Singaporean President, Architect, Businessman. He served as the 5th President of Singapore from 1993 to 1999. As the first president to be directly elected in a popular vote in Singapore's history, he was also nicknamed the "People's President." Born in the Straits Settlements, he graduated with distinctions from The Chinese High School in 1955. In 1956, he ventured abroad and studied architecture at the University of Adelaide along with his childhood sweetheart and future wife, Ling Siew May. They would marry in 1963. In 1965, he received a Colombo Plan scholarship to pursue a master's degree in urban planning at the University of Liverpool and graduated in 1967. That same year, he joined the Ministry of National Development (MND) as a town planner. He resigned in 1971 and along with his wife, started their architectural firm, Ong & Ong Architects & Town Planners. In 1972, Ong was fielded as a candidate for the Kim Keat constituency during the general election of September that year. He won the election and became the MP for Kim Keat from 1972 to 1991. In 1975, he was involved in the conceptualization of a new airport in Changi. The Singapore Changi Airport was opened in 1981. That same year, he was appointed Senior Minister of State for Communications. He pushed for an extensive rail network in the country, now known as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), the largest construction project in Singapore's history. When he became the Minister for Communications in 1977, he continued to advocate for the MRT system. After a debate on whether a bus-only system would be more cost-effective, Ong came to the conclusion that that would be inadequate, as it would have to compete for road space in a land-scarce country. Permission to build the MRT was finally given in May 1982 and on 7 November 1987, he took the first train ride on the North–South Line. He would be appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore in 1985. In 1993, he resigned from the PAP and his ministerial positions to contest in the 1993 presidential election, winning 58.7% of the vote. Several constitutional amendments were made under his presidency, to refine the constitutional powers and workings of the elected presidency, particularly pertaining to its custodial role in safeguarding the national reserves. He also initiated a number of charities such as the President's Star Charity, which financially benefitted many charities, arts groups and youth organisations. He decided not to seek a second term, partially due to his wife's death on July 30, 1999. He was succeeded by S. R. Nathan, and he returned to work at his architecture practice. Diagnosed with lymphoma in 1992, he died of the illness in 2002.