Wong May Ing

Summary

Wong May Ing (born 9 February 1979) is a DAP politician who has represented the Pantai Remis state constituency in Perak since May 2013, currently serving her third consecutive term. She previously served on the Perak State Executive Council from May 2018 to March 2020, holding the Women, Family and Community Development portfolio. She remains active on constituency issues including maritime security for fishermen and environmental protection along the Perak coast.

Biography

Wong May Ing (Chinese: 黃渼澐; born 9 February 1979, Perak) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Member of the Perak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Pantai Remis since May 2013, making her a three-term incumbent as of GE15 [1]. She is a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and formerly Pakatan Rakyat [1]. From May 2018 to March 2020, she served as a member of the Perak State Executive Council (EXCO) in the PH state administration under Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu, holding the portfolio of State Women, Family and Community Development, Character Development and Community Welfare Committee chairwoman [2]. The PH Perak state administration collapsed in March 2020, ending her EXCO tenure [1]. She contested and retained the Pantai Remis seat at GE15 in November 2022 and was reported as a likely candidate for the Perak EXCO in the post-GE15 BN-PH state government [2]. In February 2025, she held a press conference with local fishermen to raise concerns about alleged maritime extortion threats in the Strait of Malacca affecting deep-sea fishing operators out of Pantai Remis and Bagan Panchor [3]. She indicated she would raise overlapping maritime boundary issues with Indonesia at a Parliamentary Special Committee dialogue [4]. In February 2023, she was present at a press conference at a sand-mining site in Segari, Lumut, highlighting concerns about the destruction of a turtle landing area [2].

Known for

Wong May Ing is known as a three-term DAP assemblyman for Pantai Remis who served as the Perak State EXCO chairwoman overseeing Women, Family and Community Development portfolios during the 2018–2020 Pakatan Harapan administration. She is also noted as the only two-term female assemblyman in Perak's PH bloc at the time of her 2018 EXCO appointment. She has remained active in advocating for the livelihoods of the fishing community in her coastal constituency.

Political positions

On child marriage, Wong May Ing stated in 2018, as EXCO chairwoman, that the Perak government would study raising the minimum age for marriage and personally stated she did not agree with child marriages [2]. On child welfare, she reported state abuse statistics to the assembly and committed ongoing departmental action. On women's development, she proposed a state institute for women, elderly and single parents to provide skills and caregiving training, and initiated distribution of sexual harassment awareness booklets to schools [2]. On maritime security, she raised concerns in early 2025 about alleged piracy and extortion threats in the Strait of Malacca affecting deep-sea fishermen, and indicated she would engage both MMEA and a Parliamentary Special Committee on the matter [4]. On environmental issues, she participated in an action at a sand-mining site in Segari in 2023 to highlight destruction of a coastal turtle landing area [2].

Political career

1. May 2013First elected as Member of the Perak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Pantai Remis under the DAP/Pakatan Rakyat banner at GE13.⛓
2. May 2018Re-elected as MLA for Pantai Remis at GE14 under DAP/Pakatan Harapan. Subsequently appointed as a member of the Perak State Executive Council (EXCO) under Menteri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu, serving as State Women, Family and Community Development, Character Development and Community Welfare Committee chairwoman.⛓
3. 21 May 2018Officially began work as one of ten new Perak State Executive Councillors at the State Secretariat in Ipoh.⛓
4. March 2020EXCO tenure ended with the collapse of the PH state administration in Perak amid the national political crisis.⛓
5. 19 November 2022Re-elected as MLA for Pantai Remis at GE15 under PH-DAP, securing her third consecutive term. Named as a likely DAP candidate for the new Perak EXCO under MB Saarani Mohamad's BN-PH administration.⛓
6. February 2023Accompanied NGOs and police to a sand-mining site in Segari, Lumut, to raise concerns about the destruction of a turtle landing area. The group was temporarily blocked from leaving the site by the landowner.⛓
7. February 2025Held a press conference in Pantai Remis raising alarm over alleged maritime extortion/piracy threats in the Strait of Malacca affecting deep-sea fishermen, reporting at least five cases with losses of hundreds of thousands of ringgit since December 2024. Announced plans to raise the matter at a Parliamentary Special Committee dialogue.⛓

Election history

• 2022Pantai Remis (N37), PerakWon⛓
• 2018Pantai Remis (N37), PerakWon⛓
• 2013Pantai Remis (N37), PerakWon⛓

Perspectives on key issues

• VerifiedFactsWong May Ing has served as MLA for Pantai Remis continuously since May 2013, making her a three-term incumbent as of GE15 (2022). She served on the Perak EXCO from May 2018 to March 2020 under MB Ahmad Faizal Azumu with the Women, Family and Community Development portfolio.⛓
• GovernmentAs Perak EXCO chairwoman for Women, Family and Community Development (2018–2020), Wong oversaw welfare grants to NGOs, child protection data reporting to the state assembly, and proposed a new state skills-training institute for women and single parents.⛓
• AffectedFishermen in Pantai Remis and Bagan Panchor brought complaints of alleged maritime extortion by foreign parties in the Strait of Malacca to Wong May Ing, with at least five cases reported to her since December 2024 involving losses of hundreds of thousands of ringgit.⛓
• GovernmentThe Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Director-General stated in February 2025 that the agency had not received official reports of a piracy incident in Pantai Remis and that the Strait of Malacca remained secure, describing the incidents as extortion rather than piracy.⛓
• OppositionDuring the GE15 campaign in 2022, opponents reportedly circulated claims that Wong May Ing would relocate to Kuala Lumpur after her marriage and not fulfil her duties as assemblyman — claims she publicly denied as baseless and characterised as demeaning to women.⛓