Ong Kim Swee

In this Chinese name, the family name is Ong (王).

Datuk Ong Kim Swee (Chinese: 王金瑞; pinyin: Wáng Jīn Ruì) DPSM is a Malaysian football manager and former footballer, who is currently the head coach of Liga 1 club Persis Solo. He spent most of his career playing for East Malaysian teams, notably Sarawak and Sabah during the mid 1990s.^[1]

Ong Kim Swee

Personal information
Full name	Ong Kim Swee
Date of birth	(1970-12-11) 11 December 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth	Malacca, Malaysia
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Persis Solo (head coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1992	Malacca
1993–1994	Sarawak
1994–1997	Sabah
1998	Malacca
International career
1990–1991	Malaysia Olympic	8	(1)
1994–1995	Malaysia	5	(0)
Managerial career
2004–2005	Malacca
2009–2014	Harimau Muda A
2011–2015	Malaysia U23
2014	Malaysia (interim)
2015–2017	Malaysia
2017–2019	Malaysia U22
2017–2019	Malaysia U23
2021	Malaysia (technical director)
2021–2024	Sabah
2024–	Persis Solo
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Ong began his career as a player for Malacca in the early 1990s. He was a member of the Malaysia Olympic teams nicknamed Barcelona 1992 under Chow Kwai Lam.^[1][2] In 1993, Ong joined Sarawak FA for whom he played two seasons before being controversially transferred to Sabah FA in late 1994. With Sabah, he won the Malaysia FA Cup in 1995 and M-League in 1996.^[1] He retired in 1998 because of an injury while playing for Malacca.^[3]

Ong made his full international debut against Kuwait on 22 September 1994. He was a member of the Malaysian squad for the 1994 Asian Games and also played for a Malaysian Selection side who famously held Flamengo to a 1–1 draw in an exhibition match in 1995.^[1]

Managerial career

Ong coached Malacca FA in 2005. In 2009, Ong took over as head coach of Harimau Muda from K. Rajagopal. He won the 2009 Malaysia Premier League with Harimau Muda that year.^[1] He was the manager of the Malaysia U23 which competed in the 2012 Olympic Qualifiers and 2011 Southeast Asian Games.^[2]

Ong also coached the club side of Malaysia U-23 squad, Harimau Muda A, who competed in Australia's National Premier Leagues Queensland in 2014.^[4][5]

In 2015, Ong was appointed as head coach of Malaysia national team after the resignation of the previous coach Dollah Salleh. Ong previously had hold the post on an interim basis in 2014 before Dollah was appointed. Despite a series of disappointing results in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, Ong was handed a new two-year contract on 18 January 2016 in charge of the national team.^[6]

Ong was re-designated as Malaysia U-22 head coach, replacing Frank Bernhardt, in March 2017 following the appointment of new FAM president Tunku Ismail Idris.^[7] With the Malaysia U-22 team, Ong succeeded in reaching the final of the 2017 Southeast Asian Games football tournament on home soil, winning silver as the losing finalist to Thailand as well qualifying the team to the quarter-finals of 2018 AFC U-23 Championship. The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced the resignation of Datuk Ong Kim Swee after its technical director accepted the position as the new head coach of Sabah FA. ^{[8][9][10][11]}

In October 2021, Ong was appointed by Malaysia Super League club Sabah. He guide the team in the league to a third place finished in the 2022 and 2023 season where he also was instrumental in Sabah 2023–24 AFC Cup run until the ASEAN Zonal semi-finals.

On 25 November 2024, Ong moved to Indonesia to signed with Liga 1 club Persis Solo.

Managerial statistics

As of match played 21 February 2025

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Melaka		1 July 2004	30 June 2005	28	5	4	19	017.86
Harimau Muda A		11 May 2009	31 December 2014	24	13	3	8	054.17
Malaysia U23		1 July 2011	5 September 2015	12	5	2	5	041.67
Malaysia (Caretaker)		14 September 2014	3 October 2014	3	1	2	0	033.33
Malaysia		6 September 2015	24 March 2017	21	7	6	8	033.33
Malaysia U23		25 March 2017	31 December 2019	12	5	2	5	041.67
Sabah		1 October 2021	21 November 2024	98	53	14	31	054.08
Persis Solo		25 November 2024	Present	13	2	6	5	015.38
Career Total				211	91	39	81	043.13

Honours

Managerial honours

Harimau Muda

• Malaysia Premier League: 2009

Malaysia U23 / U22

• SEA Games Gold Medal: 2011
• SEA Games Silver Medal: 2017
• Merdeka Tournament: 2013
• International U-21 Thanh Niên Newspaper Cup: 2012

Personal Honours

Honour of Malaysia

•  Malacca :
  • Companion Class II of the Exalted Order of Malacca (DPSM) - Datuk (2013)^[12]

References

1. Subkhi Sudarji (30 November 2013). "Era baru Kim Swee" (in Malay). Sinar Harian. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
2. Cheryl Poo (24 November 2011). "Ong's passion for the beautiful game earns him glory at SEA Games". The Star. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
3. Sabah Football History - ToraBola Officials.
4. "Kim Swee's boys complete Aussie tour in style". Bernama. Astro Awani. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
5. "Malaysia Under 23 To Compete In NPL Queensland". SportsTG. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
6. Jason Dasey (18 January 2016). "Malaysia national coach for next two years is interim boss Ong Kim Swee". ESPN International. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
7. Zulhilmi Zainal (26 March 2017). "Kim Swee grateful for return to Malaysia U23 head coach role". Goal.com. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
8. Ajitpal Singh (27 August 2017). "KL2017: Kim Swee on the verge of creating history". New Straits Times. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
9. "Ong Kim Swee, One-on-One: Sackings, silver medals and big offers from Indonesia". FourFourTwo. 23 September 2017. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
10. Gabriel Tan (18 January 2018). "Malaysia, Vietnam surprise at AFC U-23 while Thailand falter". Fox Sports Asia. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
11. Zulhilmi Zainal (21 January 2018). "Ong Kim Swee wants to build on historic achievement with consistency". Goal.com. Yahoo! News Australia. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
12. "Star-studded awards ceremony". Bernama. The Star. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2018.

External links

• Datuk Ong Kim Swee - Tag Archive - Sports247.My