Dr Ding Lik Kiu was born in 1920 in Sibu, Sarawak. His father, Ding Ngiik Nung, from Huang Yong, Gutian, China, was one of the early pioneers who settled in Sarawak, led by Wong Nai Siong.

When his father died, he was adopted by Rev and Mrs James Hoover. Through their help, he became the only boy to study at the Yuk Ing Girls' School in Sibu when he was 10. 

At 15, Ding went to Singapore to study at the Anglo-Chinese Secondary School. He obtained a Methodist Crusade scholarship to Drew University in New Jersey when he was 25, and studied medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

During his housemanship, he met a lady paediatrician from Guangzhou, Dr Lilian Chen, the eldest daughter of Dr Chen Bo Ci who worked in a hospital run by the Methodists in Guangzhou. When the Communist Party took over China, Dr Chen moved his family to Hong Kong. 

Ding married Lilian in 1954 and they worked together at Chicago Hospital. In 1955, Ding met Bishop Amstutz of the Methodist Church in Malaya, who asked him to return to Sarawak. Around the same time, Dr Harold Brewster from Fuzhou who was then in Sibu also contacted Dr Ding and asked him to return and carry out medical services at upper Rajang River. When Dr Ding agreed, Dr  Brewster suggested to the Methodist Overseas Evangelical Board in New York to commission Dr Ding as a missionary to Sarawak. He returned to Sarawak in 1956 and helped in the setting up of Christ Hospital at Kapit. The hospital was handed over to the government in 1974.

Christ Hospital

Dr Ding and his wife, together with Dr Brewster from Fuzhou, started to plan for Christ Hospital despite the difficulties faced. As the Dings were good doctors and demonstrated the love of Christ, people of all races liked them. Numerous patients from upstream and downstream came to seek treatment at the hospital. They were in Kapit for 4½ years, and extended medical services to the longhouses in the jungle. They also set up a clinic in the Chinese settlement.

At the same time, Dr Ding ran a weekly programme on health education in the Iban language. He also set up a nursing school to train local nurses. He helped in the extension of Hock Ing Methodist Church, and planned a rest house for patients from outstation. He fought for a permit to set up Kapit Methodist Secondary School, and established the Ding Lik Kiu Foundation to provide scholarships or study loans for doctors and nurses.

Dr Ding was elected a member of the first batch of Kapit councillors. He proposed to allocate land for new shops in Kapit. After four years in Kapit, he went back to the US on furlough for a year. However, upon coaxing from his father-in-law, Dr Ding and his wife moved to Hong Kong in 1962.

Hong Kong

When Dr Ding arrived in Hong Kong, he realised that it was not what he had imagined. But it provided an opportunity for him to participate in social movements as an activist, other than being a good doctor. He was a board member of the Hong Kong Medical Academic Society and independent Commission Against Corruption. From the 1960s to 1980s, he set up and led a few social movement organisations like Christian Industrial Committee, Conservancy Association Hospitals, Yang Cheng Social Service Centre (later changed to Yang Memorial Methodist Service Centre in 1960), Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood. He was also chairman of the Asian Community Health Network. His long stay in Hong Kong made him better known among Hong Kong people than in his birthplace, Sibu.

When Dr Ding first arrived in Hong Kong, he was touched by the conditions of a large number of poor migrants from mainland China. He vowed to serve the poor, set up a clinic for them and took care of their needs. He was the first to start methadone therapy for drug addicts. He also promoted acupuncture and advocated Chinese traditional medicine alongside western medicine.

Dr Ding contested in the Hong Kong city council elections on March 3, 1971. His election theme was “Truth seeking through survey study and action”. He was, however, not elected. Earlier, while he was the chairman of the workers’ union, he and other leaders had fought for labourers' rights. Towards the end of the 1970s, they supported boathouse families in You Ma Tei and the Golden Anniversary Student Movement. When Dr Ding led the workers’ union, he trusted his staff and encouraged them to unleash their talents. Thus, they were able to grow strongly and became an important labour organisation today — the Labourers’ Federation.

In the 1980s, the “Joint Declaration of the Government of China and United Kingdom” on the future of Hong Kong was unveiled. In 1984, Dr Ding and others formed a team of local representatives and visited the United Kingdom to try and persuade Parliament to hold a general referendum on the joint declaration. In 1986, the Association for Democracy and People's livelihood was formed, and Dr Ding was elected as its first chairman.

Environment protection movement

Dr Ding was the chairman of an environment protection body, Conservancy Association, in 1973. In those days, he got the Evergreen Association to team up with a group of foreigners residing in Kowloon Tong and protested against night flights at Kai Tak Airport. He also led the protest against Shell which was building a refinery and storage tanks in Lamma Island, and promoted environmental protection education among university students. Through these, many first-generation local leaders for environment protection were produced.

In 1990, Dr Ding came back to Sibu 30 years after he left and was warmly received in Kapit. Dr Ding passed away in San Francisco on June 24, 2008, aged 87. 

Eulogies

Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee, Society for Community Organisation and Yang Memorial Methodist Social Service jointly held a memorial service for Dr Ding in Ward Memorial Methodist Church on July 19, 2008 attended by about 100 people. He was described as a man who “cared for his society and the world. He was an outstanding politician, living for others, not for his own benefit."

Rev Lee Ting Sun, the vice-chairman of Yang Memorial Methodist Social Service, recalled that when Ward Memorial Methodist Church was not yet built, Dr Ding borrowed space from the YMCA hostel for worship service. Later, the government allocated a piece of land for the church and Dr Ding applied for an additional plot for Yang Memorial Methodist Social Service, providing social healthcare which was a new service then.

The 1970s was a period of anti-corruption for Hong Kong. Rev Lee Ting Sun said that Dr Ding was not afraid of anyone. Because of that, he was disliked by many people, including those from the underworld. “Dr Ding knew that his own safety was at stake, so he told his wife, should any mishap happen to him, just do what he had told her. Dr Ding spoke for justice, just like a prophet. If there were no Dr Ding and his type in Hong Kong, it would be a great loss indeed.”

Legislator Frederick Fung, the chairman of Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, described Dr Ding as a man who “could charge, walk his talk and fight.” He said Dr Ding believed that when people in a community were healthy, then only would society be healthy. So, he promoted social healthcare in Tai Hang Tung. 

Frederick Fung was also amazed by Dr Ding's far-sightedness. “As early as 1984, Dr Ding had advocated for a general election. He agreed that Hong Kong should be given back to China, but he wanted democracy in Hong Kong. For that, there should be political parties. True to his words, he then set up Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood." 

Mr Ho Hei Wah, director of The Society for Community Organization and once Dr Ding's secretary, recalled that Dr Ding was once dragged into a clash between the police and people in Shek Kip Mei. “I asked him, are you afraid? He said, 'What is there to be afraid of? I have the support of so many people, at the most I would lose my life. Those who remain silent when they face unrighteous things are more afraid than I am, because they are afraid that they may lose something.'”