Chan Kong Choy was born in
Bentong,
Pahang on 17 May 1955 to an ethnic
Malaysian Chinese family of
Cantonese descent with ancestry from
Yunfu,
Guangdong,
China. He studied in
Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman in 1975 for his
Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM). He graduated with first class honours in Chinese Studies from
University of Malaya in 1979. He went on to obtain a post-graduate Diploma in
Education, University of Malaya in 1980. He has served the MCA national leadership for 16 years. Chan has been a Minister for five years and thirteen years as Deputy Minister in the federal government beside four years as Pahang State executive councillor. He has served nine years as MCA Youth chairman, and the Federal and State Government portfolios continuously since 1986. In
1986 general election, Chan was elected as
Pahang state assemblyman for
Tanah Rata and he was selected by Pahang State Government as its executive councillor and held that post until 1990. After contested and won the parliamentary seat of
Lipis, Pahang in the
1990 general election, Chan was elevated by the party leadership and made a Deputy Minister in the Culture, Arts and Tourism Ministry. In 1990, Chan became the party's National Youth chairman. Chan was re-elected to a second term as the National Youth chairman in the 1993 party elections. Chan was made MCA vice-president in 1999 and subsequently assumed the Deputy Finance Minister's post after the general elections that same year. With his experience in the party leadership and Government, Chan faithfully remained as Deputy Minister and party vice-president. The MCA Central Committee appointed Chan as the party's new deputy president with the resignation of Datuk
Lim Ah Lek from that post. Chan was the Member of Parliament for
Selayang, Selangor from 1995 to 2008. Chan successfully won the parliamentary constituency of Selayang in General Elections of
1990,
1995,
1999 and
2004 for the
Barisan Nasional or
National Front coalition. Chan did not defend his parliamentary seat in the
12th general elections held on 18 March 2008 thus stepped down from his cabinet post as Transport Minister citing health reasons and to make way for young blood. In 2016, Chan donated his personal collection of literary works on 'The
Dream of The Red Chamber', one of the four greatest classical novels in Chinese literature to University of Malaya. The collection has 6000 pieces of literary works and is touted as the largest private collection outside of mainland China. in 2021, Chan assumed the role of Executive Chairman of Fajarbaru Builder Group Bhd, a diversified group spanning Construction, Property Development and Natural Resources listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. In 2023, Chan assumed the role as Executive Chairman of PA Resources Bhd, one of the largest aluminum resources and extrusion business in Malaysia involved in all, upstream, midstream and downstream activities. ==Controversy==