Becoming a leader in student politics, she was one of the founders of the Pan-Malayan Students’ Federation (PMSF)[5] After finishing her undergraduate degree, with a thesis on the Muslim scholar Syed Sheikh Syed Ahmad Al-Hadi [ms],[6] she worked briefly as an English teacher at Chung Cheng High School[2] and then began work on her master's degree.

Her influence cause her to be placed under surveillance by the British authorities who feared communist expansion and saw the student activists creation of left-wing, united fronts as fertile ground for the spread of communism.

[8] She became president of the Singapore Anti-Yellow Cultural Council (SAYCC),[9] which the students classified as an organized effort to rid society of hedonistic Western influence[10] and did not necessarily consider themselves to be communists.

[16] They accused Chen of leading a network of students and infiltrating middle schools with radical ideas and material through her associations with the University of Malaya and Abdullah Majid, who headed the Socialist Club's Research Committee.

[6] That same year, her master's thesis was published in English by the University of Malaya Press and became the standard text of the origin of Singapore's Chinese newspapers.

[7] In 1990, for the Shanghai Book Store's 65th Anniversary, Chen published an article "65 years of China instrument industry in Singapore (1925-1990)", which appeared in the souvenir magazine.

In her later years, she became involved as volunteer staff for the women's organization Action and Research Association (AWARE), which she participated in until her death[6] on 29 December 2002, in Singapore.

[6] Her master's thesis was translated into Chinese in 2009 and a book launching ceremony to honor Chen was held by the China Institute of Malaysia and the Nanyang Technological University Education and Research Foundation.