Ch'ng Jit Koon, former Senior Minister of State for Community Development, has passed away.

He was 90.

Veteran and stalwart

Ch’ng was fondly remembered by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who posted tributes to Ch’ng on the event of his passing.

PM Lee spoke about Ch’ng’s history as a People's Action Party stalwart and veteran, who served for 28 years as a member of parliament (MP), from 1968 to 1996.

Ch’ng served as a MP for Tiong Bahru from 1968 to 1991, moving to Bukit Merah for his final term as MP from 1991 to 1996.

PM Lee commended Ch’ng for dedicating himself to looking after his residents and improving their lives over his 28 years as a MP, saying that even after Ch’ng’s retirement, he continued to keep up with his residents, remaining a “familiar face in his old constituencies”.

PM Lee also wrote that founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had lauded Ch’ng for being “absolutely first-rate” and possessing “excellent interpersonal skills”.

Suggested the idea of ministerial walkabout

PM Lee also paid tribute to Ch’ng’s service as a senior parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and as a Minister of State and later Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Community Development.

It was Ch’ng who had put forward the idea of ministerial walkabout, a practice which the People's Action Party continues to carry out.

Ch’ng came up with the idea as part of his role of connecting government leaders to the people, which PM Lee said Chang carried out wholeheartedly.

Deep grounding in the Chinese community

President Tharman spoke about how Ch’ng had served Singapore with humility, having a down-to-earth way of interacting with people of all backgrounds.

Tharman shared how Ch’ng had insisted that Tharman should walk ahead of him into the restaurant they were eating at, which Tharman said was a testament to Ch’ng, who he described as “humble and respected to the end”.

Ch'ng was also remembered for his deep grounding in the Chinese community, President Tharman said.

PM Lee also wrote, "(Ch'ng) worked hard to foster unity within the Chinese community, and strengthen the Chinese identity in our multicultural society".

Ch'ng was "instrumental" in the formation of the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations and had served for over 20 years on the Chinese Development Assistant Council’s Board of Trustees, PM Lee added.

Health minister Ong Yee Kung also paid tribute to Ch’ng, noting that Ch’ng was the founding chairman of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board.

The Singapore Dragon Boat Association also paid tribute to their first president, thanking him for his contributions to the sport.

Top image via Lee Hsien Loong/Facebook by Kenji Soon/MCI