Remembering Professor Chao Tzee Cheng (d. 21 February 2000)
Remembering Professor Chao Tzee Cheng
(b. 22 September 1934, Hong Kong – d. 21 February 2000, New York)
“Mortui vivos docent – Let the dead teach the living”
Professor Chao in his book “Murder is My Business”, published in 1998
Photo source: NUS Libraries
He gave a voice to the dead, standing firm as an advocate for the many silent witnesses that came under his care.
With the knowledge of a medical doctor, the sharp eyes and instinct of Sherlock Holmes, and the oratorical skills and confidence of a lawyer in court, he brought more than 25,000 perpetrators of murders and criminals to book and redress the grievance of victims. He was the “Justice of Murder” and rightfully so.
He told the stories of the dead and re-enacted their last moments, and in doing so, provided closure to the bereaved families of murder victims.
Even though the victims that came under his care cannot speak, Prof Chao knew that they have a lot to say – and he was always there to listen, accompanying them from the scene of their demise to the mortuary to the halo grounds of our courts.
He has confronted serial killers, natural disasters, 'perfect murders' and freak accidents.
Every contact leaves a trace, and Professor Chao was determined to trace and tracked down all down one-by-one.
His expertise and testimonies have served justice to heinous criminals, freed the innocent, and turned open-and-shut cases on their heads.
He also investigated major mass disasters in Singapore, from the explosion on board the Greek oil tanker S.T. Spyros in 1978, the Sentosa Cable Car tragedy in 1983, the collapse of Hotel New World in 1986, the explosion at Ginza Plaza in 1992 and the crash of SilkAir Flight 185 in 1997.
In returning an identity to every badly traumatised deceased, often ravaged beyond recognition, he rendered closure to every family traumatised by these events.
Through his work, Professor Chao was instrumental in bringing to light how and why these mass disasters happened, so that we can work to prevent them from happening again.
His post-mortems served the dead and shone a guiding light for the living.
Though a stranger to tens of thousands of families he has never met, his work gave them warmth and closure to live on strongly, bravely and resolutely in memories of their loved ones.
Photo source: Landmark Books
Safety was also close to his heart. He actively advocated for safety through empirical and policy-based approaches, to address home accidents, the use and handling of toys, the dangers of lightning, ventilation at homes and drunk driving etc.
Besides being a humble intellectual giant in forensic medicine, he was fundamentally a big-hearted mentor to the medical professionals that will come after him.
In the wake of his death in February 2000, his only son, Alexandre Chao, who succumbed to SARS in 2003 whilst fighting the virus, said “Although his death came suddenly, we know he died peacefully, doing the things he loved most — his work and being with his family … Those who had come to share in our time of grief recounted such vivid and personal memories of him, and many related their own personal and unique encounters with him and how he had often gone out of his way to offer his help and assistance”.
Professor Chao was a medical practitioner whose indelible impact in the field of forensic pathology has no parallel in Singapore. He was also a compassionate and big-hearted man, who was larger than life, who adjudicated on behalf of the voiceless and at times, the nameless.
On 21 January 2000, the medical-legal fraternity in Singapore was rudely robbed of one of its brightest stars; the loss is no less immense today than it was twenty-three years ago.
As the then Malaysian High Court Judge, Dato’ Mahadev Shankar stated on 25 March 2000 in a speech given ‘In Memoriam of Professor Chao Tzee Cheng’:
Once in a while on our journey through life, we are fortunate enough to meet someone who reshapes the way we look at things and think about them. Such persons ennoble us by bestowing upon us a burning desire to seek out the truth and make it an integral part of our moral fibre. The late Professor Chao Tzee Cheng was one such mentor.
Lest we forget this luminary of truth.
Family was his compass, his career in forensic medicine as a pathologist was his pride, and being able to return every deceased to the family was his motivation.
No amount of words can do justice to a remarkable man and a humble servant who did justice throughout his career.
Thank you, Professor Chao. You are still missed today!
Karen Wong, “Top Forensic Pathologist Chao Dies in New York”, The Straits Times, 23 February 2000, 3. (Source: NewspaperSG)
Top image: National Archives Singapore
