Ong Hock Thye

Ong Hock Thye a Malaysian judge on the Courts of Malaysia.

The Hon. Tan Sri Dato Justice Ong Hock Thye (d. 1977), PSM, DPMS, also known as H. T. Ong was Chief Justice of Malaya and a Barrister-at-Law of Middle Temple. Born in Penang in 1908 he married Mary Chung Yuet See, the eldest daughter of Kapitan China Chung Thye Phin. He was educated at the King Edward VII School and St. George's Institution in Taiping and the University of London. He was the first ethnic Chinese to be appointed a Supreme Court Judge in the Federation of Malaya. He is the son of the late Mr. Ong Teng Up. He was Chairman of the Royal Commission on Non-Muslim Marriage and Divorce Laws. He was author of Law and Justice Through the Cases He was a former Chairman of the Malayan Association of the Blind, Brickfields.

Anecdotes

Tan Sri H.T. Ong, when he was Chief Justice, once stopped Counsel who had just begun to open an appeal (an indication that he required no argument for the appellant) and called on Counsel for the Respondent. Counsel for the Respondent began belligerently by saying " Do I understand that my Lord has already made up his mind without hearing the case for the Respondent?" "Oh, no!" said H.T. amiably "please sayanything you wish Mr X". He then sat back and said not another word. Counsel for the Respondent soon dried up. Counsel for the appellant was not called on to reply. It is only fair to H.T. who had a brilliant mind, quick to grasp a point but who always gave Counsel his say and listened intently, to say that the Privy Council upheld his judgment in the subsequent appeal.

In Memory

In 1958 Ong Hock Thai better and popularly known as H.T. Ong a member of the Hon.Society of the Middle Temple made legal history when he and Tan Sri Ismail Khan a Barrister-At-Law of the Hon. Society of the Middle Temple as well were the first 2 local private practitioners to be elevated to the Bench of the High Court States of Malaya after Indepence. H.T.Ong is known for his well crafted judgments and legal prose. He passed away in 1977.

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See Also

• United Nations Review By United Nations Office of Public Information Published by United Nations Dept. of Public Information, 1954
• Official Year Book - Malaysia By Jabatan Penerangan, Malaya Published by Federal Dept. of Information, Ministry of Information, Malaysia., 1962
• The Chinese in Southeast Asia By L A Peter Gosling, Linda Lim, Linda Y C Lim, University of Singapore Economic Research Centre, University of Michigan, University of Michigan Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, Economic Research Centre, University of Singapore Published by Maruzen Asia, 1983
• Without Fear or Favour By Chee Khoon Tan, R. K. Vasil Published by Eastern Universities Press (M), 1984 ISBN 967908051X, ISBN 9789679080513