Former Sarawak deputy chief minister James Wong Kim Meng, 89, died of a heart attack at the Normah Medical Specialist Centre in Kuching today.

According to a close family member, he was rushed to the specialist centre this morning after complaining of breathing difficulty but died at 2pm.

NONE Wong ( left ) was survived by his wife, Valerie Beng Kui Inn, and three sons and five daughters.

Born on Aug 6, 1922 in Limbang, Wong was one of Sarawak’s representatives in negotiations leading to the formation of Malaysia in 1963, and became the first deputy chief minister of Sarawak in the then Alliance government that same year.

As one of Sarawak’s best known personalities, whose tenure in public service lasted almost half a century, his reflection and thoughts were captured in some notable books that he had authored, including the ‘ The Price of Loyalty ’ and ‘ Birth of Malaysia ’.

    

Having started his long and distinguished political career as a member of the Limbang District Council in 1953, he had held state ministerial posts, namely Minister for Environment and Tourism, Environment and Public Health, and Environment and Housing.

From 1956 until his retirement in 2001, Wong was a member of the Sarawak State Council and from March 1974 to 1976 , he was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The veteran politician was also the former Sarawak National Party (SNAP) president.

Wong once said that he would retire from politics after he made a last-ditch effort to save his party from de-registration.

And the grand old man of Sarawak politics was true to his word when he retired in 2002, irrespective of the legal outcome.

This took place after he had filed an application to quash a decision by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to de-register SNAP, which was once a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN).

The Limbang-born veteran politician who died of a heart attack today, at the age of 89, managed to see that his effort was not in vain last year - eight years after he had fought against the de-registration - and today, SNAP has become active again.

Wong’s determined push came when the Registrar of Societies (ROS) de-registered SNAP on Nov 5, 2002, following the party's failure to resolve its leadership crisis. Subsequently, a group of former members led by William Mawan Ikom formed the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP).

“Regardless of the outcome of the court case, I will completely retire from politics as I have served politics for the last 50 years. I consider this (application to quash the ROS decision to de-register SNAP) as my last responsibility and duty as a politician as I want to enjoy the last few years of the sunshine that is left,” Wong had told Bernama in an interview on Nov 26, 2002.

At that time, Wong, who had been synonymous with SNAP, one of the oldest political parties in Sarawak, said that he was duty-bound to preside at the “last hurrah” of his political career as there had been requests by former SNAP members, urging him to use all legal avenues to resuscitate the party.

Wong managed to see the outcome of the case last year when the Court of Appeal set aside the decision of the ROS to de-register the party and it then became active politically, not as a component of BN, but as an opposition party.

What was remarkable in that interview was that Wong, the former first deputy chief minister of Sarawak after the formation of Malaysia, was already talking about retiring from politics.

He had said that he was happy to have served the country and people for more than 50 years, both in the government and opposition.

- Bernama