Tan Sri

Datuk Seri The Malay language has a complex system of styles, titles and honorifics which are used extensively in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern Philippines. Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and several provinces in Indonesia regu ...

Dr. Fong Chan Onn (, born 29 February 1944) is a Malaysian

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, ...

and a former Minister of Human Resources. He is a former vice-president of the

Malaysian Chinese Association The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA; zh, 马来西亚华人公会; ; ta, மலேசிய சீனர் சங்கம், initially known as the Malayan Chinese Association) is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that seeks to ...

(MCA), a component party of the then-ruling

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) coalition. He served as a

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 o ...

for Selandar from 1999 to 2004 and Alor Gajah from 2004 until 2013.

Profile

Fong received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. He went on to receive his MBA and PhD in Operations Research/Industrial Economics from

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He began his career in the civil service as an engineer at the

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

Telecommunications Department. He later joined the Faculty of Economics and Administration at 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 ...

, rising to become Dean in 1990.

Political career

Fong was elected as the Member of Parliament for Selandar in the

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

general elections and for Alor Gajah constituency in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

general elections . Fong became an MCA vice-president in 1996, but stepped down after the 2008 MCA elections when he lost his bid for re-election. From 1990 to 1999, he served as Deputy Minister of Education. Following the 1999 general elections, Fong was appointed Minister of Human Resources. He remained in that ministry until 2008, when he left the Cabinet, and retired from Parliament at the 2013 election. Post retirement, he became the Chairman of Enterprise Asia, a

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

(NGO) that is set up to champion entrepreneurship development in Asia.

Election results

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : **

Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (PSM) – Tan Sri (2010) * : ** MY-MAL Exalted Order of Malacca

Companion Class I of the Exalted Order of Malacca (DMSM) – Datuk (1993) ** MY-MAL Exalted Order of Malacca

Knight Commander of the Exalted Order of Malacca (DCSM) – Datuk Wira (2003) ** MY-MAL Exalted Order of Malacca

Grand Commander of the Exalted Order of Malacca (DGSM) – Datuk Seri (2005)

Personal life

Fong is also an avid photographer and has won awards for his images. For two consecutive years he has won The Societies Photographer of Year (2018 and 2019 ) gaining international success for his photography.

References

External links

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fong, Chan Onn 1944 births People from Negeri Sembilan Malaysian people of Cantonese descent Malaysian engineers Government ministers of Malaysia 21st-century Malaysian politicians University of Rochester alumni Living people Malaysian politicians of Chinese descent Malaysian Chinese Association politicians University of Canterbury alumni Malaysian Buddhists Members of the Dewan Rakyat Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia