Past PAM President from 1977 to 1979 and PAM Corporate Member since 1969, Prof. Dato’ Ar. Chin Wai Yeong was born in Penang in 1938.His spent his early years in Methodist High School, Penang before beginning his pursuit of architecture studies at Sydney University, Australia.He received his Bachelor’s in Architecture in the late 1950s, followed by studies in Master in Town & Country Planning, an interest he cultivated during his degree.There, he was bestowed a Prize Award by its Urban Research Centre.He worked briefly in Sydney and had a short stint in Singapore as an architect-planner under the Urban Renewal Department before returning to his homeland, Malaysia.He worked with Eric Taylor Associates Architect before eventually setting up his practice WY Chin Associates in 1971.
In 1978, Prof. Dato’ Ar. Chin Wai Yeong began involving himself with PAM actively, spearheading the arbitration committee in PAM together with the late Ar. K.C. Cheang.He was appointed the First Panel Arbitrator of KLRCA, was later offered a Fellow membership by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London and eventually presided over 70 local and overseas arbitrations with over forty published papers under his belt.On top of his time spent in PAM, he also contributed to Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia (LAM), having been part of the LAM/PAM Board of Architectural Education and an examiner for the Part 3 Professional Practice Committee.
So deeply passionate was Prof. Dato’ Ar. Chin Wai Yeong with urban planning that he, alongside several other prominent individuals, founded the Malaysian Institute of Town Planners (MIP) and worked with government agencies such as DBKL and the Ministry of Housing to advise on developing planning guidelines for the then rapidly growing Malaysia.
An ambitious, charismatic and driven man; during PAM’s official delegation trip to China along with thirty other PAM members in the 1980s, he spoke confidently to the Chinese officials and left a great impression during the visit.He was later invited to be a Visiting Lecturer at Tong Ji University in Shanghai, China.He also contributed to the local education scene by being the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture & Built Environment as well as the Vice-President for Faculty Development and Management of Limkokwing University (LUCT).So impactful was he as a lecturer that he was conferred Honoured Lifetime Contribution to Architecture Profession by students of 16 architecture schools in Malaysia in 2015.
Other than professional work, Prof. Dato’ Ar. Chin Wai Yeong also had an affinity for snooker, having played it actively since his university days.He went on to form the first Malaysian Snooker and Billiards Federation and became the president until 2011.He also served as the Vice-President of the International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF), Secretary-General of the Asian Billiards and Snooker Federation (ABSF) and Secretary-General of the World Confederation of Billiards Sports.
His contribution to the sporting world was not limited to snooker and billiards.Prof. Dato’ Ar. Chin Wai Yeong was the former Vice-President of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and held various offices in national, regional and international sports bodies and authorities, spanning over two and a half decades.His dedication was rewarded when he was inducted into the OCM Hall of Fame in 2011 for his services.
A chartered architect.A town planner.An arbitrator.A mentor.Prof. Dato’ Ar. Chin Wai Yeong has left various legacies and touched and inspired many hearts.He will be deeply missed by his family, friends and everyone who knew him.
“Dato’ Chin Wai Yeong was a good and dear friend. He was a thoughtful person and had on many occasions been unselfishly helpful to me. He contributed enormously to PAM and its advancement in the early years, and we are all eternally grateful to him for his dedication to the profession. Besides his professional work, he had a keen interest in snooker and was a frequent player in the PAM Bar in the 80s. We will miss him greatly.”
– Dato’ Ar. Dr Ken Yeang
“I have known Dato’ Chin Wai Yeong since young when we lived in Penang when he used to come to my grandmother’s shop to buy biscuits. He studied at Sydney University while I studied at the University of New South Wales. However, we would meet on and off at the Swan Café at Dulwich Hill. He was one of the early pioneers of the profession. As architects, we have our idiosyncrasies, our pet peeves and likes. Later on, he probably found out he was more of a planner than an architect. He was a kind person, a person with no malice. A person with a lot of pride and charisma, and a very dear friend to me.”
– Prof. Dr. Ar. Jimmy Lim
