ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong

ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong

Ong Keng Yong is possibly the perfect man for the position of
secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), as he speaks many of the major languages of the region:
English, Mandarin, Malay and Arabic.

Born in Singapore on Jan. 6, 1954, Ong studied law at the
University of Singapore where he obtained an LLB (honors) and at
Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he got his
master's degree in Arab Studies.

Ong's career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore
began in 1979, and he had his first overseas posting in 1984 as
the charge d'affairs of the Singapore Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia. Later, he served as counsellor at the Singapore High
Commission in Kuala Lumpur, and as minister counsellor and deputy
chief of mission at the Singapore Embassy in Washington D.C. in
1991.

At the age of 42, he was one of Singapore's youngest heads of
mission, serving the post as high commissioner to India and then
as ambassador to Nepal.

Between oversees postings, Ong served in various political
directorates overseeing ASEAN at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
including the director of the Policy, Planning and Analysis
Directorate II. He was also in charge of APEC and affairs related
to the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

From 1994-1995, he was concurrently the spokesman of the
foreign ministry. On his return from India in 1998, Ong acted as
press secretary to the Singaporean prime minister and also as
deputy secretary. A year later, he became chief executive
director of the People's Association, which is Singapore's most
important community-based organization and oversees some 1,700
grassroots communities. -- JP