The first of six siblings and coming from a devout Catholic family, James Chan Soon Cheong was born on July 26, 1926 in Selama, Perak.^[1] He initially studied at St Xavier’s Institution in Penang, until the Second World War made its way to the region in 1941, disrupting all aspects of life including education. When the war ended, Chan resumed studies, attending secondary school at St George’s Institution in Taiping, and graduated in December of 1947.^[2] It was during his time in Taiping that Chan began to feel the call towards the priesthood, especially feeling inspired and encouraged by Lasallian Brother Dennis, and parish priest of St Louis Church, Taiping at the time, Father Noel Clement.^[3] In 1950, at the age of 24, Chan entered St Francis Xaviers Minor Seminary to begin his journey towards the priesthood, and three years later he moved to College General Penang to complete his studies. During his studies he was very active in various Church groups and ministries, including becoming diocesan director of the Eucharistic Crusade, the Junior Curia of the Legion of Mary, and he was also part of the Knights of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Young Christian Students Movement. After nine years of studies, he was ordained a priest by Bisho Francis Chan of the Penang Diocese on August 9, 1959, at the age of 33.^[4]

While he was still at College General, in 1954 Father James Chan was assigned as assistant priest of Church of Seven Sorrows Penang until 1963. During his time here in 1959, he was also made director of the Catholic Information Service, a position he would hold until 1972. After Church of Seven Sorrows, Father Chan was appointed as administrator of St Anne’s Church in Bukit Mertajam, where he resided for a year from 1963 to 1964. From here, Father Chan was appointed as assistant Parish Priest of St Francis Xavier’s Church, Penang, in 1964, and remained there for a year.^[5]He was then appointed Procurator to Bishop Francis Chan in 1967. Bishop Francis Chan passed away that same year, and a year later in 1968, Father James was appointed secretary and treasurer to the newly ordained Bishop of Penang Gregory Yong. Two years later in 1970, Father James was appointed parish priest of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Penang.^[6] On December 18, 1972 the region saw changes in the structure of the Diocese, with the states of Malacca and Johor split from the Singapore Archdiocese and became a diocese of its own under the Metropolitan Diocese of Kuala Lumpur (later archdiocese). A few days later, on December 22, 1972, Father James Chan was nominated to become the first Bishop of the Malacca-Johore Diocese by Pope Paul VI. receiving his episcopal ordination by Archbishop Dominic Vendargon the following year on June 8, 1973, in Johor Bahru.^[7] During his time as bishop he took on several roles and responsibilities, from 1975 he acted as both secretary general and treasurer of the Catholic Bishop’s conference until 1994 and 2001 respectively. He also served as episcopal chairman for the Malaysian Catechetical Commission, The National Commission for Social Communications, The Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs, and The Commission for Charismatic Renewal, and served for a time as regional director for the Pontifical Mission Society of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.^[8]

After attending a training session with several other religious at the East Asian Pastoral institute, Bishop Chan alongside many of the other bishops and archbishops felt the church needed to see a renewal following the events of the Second Vatican Council. Thus, the Aggiornamento 1976 was born, with the main goal of training the priests in the region in the
new ways of being a church, and also aimed to put more responsibility among the laity to take charge and practice their own faith outside of formal Mass, something which Bishop Chan and many priests felt strongly about and which would eventually lead to the formation of Basic Ecclesiastical Communities (BEC).^[9]

In addition to these efforts, Bishop Chan worked towards building several new facilities and churches for the Malacca-Johore Diocese, one of the most prominent of these being the MAJOWE centre, today known as the MOJODI centre. The centre was opened on August 23, 1980, and was initially built as a home for the elderly, a day-care centre for children, and an accommodation and space for church retreats and formations, with more facilities being added over the years. Today the centre still operates as the biggest Pastoral Centre in Malaysia and Singapore, able to accommodate hundreds of people. Today the MAJODI centre has a home for the aged and retired priests and religious (known as Graceville), a diocesan secretariat, facilities for formation, retreats, and seminars, seven chalets, dormitories, a chapel, canteen, auditorium, multipurpose hall, a bookshop, and a retreat house.^[10]

Furthermore, Bishop Chan oversaw the building, rebuilding and restoration of several churches and chapels, and multi-purpose halls over the years. This included, Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Johore in 1982, Church of Christ the King in Kulai, 1986, a hall in St Theresa’s Church in Malacca in 1987, St Josheph Church, Plentong in 1988, Church of Holy Spirit, Malacca in 1989, Church of St Elizabeth in Kota Tinggi in 1991, a hall at St Andrews Church, Muar in 1993, a hall at St Louis church, Kluang in 1994, and the reconstruction of a Chapel at Bukit Batu in 1999.^[11] Furthermore, he brought several religious movements and orders to set up centres in the diocese. These included approving and blessing the Monastic Centre in Ulu Tiram in 1980, founded by Father Roberge, bringing in Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary from Taiwan in 1981, the Good Shepherds Sisters in 1986, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood in 1987, Sisters of the Divine Saviour in 1994, Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus from Taiwan in 1998, and the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1999.^[12]

In addition to all his effort and responsibilities as Bishop of Malacca-Johore, Bishop Chan wrote a book “When the Fruits of the Rambutan Tree are about to Ripen” which outlined his life and journey as a religious.^[13] After many years and accomplishments as Bishop of the Malacca-Johore Diocese, Bishop Chan submitted his letter of resignation on his 75 th Birthday on July 26, 2001, with the resignation being accepted on December 10 of that same year.^[14] In that same year of 2001, Bishop Chan took up residence at Graceville at the MAJODI centre, the retirement home he created for aging and retired priest, where he resided for the remainder of his life. He was said to have been well taken care of during his time there and. was an even warmer and caring person after retirement. Bishop Emeritus James Chan passed away on April 22, 2023, at the age of 97.^[15]