Preceded by Peter Chin Fah Kui Name Maximus Ongkili Preceded by New constituency | Preceded by Jamaluddin Jarjis Spouse Joan Maluda Succeeded by Ewon Ebin | |
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Full Name Johnity @ Maximus bin Ongkili Relations Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan (Uncles) Similar Abdul Taib Mahmud, James Dawos Mamit, Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib | ||
New electricity rates from Jan 1 : Maximus Ongkili
Datuk Seri Panglima Maximus Johnity Ongkili (born 26 October 1953) is a Malaysian politician. He is the Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water and the member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the seat of Kota Marudu in Sabah. He is a member of the United Sabah Party (Malay:Parti Bersatu Sabah or PBS) in the governing Barisan Nasional coalition.
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Ongkili was born on 26 October 1953 in Kota Kinabalu but hails from the district of Tambunan in the interior part of the state. He is married with two children and has a Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Economics, conferred by Australia's La Trobe University. He is a Christian.
Ongkili is the nephew of current Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah Joseph Pairin Kitingan and Jeffrey Kitingan, who is a former vice-president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
In the Opposition
Ongkili was originally an opposition politician, but joined the government when the PBS joined the Barisan Nasional coalition in 2002.
In 1991 he was imprisoned under the Internal Security Act for 59 days. This was part of political arrests carried out between 1990 and 1991 to crack down on opposition leaders in Sabah, Malaysia, and their alleged plans to secede the state from Malaysia, allegedly known as Operation Talkak. Seven men were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). (See also 1991 Sabah political arrests).
At the time of his arrest on 3 January 1991, Ongkili was a senior researcher and deputy chief director of IDS and electoral press consultant to then Chief Minister of Sabah Joseph Pairin Kitingan during the 1990 Sabah state and national elections. He was released unconditionally on 2 March.
In the Government
Ongkili entered Parliament in the 1995 election (at the time, the Kota Marudu seat was named Bandau). He was appointed as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department after the 2004 election by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Ongkili was placed in charge of National Unity, and headed the initiation of the Khidmat Negara conscription program.
Ongkili was also a member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly until the 2008 election, when he stood aside from his Tandek seat.
As of 2008, Ongkili is Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Then after his winning in the 2013 General Election, Ongkili has been appointed as Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister.