FORMER Pujut assemblyman Dr Ting Tiong Choon is certain his removal from the Sarawak legislative assembly was motivated by revenge.

“I am 100% sure it’s a personal political vendetta, a revenge,” the 51-year-old medical doctor said of his disqualification as an elected state representative.

Hii King Chong, who lost to him in a four-way fight for the Chinese-majority seat in Miri in last year’s state election, had first moved to disqualify Ting in the Election Court on May 7 last year on grounds that Ting was previously an Australian citizen. 

Hii, who polled 7,140 votes to Ting’s 8,899, is from the pro-BN United People’s Party (UPP) but because the party is not a member of the four-party state Barisan Nasional coalition, he was fielded as a “direct BN candidate” – the common solution to Sarawak BN’s messy political set-up.

“They (Hii and UPP) are trying to hijack the Pujut seat and they are not giving up,” Ting said.

Hii’s petition, however, fell through after he failed to deposit RM10,000 in cash with the court as required by law. He had paid the deposit with a cheque instead. 

Sarawak International Trade and E-Commerce Minister Wong Soon Koh, who is also UPP president, moved the motion against Ting on Friday.

He cited Article 17 (1)(g) of the Sarawak constitution which states that “a person is disqualified from being an elected member of the Dewan Undangan Negeri if he has voluntarily acquired citizenship of, or exercised rights of citizenship in, or has made declaration of allegiance to any country outside the Federation (of Malaysia)”.

“I’ve seen the information and so-called evidence presented in the legislative assembly,” said Ting. 

“They are exactly the same as those used in the court petition.

 “My disqualification is political and nothing as noble as upholding the law.”

No regrets

Ting said his friends are now asking if he regrets renouncing his Australian citizenship with which he could have had a better life in .

Australian authorities had on April 4 last year confirmed that Ting had given up his citizenship. 

“After what happened yesterday (Friday), I had a lot of thoughts running through my head. But I can tell you that packing up and going back to Australia was not one of them.”

To head Down Under would be the logical thing for Ting to do. It’s where his wife and four children are. Three of the children are in university.

“That’s my dilemma. They are there and I am here. But education comes first.”

Education was what lured Ting to Australia in 1985. After completing his High School Certificate, he enrolled at the University of New South Wales to study medicine.

His studies were financed by his businessman father and four older brothers and sisters.  While there, Ting met and married his Taiwanese wife.

“I’d always wanted to come back and settle down in Sarawak but I found that I could face immigration difficulties with my foreign wife.

“She would have to leave the state every three months because there is almost no chance she would get a permanent residency in 10 years.”

So they decided to stay on in Australia, in the rural farming town of Kempsey – roughly 345km north of Sydney near the coast – where three of their children were born.

Ting started his medical practice there and in 2010, took up Australian citizenship.

Dual dilemma

As he was unaware that Malaysian law did not permit dual citizenship, Ting said he held on to his Malaysian citizenship. 

“I’m a doctor, not a lawyer, and I didn’t know the issue of dual citizenship or that there’s a law against it.

“Laterl I also found out that there is no law requiring me to report to the authorities and give up my Malaysian citizenship after I had gotten my Australian one.

“Even then I was looking for ways to get back to Malaysia.”

After 20 years in Australia, the opportunity came when he was headhunted by TalentCorp, a corporation under the Prime Minister’s Department, to return home as a doctor.

Ting said the urge to return home was very strong.

“My father was sick and I was concerned about what was happening politically back home.”

His 81-year-old father, however died before his son could return. 

“His son, on whom he had spent so much money so that he could be a doctor, could not do anything to help him.

“That made me even more determined to return home and help other people since I could not help my father.”

Homecoming

Before he left, he renounced his Australian citizenship which became final in April last year. A month later, he was the DAP candidate for the Pujut seat in the state election.

Now out of a job, Ting said he will not be lazing around.

“There is a lot for me to do. There’s the by-election that could be called for my vacant seat and there’s the general election coming.

“You can bet I will be working very hard for the DAP candidate for the Pujut seat or the Pakatan candidate for the Miri parliamentary seat.

“That will take up a lot of my time. After the elections and when things have settled down, perhaps then I will think about what to do next.”

Will he set up a practice in Miri?

“Perhaps. I will have to talk to my wife first.”

In the meantime, it’s the same old political grind, minus the “YB” (Yang Berhormat) that comes with being an assemblyman. – May 14, 2017.