By Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | Malaysiakini

When assigned by then MCA president Ong Ka Ting to revive the party’s UK Club in 2005, Ling Sie Kiong never thought that he would one day become a candidate for the opposition.

More than that, he has turned ‘giant killer’ at the age of 28, unseating SUPP president and deputy chief minister Dr George Chan in the Sarawak election concluded on Saturday.

“I met Ong at Sheffield University when I was looking for sponsorship as president of the UK Malaysian Law Students Union,” said Ling in a phone interview, fresh from his electoral success.

“He suggested I revive the dormant MCA UK Club. My friends and I accepted the challenge. We then set up branches in different universities and also created a website for the club.”

The club also liaised with its counterparts in Umno and MIC to organise activities for Malaysian students in the UK.

Whenever MCA ministers or leaders visited the UK, the club would hold dialogues with them to exchange views on the party and Malaysian politics.

However, Ling did not join the party despite overtures by leaders such as Chor Chee Heung, who was in charge of the overseas club, and one-time deputy education minister Hon Choon Kim.

Ling was also familiar with the DAP’s struggles and leaders. From the age of 14, he had been taken to the party’s ceramah and dinners by his father, a staunch supporter.

“I’m lucky because I had the chance to assess and get to know both sides. From interacting with MCA leaders, I realised the constraints faced by MCA in BN.”

After graduating with law degree in 2006, he returned to Malaysia and did his chambering in DAP chairperson Karpal Singh’s legal film before returning to Miri in 2009.

“Initially I wanted to contribute to my hometown through community service. But on assessing the political landscape after 2008 general election, I found that BN component parties still had no say in the government. So I decided that I needed to come forward,” he said.

On Valentine’s Day this year, apart from celebrating the occasion with his fiancee, Ling declared his dedication to another love – DAP – and joined the party.

“SUPP has no real power in the ruling coalition. What could I do if I join them?” he replied when asked why he chose DAP.

“DAP’s ideology and platform suits me better. I admire the spirit of DAP leaders and their perseverance despite repeated defeats in Miri.”

Priorities in politics

Joining Miri DAP was a tough choice because the ‘oil city’ has been a SUPP stronghold. Anyone active in the opposition would face all kinds of pressure.

“It was a tough struggle. I even shed tears. I had just started my career and got engaged at the end of last year. I had to convince my fiancee, her parents and my parents to support my decision. I appreciate their support very much,” he said of his first two months in politics.

On April 2, a day before the party announced its candidates for the Sarawak election, Ling was told that he had been picked to challenge Chan (right in photo), the six-term Piasau assemblyperson.

“It was very hard for Miri DAP to attract professionals because SUPP was so strong there,” said Ling, explaining his quick elevation in the party’s hierarchy.

What has prompted Ling to dedicate his time and efforts to public affairs and social justice was an event that affected a family member while he was doing his pre-university studies in Miri.

“My uncle was extorted by the police, who abused their power. In that incident, I saw the dark side of society and the importance of legal knowledge. Therefore I decided to study law to protect the rights of my family,” he said.

Growing up, he had also witnessed first-hand the hardship and sorrows of those in dire need.

Born to a poor family in Sibu, Ling and his illiterate parents had migrated to Limbang when he was three.

For seven years, he lived in a double-storey wooden shoplot along the river-front from which his father ran a grocery store downstairs. The family moved to Miri when he was 10.

Looking forward to the first state assembly sitting, Ling pledged to voice the woes of middle- and low-income Mirians, including squatters.

He claimed that Chan, a tycoon, had failed to bring up issues affecting them over the last 30 years, including the lack of electricity and water supply.

But all that is set to ubah (change).