John Chew Hiang Chea (; born 4 October 1947) was the third Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the Province of Anglican Church in South East Asia as well as Bishop of Singapore. He retired as the 8th Bishop of Singapore on 4 October 2012. He was succeeded by

Rennis Ponniah Rennis Ponniah (); is a Singaporean Anglican retired Bishop. He was the 9th Bishop of Singapore. He succeeded Bishop John Chew on his retirement on 4 October 2012. He was also the president of the National Council of Churches of Singapore from 201 ...

Early life and education

Chew was the fifth child out of six children in his family. His mother worked at the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association and his father worked in the family business. Chew studied at Catholic High School and Anglican High School. He then majored in government and public administration at Nanyang University and received his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1969, honours in 1970 and Masters in 1976. He obtained his

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

(BD) with honours from the University of London in 1976. In 1982, Chew obtained his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

Studies from the University of Sheffield.

Career

After graduation from Nanyang University, Chew worked as an assistant director in the Defence Ministry in 1971. He then worked for three years as an administrative assistant at the Ministry of Science and Technology. After his studies at the University of Sheffield, Chew returned to Singapore and worked at the Trinity Theological College as a lecturer in 1981 and became its principal in 1991. He remained as principal until 1999 where he resigned to become the Bishop of Singapore. In 2006, he served as the chairman on the Board of Governors.

Priesthood

On 6 November 1976, Chew was ordained as deacon at St Andrew's Cathedral and on 8 October 1978, he was ordained as priest. On 4 May 1986, he was collated as Canon. Chew was consecrated and enthroned as the 8th Bishop of Singapore by the Most Reverend Datuk Yong Ping Chung, the Archbishop of the Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia and Bishop of Sabah, on 25 April 2000 at St Andrew's Cathedral. His consecration service was attended by Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Tony Tan, dignitaries, bishops from the various dioceses and religious leaders from both fellow Christian denominations and non-Christian religions as well. On 5 February 2006, Chew was installed as the 3rd Archbishop of the Province of the Anglican Church in South East Asia as Datuk Yong Ping Chung, the Bishop of the Anglican

Diocese of Sabah The Diocese of Sabah is an Anglican diocese which covers Sabah and Labuan in Malaysia. Founded in 1962, the see was originally part of the much larger Diocese of Labuan and its Dependencies which was established in 1855. Following the carving ou ...

has reached retirement age. Representatives of Rowan Williams,

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

(including Jonathan Gledhill, Bishop of Lichfield); Nicholas Chia, Roman Catholic

Archbishop of Singapore The Archdiocese of Singapore (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Singaporensis'') is an exempt archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. Its territory includes all that is under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Singapore. Its current ...

;

Robert M. Solomon Robert M. Solomon is a former bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore, serving from 2000 to 2012. As bishop he was the head of this Christian denomination, which is one of the largest Protestant churches in Singapore. He is an ordained Meth ...

, Bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore; and Ong Chit Chung, Member of Parliament of

Jurong GRC The Jurong Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency located in the western area of Singapore. The GRC consists of a large section of Jurong, sections of Bukit Batok and areas near Upper Bukit Timah Roa ...

were present at the occasion. As Bishop of Singapore, Chew was against the setting up of casinos in

Integrated resorts An integrated resort (IR) is a major resort property that includes a hotel with a casino, together with convention facilities, entertainment shows, theme parks, luxury retail and fine dining. The term is largely Singaporean. Earlier IR lice ...

in Singapore. In 2012, Chew stepped down as Bishop of Singapore and Archbishop of Southeast Asia as he reached retirement age. On 12 February 2012, Chew handed over his office as the Archbishop of the Province of Anglican Church in Southeast Asia to the Bishop of the Diocese of Kuching, Datuk

Bolly Lapok Bolly anak Lapok PGBK, DPMS (born 10 August 1952) was the fourth Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of the Province of South East Asia as well as the Bishop of Kuching. An ethnic Iban, Bolly was the first Primate of ...

. Lapok succeeded Chew as the fourth Provincial Archbishop at an Installation Service held in St Thomas’ Cathedral, Kuching. Chew continued to serve in the Diocese of Singapore as her Diocesan Bishop after that. On 9 September, Chew launched the special bilingual edition of the English Standard Version- Revised Chinese Union Version Pew Bible to be used during Worship Services in St Andrew's Cathedral to mark her 150th Consecration Anniversary of the Nave. On 28 September, a Thanksgiving Service was held in St Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore in honour of his faithful service to the Diocese of Singapore for the past 12 years. Bishops from the region, Church leaders in Singapore and many Anglican Church members attended the Service. Chew retired as the 8th Bishop of Singapore on 4 October 2012.

Presently serving as

*(Since 2000) President, Fellowship of Evangelical Students, Singapore *(Since 2000) President, National Council of Churches of Singapore *(Since 2005) Honorary President, Bible Society of Singapore *(Since 2003) Honorary Secretary/ Chairman, Anglican Global South Primates' Network *(2007 - 2011) Chairman, Council of Church of East Asia *(2007 - 2009) Member, Anglican Covenant Design Group *(2000 - 2012) Chairman, Board of Governors, Trinity Theological College, Singapore

Personal life

Chew married Swee Kin, a teacher in 1972, and they have a son.

References