Edward Chia

Edward Chia Bing Hui (Chinese: 谢秉辉; pinyin: Xiè Bǐnghuī; born 17 February 1984) is a Singaporean politician and businessman. He has been a Member of Parliament for the People's Action Party, representing the Zhenghua division of Holland–Bukit Timah GRC, since 2020.

Chia was the co-founder of Timbre Group, but had stepped down from directorship in June 2021 and is no longer a shareholder. He has been serving as Managing Director of PlaceM and Director of Feed the World since.

Chia has been known to support and develop Singaporean musicians and culinary talents since 2005.

Education

Chia attended National Junior College before graduating from the National University of Singapore in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science.

Business career

While studying at National Junior College, Chia founded Arts For Us All (AFUA), a defunct non-profit organisation which engage youths in arts-based community work and events.

Chia co-founded Timbre with Danny Loong in 2005, shortly before starting on his undergraduate studies at the National University of Singapore. While studying in NUS, he was actively managing the business.

Chia serves as a council member of the Ngee Ann Polytechnic, National Youth Achievement Award Council, a board member of SMU Enterprise and NP Enterprise Pte Ltd and the co-chair of the National Environment Agency (NEA) work group, which focuses on sustaining the hawker trade.

Political career

Chia was fielded in the 2020 general election to contest in Holland–Bukit Timah GRC on the People's Action Party's ticket against the Singapore Democratic Party. Chia's running mates were Vivian Balakrishnan, Sim Ann, and Christopher de Souza. On 11 July 2020, Chia and the PAP team were declared elected Members of Parliament representing Holland–Bukit Timah GRC in the 14th Parliament after garnering 66.36% of the valid votes.

Chia was then appointed as the Deputy Chairperson of Manpower Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) in the 14th Parliament. He also sat on the Finance and Trade and Industry GPC.

Since his appointment as a Member of Parliament for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Chia has spoken up several times in Parliament, such as the need for businesses to find ways to be sustainable and expand to provide more jobs for Singaporeans. He emphasised the importance of helping companies upskill their employers and helping businesses grow their business.

In the Zhenghua ward, Chia worked with Vivian Balakrishnan and Liang Eng Hwa to launch a Bukit Panjang Town Jobs and Skills Support Taskforce which supplemented national efforts to help jobseekers secure employment. He also reached out to Food Bank Singapore to install vending machines to ease food insecurity for households and seniors who live in rental blocks or one-to two-room studio apartments.

Personal life

Chia is the eldest of three children born to a businessman and a home-maker. He is married, and has a son.

Awards

2010: Chia, together with Timbre's other co-founder Danny Loong, was conferred the Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year award under the Singapore Tourism Board’s Singapore Experience Awards.

2014:

• Singapore Youth Award
• Junior Chamber International (JCI) Singapore, Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World - Business, Economic and/or Entrepreneurial Accomplishment

2016: ASEAN Youth Award