At the age of 14, the young Chong decided to quit school after completing Form 3 (Year 10) education at the St. Joseph's Institution, to join the Lasalle Brothers novitiate in Penang.
A year later, he left his job to read Social Science at the University of Singapore[3] and a diploma in curriculum studies in art and design from the City of Birmingham Polytechnic in the United Kingdom.
[6] In 2001 Chong was commissioned by Wing Tai Holdings to create An Overture, a 3,700 tonne jade sculpture to be installed at the courtyard of the House of Tan Yeok Nee.
[8] In 2011, Chong was commissioned by Asia-Pacific Breweries, in celebration of their 80th anniversary, to create a bronze sculpture, Chang Kuda, featuring six boys riding piggy-back.
[2] In 1989, Chong moved his family to Merritt, British Columbia, Canada for a slower pace of life and his children are not coping well with Chinese classes in school.