Former PAP MP Chan Chee Seng dies, aged 90

SINGAPORE – Former senior parliamentary secretary and Individuals’s Motion Get together (PAP) stalwart Chan Chee Seng died on Saturday night, aged 90.

Mr Chan’s elder daughter, Ms Chan Mun-E, instructed The Straits Instances on Sunday that he had been hospitalised with pneumonia at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the place he died.

He was surrounded by members of the family, stated Ms Chan, who added that the household had gathered on the hospital to rejoice Mr Chan’s life with him.

Mr Chan was in politics from 1957 to 1984, stated the web site of ISS Worldwide Faculty, which he based and the place he final served because the chairman of its board.

He was a long-serving MP of the Jalan Besar ward, which he held for greater than 20 years, and in addition served because the senior parliamentary secretary for social affairs and for commerce and trade throughout his time in politics.

After retirement, he centered his energies on rising ISS. He was joined by his spouse Chan Ching Oi on this endeavour in 1993, when she left the Ministry of Well being to hitch the varsity.

Normal surgeon Chia Kok Hoong, a pal of Mr Chan’s, stated the previous MP shall be remembered for his genuineness, generosity and talent to attach with others.

Dr Chia stated Mr Chan had demonstrated by his life “what it means to make the most effective out of each state of affairs”, including that he “by no means lamented that he bought a brief straw in life”.

The 62-year-old stated Mr Chan had acquired little formal schooling as his household couldn’t afford the varsity charges. At about 9 years outdated, he began working for Kwong Onn division retailer in South Bridge Street informally as a runner, the place he met Dr Chia’s father, who was a supervisor on the retailer.

In 1951, undeterred by his lack of instructional {qualifications}, Mr Chan walked right into a Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp workplace and requested for work. He landed the job of a clerk, stated Dr Chia.

“This opened a chapter in his life. He was somebody who created alternatives for himself,” added Dr Chia.

Whereas working on the financial institution, Mr Chan met a number of PAP leaders comparable to Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Toh Chin Chye and Mr S. Rajaratnam, who recruited him to hitch the get together. He joined in 1954, and was elected metropolis councillor in 1957.