Chai Chong Yii (, 1935 – 3 May 2022) was a China-born Singaporean former politician. A former member of the

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...

(PAP), he served as the Member of Parliament representing Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency from 1972 to 1988. He also served as

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

and later Senior Minister of State of Education from 1972 to 1974 and 1975 to 1981 respectively, the Minister of State of Communications from 1974 to 1975, and the Senior Minister of State of Culture from January 1981 to May 1981.

Early life and education

Chai was born in 1935 in China to peasants. His family migrated to Malaya (present-day

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

) when the Japanese started attacking coastal China. He spent his childhood in

Taiping, Perak Taiping () is a town located in Larut, Matang and Selama District, Perak, Malaysia. It is located approximately northwest of Ipoh, the capital of Perak, and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town, Penang. With a population of 245,18 ...

and attended Chung Ling High School and

Nanyang University Nanyang University () was a private university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the University of Singapore ...

. He worked as a hawker and primary school teacher before entering Nanyang University. He took accounting and graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor in Commerce. He worked at

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

for 6 years before serving as the bursar of

from 1965 to 1972.

Political career

Chai had originally wanted to contest in the 1968 general election but was not able to due to having gotten his Singaporean citizenship in 1967, too late to place himself on the electoral register. He made his political debut at the 1972 general election, contesting for Member of Parliament (MP) representing Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency (SMC) against Rengaswamy Vetrivelu of United National Front. Chai was elected with 73.78% of the vote and was also appointed as Minister of State of Education. In 1975, he was appointed Senior Minister of State of Education. Chai contested at the 1976 general election for MP representing Bukit Batok SMC against Sulaiman bin Jaffar of Singapore Justice Party. He was elected with 84.57% of the vote. From 1978 to 1979, he and the rest of the Education Ministry introduced the

Special Assistance Plan The Special Assistance Plan (SAP; ) is a programme in Singapore introduced in 1979 which caters to academically strong students who excel in both their mother tongue as well as English. It is available only in selected primary and secondary schoo ...

in schools. In 1979, he laid the cornerstone of Bukit Batok Community Centre. In the 1980 general election, he contested for MP representing Bukit Batok SMC again, being elected unopposed. At the 1984 general elections, he contested for MP of Bukit Batok SMC again, against Tan Jue Kit of United People's Front. He was elected with 78.27% of the vote. After this win, residents of

Bukit Batok Bukit Batok ( ), often abbreviated as Bt Batok, is a planning area and matured residential town located along the eastern boundary of the West Region of Singapore. Bukit Batok statistically ranks in as the 25th largest, the 10th most populo ...

wanted to spend $4,000 on an advertisement to congratulate him. Chai instead donated the money to the Community Chest of Singapore. In 1988, he opened Bukit View Secondary School. He retired from politics that same year. Post his political career, Chai served as the auditor for PAP till 1996 and served as the Trade Representative to Taiwan from 1991 to 1994.

Personal life

While he worked at Shell, he met his future wife Khor Phaik Tin, who studied at Teacher's College in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

. In 2014, he and other retired PAP MPs wrote an essay on their experiences.

Death

Chai died on 3 May 2022 at 87. He was survived by his wife, 3 children, and 6 grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chai, Chong Yii 1935 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Singaporean politicians Members of the Parliament of Singapore People's Action Party politicians Chinese emigrants to Singapore Naturalised citizens of Singapore Nanyang University alumni