Cheong Chun Yin (张俊炎 Zhāng Jùnyán; born 7 September 1983) is a Malaysian former death row convict who is currently serving a life sentence in Singapore for drug trafficking.

Cheong submitted multiple unsuccessful appeals against his sentence; his case, similar to Yong Vui Kong's, received much attention in the media, at a time when activists argued for Singapore to abolish the death penalty.

Similarly, Cheong's accomplice, who suffered from depression at the time of the offence, was also re-sentenced to life in prison after her death sentence was set aside by the courts.

Cheong completed his primary and secondary school education, and at age 17, he graduated and thus started working with his father, making a living by selling legitimate and pirated DVDs at a stall.

[6][7] On 16 June 2008, 24-year-old Cheong Chun Yin was arrested by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) at Arab Street in Singapore, after the police received information that he allegedly passed a bag containing heroin to another person.

There were also 5 kg of heroin found packed in two more bags inside Pang's HDB flat at Toa Payoh, where she and her Singaporean husband Chow Yoke Jee lived.

Cheong stated in his testimony that he, in 2006, first met one of his regular customers named Lau De at his Malaysia’s disc stall.

[8][9] Pang, who worked as an assistant at her sister’s pork stall in Malaysia and also engaged in illegal booking, gave a similar account, in which she said she thought she was transporting valuables like penchants but not drugs.

[18] Cheong’s father also sold his house to pay for legal fees and relentlessly asked for signatures from members of the public (including Yong Vui Kong's brothers).

[19][20][21][22][23] In July 2012, the Singapore government began its review of the death penalty laws, and they decided to initiate reforms, which took effect on 1 January 2013.

[30] Hence, through his new lawyer M Ravi (who also represented Yong Vui Kong), Cheong went on to initiate a legal lawsuit to fight for certification as a courier.

[35][36][37][38] In September 2014, due to new information received and breakthroughs in investigation, the attorney general of Singapore decided to give Cheong a chance and reconsider his case.

This also gave rise to hope and signalled that Cheong may tangibly receive a potential reprieve once the prosecution became satisfied that he was merely a courier upon the review of his case.

This gave joy and hope to Cheong's family; his father said this good news about his eldest son was the best gift to receive during Chinese New Year.

[61][62] Cheong's new lawyer Louis Joseph (who replaced M Ravi in April 2015) stated to reporters that the outcome in Cheong's case might also happen in some other future cases of re-sentencing, as he commented that presently, most of the drug traffickers on death row in Singapore did the crime out of stupidity and desperation and were merely runners for the real kingpins who do not dare to come to Singapore to face execution.

[63] Still, the outcome was quite bittersweet for Cheong’s then 59-year-old father, who feared that given his ailing health (due to diabetes and high blood pressure) and advanced age, he would not live long enough to have a chance to see his son regaining his freedom again, though some of the activists, who were concerned for his welfare, tried to console him.

Cheong also wrote letters in Chinese to both the High Court and the Malaysian embassy in Singapore about his feelings of injustice over the fact that he had to be in jail for a long time over a small mistake he committed due to Lau De misleading him into doing so.

[67] Despite the efforts of Sebaran Kasih and many other parties (including the United Nations, Amnesty International and European Union), 33-year-old Nagaenthran was hanged at dawn as scheduled at Changi Prison.

[68] On 18 July 2022, it was reported in the Malaysian media that Cheong's father was still making regular prison visits to see his son, except for the two-year period when the borders between Malaysia and Singapore were closed due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting travel restrictions.

It was also reported that based on his conduct in jail, Cheong had at least six more years left to serve out of his life term before he can be released from prison on parole.

[70] In February 2023, Cheong Chun Yin's father made the news once again when he expressed his hope to seek local lawmakers' help to apply to the Government of Singapore for a further reduction of his son's sentence.