Family Background
Wong is a third-generation Chinese Malaysian: his Hakka grandfather, Wong Men (born 1901-November 1988), emigrated from Yingde to Laoshimei (老鼠尾) village in Qingyuan county of Guangdong province to the Straits Settlements via Singapore in 1912 before settling down in the tin mining region of the Kinta District. The eldest of five siblings, Wong was born in Ipoh and grew up in the village of Ampang Baru, a wooden house unit number 200. His father Wong Yon Loong (born 1941) is a proponent of mainstream Chinese education and had served as headmaster in various primary schools in Kinta district. His second-generation Fuzhou-descendant mother, Goh Swee Kim (born 24 December 1936 – 1 December 1999) was an educationist, having been headmistress at various Chinese primary schools in Perak. Despite being Chinese educationists, they elect to send Wong to a Methodist school for an English education.
Read more about this topic: Wong Jeh Shyan
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