Chin completed his secondary education at the High School, Bukit Mertajam and was awarded a Straits Settlements Scholarship to study at Raffles College, Singapore where he obtained a First Class Diploma in Arts.
In 1952, Chin graduated with First Class Honours in Engineering and proceeded to complete his master's degree at the same university while working as an assistant lecturer.
He was responsible for the design and construction supervision of many highways, bridges, high-rise buildings, reclamations and structures on soft ground.
Together with other teaching staff, he volunteered to approach the then Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, to get his support to set up a Faculty of Engineering in Pantai Valley.
With the approval of the Tunku and an allocation of RM1.5 million only for the project, the team led by Chin went full swing to build the Faculty of Engineering at Pantai Valley.
During the early years of his tenure with the Faculty of Engineering Chin worked closely under the founding professor and Dean, C.A.M.
Since the early days in the 1950s, many thousands of well educated and highly trained engineers have graduated from the University of Malaya to serve mainly in Malaysia and Singapore.
Arising out of his involvement as an independent consultant in the Komtar building foundation problem in 1977, Chin developed a method of diagnosing pile condition in the ground.
In 1984 he was conferred the Doctor of Science degree by his alma mater, Queen's University of Belfast, based on his independent research over the years during his working life.
He was a member of several commissions and committees set up by the Malaysian Government to administer, study and investigate various matters pertaining to engineering.
He was elected the Vice President for Asia of the prestigious worldwide organization known as the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering in 1981–1985.
Chin is remembered, among his many outstanding qualities, a man of high integrity and strong principles which he practised consistently throughout his long career.
These two qualities form the moral backbone of our profession and are vital in discharging our responsibilities of public trust and safety.
In Malaysia, the annual Professor Chin Fung Kee Memorial Lecture was set up and funded by the Engineering Alumni Association of the University of Malaya in 1991.
The Tungku Abdul Rahman College established the annual 'Professor Chin Fung Kee Memorial Prize' for the best student in the Final Year Advanced Diploma in Technology (Building) Examination.
A coveted product of engineering, be it a spacecraft or a major bridge, is the tangible result of a colossal amount of teamwork extending over many years.
DSc (Belfast, Singapore and Glasgow), FWA, Tan Sri Datuk, JMN, PSM, DMPN