Chua Phung Kim (; 29 April 1939 – 4 August 1990) was a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lif ...

. He was a gold medalist in weightlifting in the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

Weightlifting career

Chua first took to the sport in 1960 after being introduced to it by his elder brother, Chua Peng Kim. Chua won the silver medal at the 1961 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games (SEAP Games). Just two years later, he helped Singapore win another gold medal in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

by coming in tops in the bantamweight category during the

held in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

after lifting a total of 710 lbs, a Commonwealth Games record. He also broke the individual records for the press (215 lbs), snatch (225 lbs) and jerk (270 lbs). He represented

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

when Singapore was part of Malaysia, but only managed the sixth position. In 1965, Chua also took the gold medal in the 4th SEAP Games held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Chua won the silver medal in the bantamweight category at the

1966 Asian Games The 1966 Asian Games (), also known as the V Asiad, were a continental multi-sport event that was held from 9 to 20 December 1966, in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 142 events in 16 sports were contested by athletes during the games. Taiwan and Isr ...

in Bangkok, Thailand. Chua was awarded a Certificate of merit during the inaugural Singapore Sports Awards in 1968. In 1966, Chua took part in the

1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. They were followed by the 1966 Commonwealth P ...

in the bantamweight category. He failed all his lifts and did not register a total. During the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

, Chua won the silver medal in the Featherweight category, losing out on the gold medal by 2.5 kilograms. In March 1971, Chua retired from competitive participation in the sport. In 1976, he contributed to the sport as a coach under the Singapore Amateur Weightlifting Federation.

Personal life

Chua worked as an

auto mechanic An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...

and later as a mechanical supervisor with the Singapore Refining Company. He died in 1990 after a long sickness.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chua, Phung Kim 1939 births 1990 deaths Singaporean sportspeople of Chinese descent Singaporean male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of Malaysia Olympic weightlifters of Singapore Weightlifters at the 1964 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1968 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Singapore Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Singapore Weightlifters at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Asian Games medalists in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 1958 Asian Games Weightlifters at the 1966 Asian Games Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Asian Games silver medalists for Singapore Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games