Penang road renamed after engineer who helped save Komtar

SHAH ALAM - A Penang road has been renamed after the late Tan Sri Prof Dr Chin Fung Kee, the pioneering civil engineer whose work helped shape the Penang Bridge and avert potentially serious structural problems during the construction of Komtar.

Persiaran Pantai Sinaran, an 800-metre stretch within The Light City development in Gelugor, is now known as Persiaran Chin Fung Kee, following approval by the Penang government on Feb 25.

Penang Infrastructure, Transport and Digital Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the renaming followed a formal application by The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) to recognise Chin’s contributions to engineering and infrastructure development.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow officiated the renaming ceremony, with the location carrying particular significance due to its proximity to the Penang Bridge.

Chin served as project director for the planning, design and construction of the bridge, where he introduced an innovative seismic resistance system using natural rubber bearings.

The technique provided a cost-effective means of protecting the bridge against earthquakes while opening new applications for Malaysia’s natural rubber industry.

But Chin’s contribution to Penang extended beyond its famous bridge.

He also played a crucial role in addressing serious foundation problems during the construction of Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak, famously known as Komtar in the late 1970s, when differential settlement threatened the ambitious 65-storey development.

As the tower rose over George Town, engineers detected uneven settlement in its foundations due to Penang’s soft and variable marine clay.

Chin, one of Malaysia’s foremost geotechnical engineers, was brought in to lead the complex foundation rectification works, helping stabilise the structure and allowing construction to proceed.

His influence extended internationally through the development of the “Chin Method”, an analytical technique used to predict the ultimate load-bearing capacity of foundation piles without having to test them to destruction.

The method helped engineers reduce the time and cost involved in pile-load testing and became widely associated with Chin in the field of geotechnical engineering.

Born in Nibong Tebal in 1920, Chin studied at High School Bukit Mertajam before obtaining a First-Class Diploma in Arts from Raffles College in Singapore.

He won the Queen’s Scholarship in 1949 to study civil engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, where he later completed his master’s degree.

After returning to Malaya in 1955, Chin entered academia and rose from lecturer to professor at the University of Malaya in Singapore.

He subsequently played a key role in establishing the Faculty of Engineering after the University of Malaya expanded to Kuala Lumpur in 1958 and also served as acting vice-chancellor before retiring as Emeritus Professor in 1973.

His contributions earned him numerous honours, including the National Science Award in 1988, while he also served as president of IEM and the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society.

Chin died on Aug 29, 1990.

Before the renaming, Persiaran Pantai Sinaran served as a central road within The Light City reclamation development, connecting residential, commercial, retail and convention facilities along Penang Island’s eastern coastline.

The state government said replacing the descriptive road name with Persiaran Chin Fung Kee would preserve the legacy of one of Penang’s most influential engineering pioneers.