Arthur Raymond Chung (10 January 1918 – 23 June 2008) was a Guyanese politician who served as the first president of Guyana from 17 March 1970 to 6 October 1980."Guyana's first President dies"
GINA, 23 June 2008. He was the first ethnically Chinese person to be elected as head of state in a non-Asian country. A leader in Guyana's fight for independence during the British colonial era, Chung was honoured with Guyana's highest national honour, the Order of Excellence (O.E.).

Early life and career

Chung was born into a Chinese Guyanese family at Windsor Forest village at West Coast Demerara in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

; he was the youngest of Joseph and Lucy Chung's eight children. Arthur was educated at Windsor Forest, Blankenburg, and Modern High School. In 1954, he married another native of Windsor Forest, Doreen Pamela Ng-See-Quan, with whom he had one daughter and one son. Before civic service, Chung was an apprentice surveyor and sworn land surveyor. In the early 1940s, Chung entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and qualified as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in 1947. He returned to Guyana and was later appointed an acting magistrate. He became a magistrate in 1954 and a senior magistrate in 1960. Chung also served as Registrar of Deeds and of the Supreme Court. He then became a

puisne judge Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

and finally an Appeal Court judge in 1963.

President of Guyana

When Guyana became a republic under the leadership of Forbes Burnham in 1970, the Guyanese

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

elected Chung president, making him the first president of Guyana; he took office on 17 March 1970. In addition, the powers of President Arthur Chung was the commander-in-chief of Guyana's Armed Forces and chancellor of the Orders of Guyana. Ten years later, a constitutional revision transformed the presidency into an executive position, and Burnham succeeded Chung as president on 6 October 1980."Guyana's first president Arthur Chung dies"
, ''Starbroek News'', 24 June 2008. During his time as president of Guyana, the office was that of a ceremonial head of state with the powers of the governor-general of Guyana, while

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Forbes Burnham Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham (20 February 1923 – 6 August 1985) was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Prime Minister of Guyana, Premier of British Guia ...

was the head of government. During his presidency, on June 27, 1972, Guyana established formal diplomatic relations with China, making Guyana the first English-speaking Caribbean country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. In 1977, President Chung of Guyana visited China and met with officials and ambassadors. Presidential Standard of Guyana 1970-1980

Presidential Standard of Guyana 1970-1980

Later years

Chung died aged 90 on 23 June 2008 at his home at Bel Air Springs, Georgetown. In the two months prior to his death he had been hospitalized a number of times, and he was last released from the hospital on 20 June. A week after his death, he was buried at the Seven Ponds in the Botanical Gardens.

Legacy

In 2015, it was announced that the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) would be renamed the "Arthur Chung Convention Centre" to commemorate President Arthur Chung, and newly elected President David A. Granger stated: "I would like the first President in this country to be remembered. ... this is the 45th anniversary year of becoming a Republic and Mr Chung was the first person of Chinese descent who was President in a non-Asian country and it was historic." After undergoing rehabilitative work, the Arthur Chung Convention Centre was recommissioned in June 2018."Rehabilitated Arthur Chung Centre recommissioned"
Ministry of Public telecommunications, 8 June 2018.

References

External links

Article on Arthur Chung in ''Kaieteur News''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Arthur 1918 births Guyanese lawyers Guyanese people of Chinese descent 2008 deaths Presidents of Guyana Guyanese politicians of Chinese descent 20th-century Guyanese judges Recipients of the Order of Excellence of Guyana People from Essequibo Islands-West Demerara Members of the Middle Temple