September 4, 2025
SINGAPORE – Singaporean fashion designer Bobby Chng, a household name in department stores in the 1980s, died on Sept 3 at the age of 69 from cancer of the bladder.
He died at 8am at his home, a walk-up in Tiong Bahru, surrounded by family members and his live-in helper. The bachelor is survived by an older sister and four younger brothers.
His wake will take place on Sept 4 and 5, his brother Dennis Chng told The Straits Times. The 64-year-old, who worked in the fashion industry alongside Bobby Chng, had moved in with his sibling in end-July to care for him.
It was a quiet morning in comparison with the weeks before, when Bobby Chng was receiving daily visits from family and friends, who flew in from all over the world to see him.
Unknown to many, even some of his closest friends, the veteran had been diagnosed with bladder cancer when he was 26. Over four decades, he kept it under control with medication and yearly chemotherapy, and had kept mum to not worry friends or garner pity.
The cancer progressed to Stage 4 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
His condition deteriorated drastically in recent months, which caused him to be bedridden. After a stroke in June, he was admitted into a hospice, but requested to be discharged to spend his final days at home.
His health continued to fluctuate, and he was put on a morphine drip and daily fentanyl patches.
Yet, his demeanour was always cheerful and his mind active. When The Straits Times last visited him on Aug 8, he was frail but still sprightly.
It was a day before his planned disco-themed “celebration of life” party was to be held at hotel Shangri-La Singapore’s ballroom, which eventually got cancelled due to his condition.
Though he was in pain, Chng donned a red cap and waved mini Singapore flags gleefully from his bed in a show of national spirit for SG60.
He survived far beyond expectations, a feat the devout Christian frequently attributed to divine intervention in his last days.
Once stocked in every department store in Singapore, Chng was widely regarded as a menswear pioneer known for his daring, gender-bending styles. He was one of seven veteran fashion designers known as The Magnificent Seven, a powerhouse group who defined Singapore fashion in the 1980s to 1990s.
The commercial studies alum from Outram Secondary School started his career in advertising, but left after two years for the rag trade when, with no formal training, he clinched a job designing wholesale apparel for Metro and Isetan.
When he was just 22, Isetan launched him as its first fashion designer under his namesake label. It was not long before his clothes were carried in every department store – from Galeries Lafayette and CK Tang to Yaohan and Metro.
Like a magpie to shiny objects, Chng was drawn inexplicably to the glitz of the industry, spending his prime partying with celebrities both locally and abroad.
His peak years were marked by weekly Bobby Chng fashion shows in department stores, and showcases in fashion capitals such as Paris and Tokyo, organised by the then Trade Development Board (TDB).
The curious soul pivoted into interior design by accident in his 40s, when he moved to China and designed his sister’s newly purchased house in Guangzhou. He fell off the radar in Singapore, but remained a creative bigwig in China – working freelance in residential and commercial real estate, landscaping gardens and taking on fashion projects for fun.
Under the brand BCoS (Bobby Chng of Singapore), he made furniture and home decor, and ran a chain of furniture stores called BCoS I’m Home in Malaysia, China and Singapore.
He had planned a grand return to fashion in 2019 in partnership with a Chinese skincare brand called SeeGreen. In two weeks, Chng had produced 160 clothing samples for a street fashion label of the same name.
But the intended December 2019 debut was thwarted by the start of the pandemic and never saw the light of day.
The fashion pioneer will be remembered for his kindness and vivaciousness, said members of the local fashion industry who knew him well.
Before they became friends, fashion publicist Lionnel Lim – who has worked in the industry for more than 30 years as a stylist, consultant and style director – looked up to Chng as a figure of inspiration when he began his career in fashion.
“Beyond his talent, Bobby was a loyal friend – steadfast to a fault. He was never afraid to speak his mind, and his bold, colourful personality made him truly unforgettable. He will be deeply missed,” said Mr Lim, who is in his 50s.
This was echoed by fellow Magnificent Seven designer Esther Tay, 72, who remained close with Chng long after their TDB fashion missions. It was Chng who inducted her into the trade of uniform design, referring her for two corporate jobs in the late 1990s, which snowballed into Tay’s uniform empire Esta today.
She returned the favour by offering to help him produce his own face masks during the pandemic, when he was grounded in Singapore and bored. “He ended up working in my workshop every day,” she recalled.
“He’s helped me with design development on so many projects – never once bringing up fees. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, we travelled together to Paris, Japan, Milan and London. After each show, we’d have an absolute blast – those were some of my fondest memories with him,” she said.
And he was a fashion purist till the end. “Just last year, when I was in Paris, he asked me to pick up the latest Louis Vuitton cap, saying it was way cheaper there. I told him, ‘You already have dozens of LV caps, why do you need another one?’ He didn’t have an answer, of course,” Tay added.
“He was loud, colourful and a little vain – but also incredibly generous, kind and full of bubbly energy.”
Chng’s wake commences at St Joseph’s Church, Chapel of the Resurrection, 620 Upper Bukit Timah Road, on Sept 4 from 5pm. The cremation service will take place at Mandai North Crematorium Hall 7 on Sept 6 at 10.15am.