| Honorific-Prefix: | Yang Berbahagia Datuk Amar |
| James Wong Kim Min | |
| Birth Date: | 6 August 1922 |
| Birth Place: | Limbang, Kingdom of Sarawak |
| Death Place: | Kuching, Sarawak |
| Office: | 5th Leader of the Opposition |
| Primeminister: | Abdul Razak |
| Term Start: | 24 August 1974 |
| Term End: | 30 October 1974 |
| Predecessor: | Lim Kit Siang |
| Successor: | Edmund Langgu Saga |
| Office2: | Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak |
| Term Start2: | 1963 |
| Term End2: | 1966 |
| Predecessor2: | Post created |
| Office3: | 3rd President of Sarawak National Party |
| Term Start3: | 1981 |
| Term End3: | 2003 |
| Predecessor3: | Dunstan Endawie Enchana |
| Successor3: | Edwin Dundang Bugak |
| Term Start4: | 1990 |
| Term End4: | 1995 |
| Constituency Mp4: | Bintulu |
| Parliament4: | Malaysian |
| Term Start5: | 1970 |
| Term End5: | 1974 |
| Constituency Mp5: | Miri-Subis |
| Parliament5: | Malaysian |
| Term Start6: | 1963 |
| Term End6: | 2001 |
| Successor6: | Richard Wong Shoan Fook |
| Assembly6: | Sarawak State |
| Constituency Am6: | Limbang |
| Citizenship: | Malaysian |
| Party: | Sarawak National Party (SNAP) |
| Occupation: | Politician |
| Spouse: | Valerie Bong |
| Children: | 5 daughters, 3 sons |
| Module: |
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Datuk Amar James Wong Kim Min (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Vòng Kîm-mìn) (6 August 1922 – 18 July 2011) was a Malaysian politician active in the politics of Sarawak for decades.[1] Wong holds the record as the longest serving assemblyman in the history of the state of Sarawak, holding the office for nearly fifty years.[2] Wong served as the first Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak and the president of the Sarawak National Party (SNAP).[2] He held several other ministries of Sarawak politics until his retirement in 2001.[2]
Wong was born in Limbang, Kingdom of Sarawak, on 6 August 1922.[1] Sarawak was a British protectorate at the time.[1]
He began his political career in 1951, when he was elected to the Limbang District Council.[1]
In 1956, Wong was elected to Sarawak's legislature, the Council Negri, which is now known as the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly.[1] He continued to hold office in the Legislative Assembly until his retirement in 2001.
Malaysia became an independent country in 1963. Wong had been a member of the Malaysian Solidarity Convention's Sarawak delegation in 1962, which negotiated the formation of the new nation.[1] Stephen Kalong Ningkan, the then president of the Sarawak National Party (SNAP), became the first Chief Minister of Sarawak, while Wong became the state's first deputy Chief Minister.[1]
SNAP pulled out of the national coalition government, led by the Alliance Party, and became an opposition party. Wong, a member of the SNAP, won a seat in the Parliament of Malaysia in the 1969 general election, representing the Miri-Subis constituency.[1] Wong became the leader of the Malaysian Opposition in August 1974.[1] Wong would later be arrested under the Internal Security Act on 30 October 1974 and held at the Kamunting Detention Centre for several years.[3] [1] In 1981, Wong became the third president of the Sarawak National Party.[1]
Wong's Sarawak National Party reconciled and rejoined the successor of the Alliance, the Barisan Nasional. Under the new coalition, Wong became a minister in Sarawak's state cabinet, holding several portfolios during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Wong became the Environment and Tourism Minister of Sarawak from 1987 to 1994.[1] He then became the state Minister of Environment and Housing from 1995 to 1997 and finally the state Minister of Environment and Public Health from 1998 until his retirement in 2001.[1] In 2001, Wong, who was still serving as Environment Minister, was awarded the Langkawi Award for to work in launching a sea turtle satellite tracking program and spearheading a new reefball project for coral reefs.[1]
