# Chua Sian Chin

Chua Sian Chin (Chinese: 蔡善进; pinyin: Cài Shànjìn; 26 November 1933 – 26 February 2014) was a Singaporean politician who held several ministerial portfolios of Health, Education and Home Affairs in the early era of Singapore. He was 34 years of age when appointed as Health Minister in 1968 which made him the youngest minister in Singapore.

## Early life and education

Chua was born in Malacca and attended the Malacca High School. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree from the University of Malaya in 1954, Chua travelled to England to study law at the University of London where he completed his law degree in 1958. He was then called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1959. During his studies, Chua was active in student affairs. At the University of Malaya, he was a member of the University Socialist Club’s central working committee. He then served as secretary of the Malayan Forum and editor of the forum’s newsletter, Suara Merdeka, while studying in London.

## Legal career

After returning to Singapore in 1959, Chua joined the law firm of Lee and Lee where he became a partner in 1965. At the firm, Chua served as a legal adviser to numerous associations and trade unions such as the Singapore Hawkers’ Petty Traders Association, the Chinese Teachers’ Union, as well as the Chua and Ong clan associations. He also represented the Minister for Education Yong Nyuk Lin at the Commission of Inquiry on the Secondary Four Students’ Boycott in 1962.
Besides practising as an advocate and solicitor, Chua also served as a member in the Public Utilities Board, the permanent examination board of the Singapore Public Service Commission, the citizenship committee of inquiry and the governing board of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Research Unit. He was also a referee of the Industrial Arbitration Court and served as chairman of the University of Singapore Council from 1967 to 1968.

## Political career

Chua entered politics when he was elected unopposed as a PAP MP for the MacPherson constituency in the 1968 general election. Earlier, he had contested unsuccessfully as a PAP candidate for the Bandar, Malacca, seat in the 1964 Malaysian general election. Following his successful entry into parliament, Chua was appointed as the minister for health in April 1968 at the age of 34, making him then the youngest cabinet minister in Singapore’s history
He was the Member of Parliament for MacPherson from 17 February 1968 to 14 August 1991. He retired from political service after 23 years in service. During his time as Member of Parliament, in 1975, Chua, then Minister for Home Affairs, proposed that the death penalty should be the mandatory sentence for drug trafficking of certain amounts to address the increasing rate of drug-related crimes, and these proposals were approved and passed in law.

## Death

Chua had two sons and one daughter.
On 26 February 2014, he died at the age of 80 after suffering from heart failure.

## Reference list

* ↑ "Former minister Chua Sian Chin dies at 81". Channel NewsAsia. 27 February 2014. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014.
* 1 2 3 "Who's who in Malaysia and Singapore, 1979–1980". NLB. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
* ↑ "The University Socialist Club and the contest for Malaya: Tangled strands of modernity". NLB. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
* ↑ "Sian Chin sets up own law firm". NLB. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
* ↑ "A dynamic Parliament". NLB. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
* ↑ ""We were like strays": A life marked by drugs, incarceration, and the death penalty". Transformative Justice Collective. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
* ↑ "The Bureau's Fight for a #DrugFreeSG" (PDF). Central Narcotics Bureau - 50th anniversary Commemorative Book.
* ↑ "Chua Sian Chin | Infopedia". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
* ↑ Tham, Yuen-C (27 February 2014). "Former Old Guard Minister Chua Sian Chin dies". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
Political offices :
| Preceded byE. W. Barker | Minister for Home Affairs 31 October 1972-1 January 1985 | Succeeded byS. Jayakumar |
| Preceded byLee Chiaw Meng | Minister for Education 20 October 1975-11 February 1979 | Succeeded byGoh Keng Swee |
| Preceded byYong Nyuk Lin | Minister for Health 16 April 1968-1 June 1975 | Succeeded byToh Chin Chye |