Biography
In 1985, at the age of 15, Chia was sentenced to two years' probation by a juvenile court following an incident where he and group of other boys broke into a school and committed vandalism. In his book Called to Serve, Chia notes that the incident left him determined to turn his life around. He went on to graduate from Nanyang Junior College in 1988.
During his national service, Chia became an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces despite the discovery of an inborn heart defect late in his officer cadet training which resulted in him being put on light duties for the final two months of the course. His commanders were nevertheless impressed by his performance and wrote in to appeal for him to be commissioned as an officer. The appeal was approved, and he became the only person to have graduated from the Officer Cadet Course without taking the senior term Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) and Standard Obstacle Course.
Chia then became a student at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he read Psychology and Philosophy. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1994. He was active in student politics during his time at NUS, and was elected the President of the National University of Singapore Students' Union (NUSSU) in 1993.
Read more about this topic: Steve Chia
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