She was due to fly to Los Angeles that night to rejoin her American husband. She told her family to wait outside and headed to the basement to collect her mother's car. Ong never returned; her body turned up five days later, stuffed in a culvert. She had been raped, strangled to death and burnt beyond recognition. An aircraft cleaner has been charged with her murder.
Since Ong's death, Malaysian media has put the spotlight on several equally gruesome cases of rape and murder, provoking a national debate about a topic that previously received little notice.
Growing awareness, in turn, is leading to demands from the public for stiffer penalties and an overhaul of the police force, which many believe was incompetent in handling the case.
'Her death has shocked society from its complacent attitude that women are raped because they somehow ask for it,' says Marina Mahathir, a leading rights activist and president of the Malaysian Aids Council. 'She is a symbol of the unhappy and violent fate that confronts many Malaysian women today.'
Compared with before, the protest is broad-based, uniting people from across the divides of politics and class - rich and poor, office workers and managers, opposition and government legislators have all added to calls for reform.
'Ong's death has changed attitudes and sparked a national debate on rape, rapists and why rape happens,' says Maria Chin Abdullah, a co-ordinator with the All Women's Action Society (Awam), a leading women's support group. 'Canny has given birth to a promising national protest movement against violence on women. People realise she died not because of how she was dressed or where she was, but because she was a woman.'
But why has the Ong murder been able to focus anger, fear and protest, unlike other rapes and murders? It is a question that has generated intense speculation, particularly in internet chat forums. The answer could be, forum contributors say, because she was young, beautiful and heading to the US for a great life when she was mowed down.
National statistics, however, reveal that the majority of rapes take place in locations where the victims feel secure and are committed by people they know. There were 1,431 reported rape cases in Malaysia last year and 587 from January to May this year. Authorities argue these numbers are small for a population of about 25 million people, but rights activists say almost 10 times that number go unreported.
Women's rights activists say they are fighting not only a rising trend in the number of cases, but also a widely held attitude that blames women for the violence. Activist Manohary Subramaniam says popular culture reinforces the view that rape is a 'washable' event. 'The victim has only to take a shower and everything is back to normal,' she says, adding that outdated laws make it difficult to define and prove rape and that offenders are often charged with lesser crimes of molestation or outraging modesty.
Groups such as Awam have seized on the fear and anger provoked by Ong's murder to press their campaign for reform of the education system, the law and the police force. But authorities, especially the police, are not taking kindly to their campaign, despite the involvement of prominent legislators.
Police recently refused to allow a public rally near to where Ong was abducted, arriving in force and threatening to arrest participants. Another mass event was cancelled after the venue owners suddenly withdrew permission.
'These gatherings are to give space for people to express their pain and grief over the rising incident of rape and murder. It is to help people turn their fear and anger into constructive actions against rape,' says Awam president Mary Cardossa.
'Not only did police refuse a permit, they also threatened to arrest people who turned up for the march. Instead of harassing us, the police should focus on numerous rape cases that remain unsolved.'
As a result of the recent pressure, police say they will hire 18,000 new officers and station undercover detectives at public places - but not without adding that lack of parental supervision is one reason why young girls are raped.
Some activists are still not satisfied, saying such measures barely scratch the surface. 'We want police to work with us and the public to combat the root cause of violent rape, not just treat the surface symptoms,' Ms Subramaniam says. 'It is time everybody is held accountable, not just the victim.'
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