About Quin Er
Chan Quin Er is a third-generation Anak Seputeh, humanitarian and lawyer, in that order.
But before she is any of those, she is the daughter of Freddy and Angie. Born into a wooden house at Batu 4½ Jalan Klang Lama, Quin Er experienced firsthand the reality of displacement at a young age when her childhood home was torn down to make way for the New Pantai Expressway (NPE).
Alongside homespun values instilled by her late grandmother, an innate propensity for altruism compelled Quin Er into devoting her life to help others get an equitable chance at life.
Determined to be the change she wants to see, Quin Er began spearheading charitable efforts at 18, and involved herself with the Sunlight Education Fund to provide financial aid to needy students, and took it upon herself to reach out personally to as many underprivileged kids as possible.
By fate, her work led her to learning about a four-year-old who had to take care of his paralysed father. The encounter made her realise that in order to help a child, it is often insufficient to help only the child; sometimes parents must be helped as well.
Dedication recalibrated and horizon expanded, Quin Er found herself at the forefront of a fundraiser and successfully bought a dialysis machine in support of her community.
Yearning to serve beyond the community level, Quin Er made her first step towards the national scene by subjugating herself to the rigours of joining Rejimen Askar Wataniah, the army reserve of Malaysia. In addition to personifying patriotism, it allowed Quin Er to harden her resolve through the hammer and anvil of military training. Far from letting her gender be a delibiliating factor, she demonstrated an affinity for marksmanship and emerged the sharpshooter for her platoon.
A product of the famed Catholic High School Petaling Jaya, Quin Er went on to study law and graduated with a LL.B. Honours degree from the University of London. After acquiring her Certificate of Legal Practice in 2012, she was called to the Bar and served the Attorney-General’s Chamber as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and Federal Counsel. Her time there fortified her specialization in legal research, deepening her understanding of where the laws of the land should be heading towards.
Being a natural at public speaking, Quin Er lent her emceeing skills to countless charity events, forming connections and leaving impressions where she volunteered. In recognition of her sincerity and a knack for coordinating events, she was appointed chairperson by CanSurvive Malaysia to organise the 9th Malaysian International Conference on Holistic Healing in Cancer 2019 and 2020.
A summer programme at Peking University on international political economy sparked Quin Er’s interest to venture into politics. She was convinced that the participation in civic discourse is indispensable to cultivate equitable growth and to uphold the rule of law. After much deliberation, she took the road less travelled and contested for Seputeh during GE14 on behalf of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a political party which despite numerous setbacks, has an inalienable root in the founding of our nation, and a stellar track record for community service.
The history of Malaysia is a history of learning to deal with racial diversity with the legacy of May 13th. Realising there is no workaround to foster cooperation between races, Quin Er is honed in the belief that the voices of the minorities must be represented, sensitivities of the majority must be circumvented, and all must be united around a politics of moderation.