Wong retired from politics in 2001. He continued to author new books and poems during his retirement. Wong authored The Price of Loyalty, a book about his imprisonment at the Kamunting detention center under the Internal Security Act.[1] By 2003, Wong had published the third addition of The Birth of Malaysia, a history of the country.[1] He also released a third book, Memories of Speeches at the Council Negri.[1] In addition to his books, Wong also wrote poetry during his later life. His poetry collections included A Special Breed in 1981, Shimmering Moonbeams in 1983, Buy a Little Time in 1989 and Beautiful Butterfly in 2009.[1]
Wong also spearheaded the push to have Malaysia Day declared a national holiday.[1] In 2010, Malaysia Day was finally declared an official holiday, to be celebrated nationwide on 16 September of every year.[1] Wong spoke of Malaysia Day in 2010 saying, "It is my hope that Malaysia Day will be celebrated every 16 September. People should remember it because it's a historic occasion."[1]
James Wong suffered a heart attack on 18 July 2011. He died shortly after 10 a.m. at the Normah Medical Specialist Centre in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, at the age of 90.[2] Wong was survived by his wife, Datin Amar Valerie Bong; five daughters; three sons; thirteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.[1]
He was buried in Limbang at the family cemetery in Jalan Pandaruan.[4] Dignitaries in attendance included members of each of Sarawak's major ethnic groups, including the Chinese, the Kedayan, Bruneian Malays, Bisaya, Tabun, Lun Bawang and Iban.[4]
Sarawak government announced that it will put together an exhibit of Wong's documents at the state museum.[5]
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | P142 Miri-Subis, Sarawak | (SNAP) | 4,391 | 46.36% | Ekoon Bantar (SUPP) | 3,892 | 41.09% | 9,472 | 499 | 73.67% | |||
| Guyang Nisau (Ind.) | 1,189 | 12.55% | |||||||||||
| 1974 | P152 Miri-Subis, Sarawak | James Wong Kin Min (SNAP) | 7,334 | 45.04% | Yang Siew Sang (SUPP) | 8,949 | 54.96% | 16,283 | 1,615 | 67.68% | |||
| 1990 | P177 Bintulu, Sarawak | (SNAP) | 6,337 | 37.41% | Chiew Chiu Sing (DAP) | 6,050 | 33.14% | 18,255 | 287 | 62.50% | |||
| Salleh Jafaruddin (PERMAS) | 3,227 | 17.68% | |||||||||||
| Francis Lutau Jilan (Ind.) | 2,118 | 11.60% | |||||||||||
| Daniel Sigah Limbai (Ind.) | 523 | 2.86% | |||||||||||
| 1995 | P189 Bintulu, Sarawak | (SNAP) | 10,370 | 45.64% | Chiew Chiu Sing (DAP) | 12,416 | 53.54% | 22,719 | 1,794 | 63.72% | |||
| Jonny Walker Tinggang (Ind.) | 185 | 0.81% | |||||||||||
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | S47 Limbang | (SNAP) | 2,935 | 63.69% | Bakar Abdullah (PPBB) | 1,068 | 23.18% | 4,608 | 867 | 79.85% | |||
| Pugi Yabai (Ind.) | 385 | 8.36% | |||||||||||
| Tahir Hassan (Ind.) | 220 | 4.77% | |||||||||||
| 1974 | N47 Limbang | James Wong Kim Min (SNAP) | 3,224 | 57.52% | Mustapha Besa (BN) | 2,224 | 39.68% | 5,605 | 1,000 | ||||
| Lim Cho Seng (Ind.) | 157 | 2.80% | |||||||||||
| 1979 | James Wong Kim Min (SNAP) | Unopposed | |||||||||||
| 1983 | James Wong Kim Min (SNAP) | Unopposed | |||||||||||
| 1987 | Abdul Taib Mahmud (SNAP) | Unopposed | |||||||||||
| 1991 | James Wong Kim Min (SNAP) | 5,813 | 52.99% | Edward Guatee Sundai (PBDS) | 2,819 | 25.70% | 10,971 | 2,994 | 69.57% | ||||
| Munir Karim (PERMAS) | 2,160 | 19.69% | |||||||||||
| Alan Dunggat (DAP) | 179 | 1.63% | |||||||||||
| 1996 | N60 Limbang | James Wong Kim Min (SNAP) | Unopposed | ||||||||||