More Than 100K Malaysians Voted For This MP In The Country's Largest Constituency

Following a redelineation exercise by the Election Commission (EC) to redraw Malaysia's electoral boundaries, the Serdang constituency was renamed as Bangi.

The constituency was not just renamed, but it also saw the number of voters drastically increase from 133,139 to 178,959, an increase of 45,000 people in the constituency.

Pakatan Harapan candidate Dr Ong Kian Ming defended his seat, and was elected as a Member of Parliament for Bangi. He received a total of 102,557 votes, winning with a comfortable majority of 68,768 votes in a four-cornered fight. 

It was reported that the Bangi constituency saw a good voter turnout of 88.3% and only 1,114 votes were counted as spoiled votes. 

Following the redelineation exercise, the Bangi parliamentary seat saw an increase in the number of Malay voters as they make up the most (48.47%) of the electorate, as compared to the previous general election in which it was deemed as a Chinese-majority seat.

In an exclusive interview with Astro Awani, Ong was asked how he managed to garner the support of ethnic Malays to vote for him since he is an ethnic Chinese from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), as allegations were rife that Pakatan Harapan (PH) was being controlled by DAP.

In his reply, Ong attributed his victory to the "tsunami rakyat" phenomenon, where many voters in Selangor voted for Pakatan Harapan, adding that PH's decision that all parties in the pact will be contesting under the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) logo also showed that DAP is not arrogant, as some have alleged.

He told Astro Awani that when he explained to Malay voters in his constituency about DAP's decision to drop its 'rocket' logo, they were able to understand that the party was prepared to look beyond party interests and save Malaysia through a change of government.

Ong made his electoral debut in the 13th General Election, as the newcomer won the Serdang parliamentary seat as Pakatan Rakyat candidate from DAP, against a Barisan Nasional candidate from Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) with a 42,206 majority votes.

In the past five years, he has been particularly vocal about issues plaguing the area especially on matters related to traffic congestion, often speaking out about road infrastructure developments, transportation, and even tolls.

Ong said himself in his 14th General Election (GE14) manifesto that he pledges to represent his constituency and speak up at federal level about the issues that he is passionate about, namely the 4E's: Economy, Election, Education, and the Environment.

He had worked in two think-tanks - INSAP (Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research) and SEDAR (Social Economic Development and Research Institute) that were linked to the MCA and Gerakan respectively - but only decided to join a political party in 2012.

Born in Kuala Lumpur and raised in Petaling Jaya, Ong obtained his early years of education at SK and SMK La Salle Petaling Jaya. He went on to complete his 'O' and 'A' levels in Raffles Institution and Raffles Junior College respectively under the ASEAN Scholarship in Singapore.

Known for his impressive academic credentials - the 42-year-old has a PhD in political science from Duke University, a Masters in Economics from Cambridge University, and a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Prior to his active involvement in politics, he also was a university lecturer at a local private university as well as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Kuala Lumpur.

"His (Ong) opinions are drawn from a series of statistical data, rather than any explicable ideological narrative. For an electorate looking for substance, he is a breath of fresh air," Selangor Journal stated in a pre-GE14 writeup.

This is evident in how Ong presents his arguments on issues as he often uses data to support his claims, many of which can also be found on his blog. There are also instances where his researches benefit not just the local society, such as when his study on malapportionment level and democracy published in a journal.

Ong, an avid runner and cyclist, remains a warm and approachable public figure as seen recently during his campaign trail for GE14. TODAY reported that many people were seen approaching Ong for a chat or a handshake while was with his team at the Kajang MRT station canvassing for votes.

Previously, Ong published a "report card" on his blog to convince voters to vote for him in GE14. The "report card" highlights what he did between 2013 and 2018 during his tenure as Serdang MP.
 
Now that he has been the reelected as the MP of Bangi, people in his constituency can hold him accountable to the promises he made in GE14:

• Abolish road tolls (SILK, BESRAYA, CHERAS-KAJANG, PLUS, LEKAS) in stages according to the terms and conditions of the concession agreements

• Upgrade water tanks and pipes to reduce water supply interruptions

• Upgrade road infrastructure and improve traffic flows at road bottlenecks

• Improve bus connectivity and public transportation ridership

• Clean up the river and riverbanks along Sungai Langat