Comrade Eric Cheong Yuan Chee, a stalwart of the party, and a tireless servant of the people, passed away on 15 July 2026. He was 96.
Comrade Cheong came of age in Singapore’s darkest hour. As a teenager during the Japanese occupation, he narrowly escaped death when Japanese soldiers opened fire on him and his friends as they ransacked a sago flour factory to ease their wartime hunger. The chaos of the time left a deep impression on him and made him keenly aware of injustice in society.
He became a trade unionist in the rough and tumble of 1950s pre-Independence Singapore, and later entered politics, serving the residents of Toa Payoh as their MP from 1968 to 1988.
As a PAP backbencher, Comrade Cheong earned a reputation as an independent-minded parliamentarian willing to challenge his own party and fought hard for the working men (and women) of Singapore.
Comrade Cheong was part of the labour movement that recognised the need for Singaporeans to access affordable groceries as global inflation hit Singapore in the 1970s, and established the cooperative supermarket NTUC Welcome, now known as Fairprice.
An accidental politician
As a unionist, Eric Cheong’s entry into politics came unexpectedly. “I didn’t join the PAP, and I never attended Party functions. I was basically with my union,” recalled Comrade Cheong.
All that changed when he was asked to meet with then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who persuaded him to stand as a candidate in the 1968 general election.
“[Mr Lee] said “We have in mind to field you in Toa Payoh. This is the largest constituency and because of your work in the union, we find you suitable to reach out to the people because this has a good mix of voters from one-roomers to four-roomers. Are you prepared?”” recalled Cheong, in an oral history interview in 2004.
Indeed prepared, Comrade Cheong took up the challenge, beginning what would become two decades of service to the constituency.
A vocal MP for Toa Payoh
Toa Payoh was still a new town when Comrade Cheong became MP, and he immersed himself in the work of building not just flats but communities.
“First and foremost, we must have more market stalls because [of] unemployment. Then they must make sure more flats are being built in a shorter period because there is a long waiting queue, between three to five years. Then schools. There’s a shortage of school places. So, these are the basic things we looked out for — employment, housing, education,” he said.
As MP for Toa Payoh, Comrade Cheong also presided over the establishment of the first NTUC Welcome supermarket, which was launched with great fanfare at Toa Payoh Lorong 4, in 1973.
“From the beginning, we were so successful, we had to close the door every three or four hours because it was jam-packed with customers,” said Mr Cheong.
“In this way, we stabilised prices. We set the trend. Soon Fitzpatrick’s, Cold Storage and all these, they find that they cannot raise the price anymore. Because if you raised the price, people stopped going there to buy. They would come to us,” he added.
Comrade Cheong retired from politics in 1988, but continued contributing to public service. He chaired the Singapore National Co-operative Federation until 1990 and served as a Justice of the Peace from 1994.
He is survived by four children, a granddaughter, and two great grandchildren.
His wake will be held at the Chapel of Resurrection @ St Joseph Church (Upper Bukit Timah) from Friday to Sunday (17 – 19 July).
