News Release

Asia Area Mormon Leader Meets Cambodia's New Minister of Cult and Religion

Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, First Quorum of the Seventy, met with H.E. Him Chhem, the Minister of Cult and Religion in Cambodia. Also in attendance were Sister Carol Wong, President and Sister Christensen of the Phnom Penh Mission, and other church leaders.

H.E. Him Chhem was appointed Minister of Cult and Religion April of 2016.  He has previously served as Senior Minister under Cambodia’s Prime Minister amd Minister of Cultural and FIne Arts.

Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 5, 2014. At the time of his call, he had been serving as a member of the Eighth Quorum of the Seventy in the Asia Area. He is currently serving as a member of the Asia Area Presidency.

Born on May 25, 1962, in Hong Kong, China, to Ngan Kan and Fat Wong, Elder Wong was one of seven children growing up in a small apartment.

 He met Carol Lu, who introduced him to the gospel. The young investigator was baptized February 14, 1982.

A year later, on July 9, 1983, he married Carol. They moved to Laie, Hawaii, USA, so he could attend school.

Elder Wong received both a bachelor of science degree in accounting and an associate of science degree in computer science from Brigham Young University–Hawaii.

As a new convert and student at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, Elder Wong gained much more than an education—he gained a sure knowledge that there is a God who knows “the details of our lives.”

After receiving his degrees from BYU Hawaii, he then felt the need “to go back to Hong Kong to serve.”

In 2008 he received his MBA from the Hong Kong Open University. He worked many years at a materials testing and inspection group where he began as a senior accountant and left the company as a deputy managing director. He was the founder and partner of a business and quality consulting company.

Prior to being sustained on April 5, 2014, as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, he served as a bishop, stake president, and Area Seventy.

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