Chia Yong Yong

Chia Yong Yong (Chinese: 谢邕邕; pinyin: Xiè Yōngyōng; born 1962) is a Singaporean lawyer, disability advocate and a Nominated Member of Parliament of Singapore since August 2014.^[1]

Education

Chia Yong Yong was educated in Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School between 1969 and 1978 and later attended Catholic Junior College from 1979 to 1980. Following her A-Levels, she completed a Bachelor of Laws degree with Honours at the National University of Singapore in 1985, and was admitted to the Singapore Bar as an advocate and solicitor in 1986.^[2]

Medical Condition

Chia was diagnosed with peroneal muscular atrophy when she was 15. She gradually had to depend on crutches, and later wheelchairs, as her muscle tissue progressively weakened. She has not been able to stand for 20 years and her hands have grown limp.^[3]

For her work, Chia uses dictation software or dictates notes to her personal assistant. Her positivity and fortitude have been noted by her childhood friend, Ms Susan Yuen, in a Straits Times feature on Chia in August 2014: “What is special about Yong is her can-do attitude. Despite her difficulties in getting around, she will still participate and contribute in whatever way she can. She does not shut herself away because of her disability.” Clients have also affirmed her work capacity and ethic and stated their willingness to “work around her physical restrictions”.^[3]

Career

Legal career

Chia is a corporate lawyer in Singapore and an accredited FICS Specialist with the International Compliance Association.^[4] In 2013, she joined the Singapore law firm, Yusarn Audrey, and is a Partner in the Corporate Department, specializing in corporate acquisition, finance and restructuring, and compliance matters for fund managers, insurers and re-insurers, lead managers, local and multinational corporations, as well as social welfare organizations.^[5] In an interview with The Straits Times, Chia said of her passion for the law: “I love my work. I love that I am challenged to think about issues that I've not thought of before and putting deals together”.^[3]

Chia is also a Notary Public and a member of the Council of the Law Society’s panel of approved Mediators and Investigative Tribunal. She has conducted seminars and given various talks on issues relating to licensing,^[6] securities regulation,^[7] competition law and policy, and international investment law.^[8]

Social Service

Chia has been the President of the Society of the Physically Disabled (“SPD”),^[9] a non-governmental organization focusing on disability welfare that manages more than 4,600 clients and 3,000 volunteers, since 2008.^[10] In this capacity, she has overseen the setting up of various key initiatives, such as the Employment Support Program which provides job placement and support for disabled persons undergoing SPD’s vocational training programmes, the Disability Recourse Handbook which guides teachers in ways to integrate students with disabilities into mainstream classrooms, and the Infocomm Accessibility Centre and Apprenticeship Programmes which have offered close to 4,000 training place and 700 apprenticeships to disabled persons in the Infocomm Technology sector.

Chia has served since 1995 as the legal advisor and company secretary of Very Special Arts Ltd, a charity organization launched in September 1993 to provide persons with disabilities with opportunities to access the arts for rehabilitation and social integration.^[11]

Chia is also a member of the REACH Supervisory Panel since September 2012, board member of SG Enable in 2014,^[12] member of National Council of Social Service' ("NCSS") Advocacy and Research Advisory Panel,^[13] and was appointed to the 26-member committee overseeing Our Singapore Conversation Committee in 2013.^[3] She also served as member of the Prisons Welfare Committee from 1986 to 1987.

On the international level, Chia was the only NPO member of the Singapore government-led delegation to the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific organized by the United Nations ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) in November 2012.^[14] In the same month, she was invited by the Korea Foundation to visit various disability facilities and organisations in Korea. She has also spoken on the topic of “The Challenges of Disability” at a seminar entitled “Contemporary Perspectives on Economic and Social Rights” in December 2013 to commemorate Human Rights Day, an event organized by the Delegation of the European Union in Singapore in December 2013.^[15]

In June 2015, Chia was involved as a member of the Singapore Government’s delegation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Conference of the State Parties, serving as speaker at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)^[16] Forum on Disability and Development,^[17] jointly organized by the UNDESA and the Republic of Singapore, and as moderator at the forum “Women with Disabilities”, organized by the Republic of Korea.

In recognition of her dedication and continued efforts in the public and social services sectors, Chia was awarded the President’s Social Service Award (Individual Category) in 2011,^[18] and the Public Service Medal (Pingat Bakti Masyarakat)^[19] in 2013 by the President of the Republic of Singapore. She is also the recipient of the Social Innovation Park Fellow Award 2014, and the winner of the Women’s Weekly “Great Women of Our Times” 2014 in the Education and Public Service category.

Nominated Member of Parliament

In August 2014, Chia was one of 9 individuals selected out of 36 candidates by a parliamentary committee to take on the role of Nominated Members of Parliament in Singapore. She is the first wheelchair user who has a seat in Singapore Parliament.^[20]

In Parliament, Chia has spoken frequently on issues concerning disability welfare, including the MediShield Life Scheme Bill and on the proposed changes to the CPF scheme during the Budget 2015 Debate.^[21]

Involvement with the Church

Chia is an active member of the Zion Bible-Presbyterian Church and formerly sat on its Board of Deacons between April 2007 and May 2013.

References