CHUA Yong Hai was a Singapore government scholar and graduated from the then University of Singapore with a first class Honours degree in Applied Chemistry and graduate diploma in Business Administration.  He subsequently pursued his PhD degree in Chemical Engineering in the University of New South Wales under an Australian Commonwealth fellowship.

Dr CHUA had a distinguished career in the Singapore government administrative service from 1970 to 1982, where he held several senior positions including the Director of Investments in the Ministry of Finance and concurrently the first General Manager of Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd. He moved to the private sector In 1982 and was Group Managing Director of United Engineers Ltd before joining Egon Zehnder International in 1985 to undertake senior management recruitment in Asia Pacific region. In 1989, he was appointed the Group General Manager of Suntec City Development Pte Ltd where he managed the successful completion of the S$2 billion convention, exhibition, office and retail development project.  He also was a director of several listed companies including Lend Lease Corporation Ltd and Goodman Fielders (Singapore) Ltd.  He is currently Chairman of Asia-Pacific Investment Company Ltd and Stanbridge International Pte Ltd and continues to be a director of several listed and non-listed companies.

Dr CHUA has been active in social and community work for which he was awarded the Public Service Medal and the Public Service Star by the President of Singapore.  He was appointed Singapore's non-resident High Commissioner to the Republic of Namibia in 2000 and the Kingdom of Swaziland in 2002 and was previously the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Uruguay to Singapore.  He is the co-patron of the Australian (Singapore) Chambers of Commerce and is a Justice of the Peace.