNBS) – Dato' Sri (2003)

References