Arthur Chung facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arthur Raymond Chung
OE
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| 1st President of Guyana | |
| In office 17 March 1970 – 6 October 1980 |
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| Prime Minister | Forbes Burnham |
| Preceded by | Edward Luckhoo (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Forbes Burnham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 January 1918 Windsor Forest, Demerara, British Guiana |
| Died | 23 June 2008 (aged 90) Georgetown, Guyana |
| Resting place | Guyana Botanical Gardens |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse | Doreen Chung (1954–2008; his death) |
| Alma mater | Middle Temple |
Arthur Raymond Chung OE (10 January 1918 – 23 June 2008) was a Guyanese statesman who served as the first President of Guyana from 1970 to 1980. He was the first ethnic Chinese (Hakka Han) head of state in a non-Asian country. He was honoured with Guyana's highest national honour, the Order of Excellence (O.E.). Chung was a leader in Guyana's fight for independence during the British colonial era.
Early life and career
Chung was born into a Chinese Guyanese family at Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara in British Guiana; he was the youngest of Joseph and Lucy Chung's eight children. Joseph was a Hakka emigrant from Guangdong, Lucy was from Trinidad. Arthur was educated at Windsor Forest, Blankenburg, and Modern High School. In 1954, he married another native of Windsor Forest, Doreen Pamela Ng-See-Quan, with whom he had one daughter and one son.
Before civic service, Chung was an apprentice surveyor and sworn land surveyor. In the early 1940s, Chung entered the Middle Temple of London, England and qualified as a barrister in 1947. He returned to Guyana and was later appointed an acting magistrate. He became a magistrate in 1954 and a senior magistrate in 1960. Chung also served as Registrar of Deeds and of the Supreme Court. He then became a puisne judge and finally an Appeal Court Judge in 1963.
Presidency
When Guyana became a republic under the leadership of Forbes Burnham in 1970, the National Assembly elected Chung as the country's first President; he took office on 17 March 1970. Ten years later, a constitutional revision transformed the presidency into an executive position, and Burnham succeeded Chung as President on 6 October 1980. During his time as President of Guyana, the office was that of a ceremonial head of state, with real power in the hands of Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.
During his presidency, on June 27, 1972, Guyana established formal diplomatic relations with China, making Guyana the first English-speaking Caribbean country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. In 1977, President Chung of Guyana visited China and met with Hua Guofeng, Premier of China.
Later years
Chung died aged 90 on 23 June 2008 at his home at Bel Air Springs, Georgetown. In the two months prior to his death he had been hospitalized a number of times, and he was last released from the hospital on 20 June.
A week after his death, he was buried at the Seven Ponds in the Botanical Gardens.
Legacy
In 2015, it was announced that the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) would be renamed the "Arthur Chung Convention Centre", and newly elected President David A. Granger stated: "I would like the first President in this country to be remembered. ... this is the 45th anniversary year of becoming a Republic and Mr Chung was the first person of Chinese descent who was President in a non-Asian country and it was historic." After undergoing rehabilitative work, the Arthur Chung Convention Centre was recommissioned in June 2018.
See also
In Spanish: Arthur Chung para niños
