Kapitan China Ong Tiang Swee, OBE, CSS (Chinese: 王長水; pinyin: Wáng Chángshuǐ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ông Tiâng-súi; 3 August 1864 – 19 October 1950) known as the Grand Old Man, was a renowned businessman and philanthropist in Sarawak.
His father, Ong Ewe Hai was a prominent Kapitan China to the Hokkien community of Sarawak, and a successful businessman in multiple fields.
Kee Hui later served as the Minister of Local Government and Housing, and established the Ministry of Science Technology & Environment under Tun Razak's Cabinet.
[3] Little is known of Ong's childhood as much of the family records were destroyed in the chaos of the Japanese occupation of Sarawak during World War II.
His father, Ong Ewe Hai, arrived in Sarawak in 1846, a few years after the Sultan of Brunei ceded it to James Brooke, the first of the White Rajahs.
In 1914, Rajah Sir Charles Johnson Brooke set up the Sarawak Farms Syndicate, a joint venture between the government and the Chinese businessmen, to run the lucrative gambling and opium monopolies and the arak distilleries.
Through his activities in horse racing, Ong has helped to bring the various ethnic groups in Sarawak at the time together.
He served for over half a century as Kapitan Cina, when political parties and direct elections to the legislative bodies were still many years away.
He contributed substantially towards the development of the state under the White Rajahs' rule, when the growing Chinese community was participating actively in promoting the country's economy.
In 1947, the government appointed his son, Ong Kwan Hin to succeed him as Kapitan Cina for the Hokkien community.
On 16 August 1947, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), presented by the first Governor of Sarawak, Sir Charles Arden Clarke.
In Kuching, there is a road named after him, called Jalan Ong Tiang Swee, which was awarded by the Rajah in recognition of his contributions.
There are a total of six roads in Kuching, Sarawak named after generations of the Ong family, mostly by the Rajah in recognition of their contribution to the community.