13 minutes
VIVIAN WONG’S rise from a little known aide to MP is, in some ways, a Malaysian tradition.
She takes over from her late father, Datuk Stephen Wong, whose demise in March paved the way for her entry into the Dewan Rakyat.
Politics is a family business.
The forebears of many of our current leaders have blood ties with those who fought for and won independence for Malaysia.
The late Tun Hussein Onn, our third prime minister, was the son of Datuk Onn Jaafar, a founding member of Umno and a visionary in his day.
He wanted to open Umno to all races by renaming it United Malayans National Organisation, but the proposal was rejected.
Others who have made politics a family business are current prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad his his son Mukhriz, who is now on his second outing as mentri besar of Kedah.
In MCA, Tun Tan Cheng Lock was the founding president and his son, Siew Sin, was the third party president.
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang has been succeeded as party secretary-general by son, Guan Eng, whose wife Betty Chew is state assemblyman in Malacca.
The three sons of the late Karpal Singh – Gobind, Jagdeep and Ramkarpal – have also followed in their father’s footsteps.
Another family in Parliament are Port Dickson MP Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and daughter Nurul Izzah.
But there is one political family that is a little different.
Instead of a son or daughter, former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, in the game.
So when Vivian Wong takes her seat in Parliament, she will have many like her for company.
