Chen Man Hin, a Hakka Chinese, was born in China and sailed to Malaya at a young age, before the Second World War. He enrolled in King Edward VII Medical College in Singapore in 1946 and graduated in 1952. He then worked as a doctor in Singapore and Seremban Hospital until 1956, when he opened his own clinic.
He was a founding member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is now a component party of the opposition coalitions Pakatan Harapan (PH), formerly Pakatan Rakyat (PR), Barisan Alternatif (BA), and Gagasan Rakyat (GR). He was DAP’s first Life Advisor from December 1999 until his death in August 2022, as well as the organization’s founding National Chairman from March 1966 until his resignation in December 1999.
As an independent, he was elected to the Rahang state legislative assembly seat in Negeri Sembilan in a by-election in 1965. In 1969, he won his first federal parliamentary seat as a member of the DAP against the Barisan Nasional in Seremban Timor, Negeri Sembilan.
Lim Guan Eng, the party’s current chairman, announced Dr. Chen’s death on his Facebook page on August 17, 2022.
Dr. Chen Man Hin, the DAP’s founding chairman, and member, is said to have died early in the morning of August 17, 2022, in Seremban.