Ling Siew May

Ling Siew May (Chinese: 林秀梅; 1937 – 30 July 1999) was a China-born Singaporean architect who served as the 5th Spouse of the President of Singapore from 1993 to 1999, to President Ong Teng Cheong. She founded ONG & ONG, an architecture and urban planning firm, with her husband in 1972.

Early life

Ling was born in 1937 in Shanghai, China, the fourth of six children. She was later sent to an orphanage in Shanghai after her father and her family were separated during the Japanese occupation of Singapore. In 1948, she returned to Singapore after her father had located them.

She studied at Nanyang Girls' High School. She later studied at the University of Adelaide studying architecture, which is where she met her future husband Ong Teng Cheong. After graduating in 1963 with a Bachelor in architecture, she married Ong in the same year.

Career

In 1972, Ling and Ong founded ONG & ONG, an architecture firm, she was a principal partner.

In 1993, she became the 5th Spouse of the President of Singapore after her husband Ong was elected president of Singapore. Despite becoming the Spouse, she continued her job as an architect at ONG & ONG, becoming the first working Spouse.

In 1999, Ling designed the new Nanyang Girls' High School campus at Linden Drive. She was also the chairperson of Nanyang Girls' board.

She died later that year whilst still serving as Spouse. Ling is the first Spouse to have died during their partner's presidency. Her illness is reportedly one of the reasons why Ong did not seek a re-election as he himself was in remission from lymphatic cancer.

Personal life

She and Ong have two sons. In 1993, she stated that her elder son, Ong Tze Guan, was working in Singapore while her younger son, Ong Tze Boon, was doing his masters at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Tze Boon subsequently took the helm of ONG & ONG after the death of his parents.

Ling died on 30 July 1999 at 11:25am after suffering from colon cancer for 2+1⁄2 years at the National University Hospital, two weeks after Ong announced his desire to step down from the Presidency.