Brother Jeffrey Chan was born into a typical Cantonese family in Singapore. His Chinese name is 陳國強. He is the third child in a family of five brothers and sisters. The Lasallian story of Brother Jeffrey Chan started in 1974 when he had his primary education at the De La Salle School in Singapore. He finished his GCE ‘O’ Level at St. Joseph’s Institution, the first Lasallian school in the Asia-Pacific region, in 1983, and the GCE ‘A’ Level in 1985 at St. Andrew’s Junior College.

All male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents who have reached the age of 18 are enrolled into military service, Brother Jeff was no exception. He joined the National Service (NS) in 1988 and served as a Lieutenant until 1990. He continued his tertiary education after national service at the National University of Singapore (Bachelor of Arts) and the National Institute of Education (Postgraduate Diploma in Education).

Brother Jeff’s teaching career started in 1994 when he was posted to De La Salle Primary School, his alma mater. He took the posts of Prefect Master and the Head-of-Department of IT in 1996 and 1998 respectively.

According to Brother Jeff, the catalyst for joining the Brothers took place at the Asia Pacific Lasallian Educators’ Congress held in Hong Kong in 1998. He liked what he saw and heard and committed himself to the life of an educator.

In June 1999, Brother Jeff resigned from his teaching duties in Singapore and joined the De La Salle Brothers Novitiate in the Philippines. He had his first Religious Profession on 20 May 2001. He then continued his religious studies in the Philippines while at the same time teaching in La Salle Greenhills in Manila. He was posted to St. Stephen’s Primary School, a Lasallian school, when he returned to Singapore in July 2002. Apart from being the Prefect Master and the School Coordinating Mentor, he was also the Discipline Master for the Upper Levels.

In February 2010, Brother Jeff was assigned to Hong Kong, to teach in La SalleCollege and to be of service to the Lasallian Family generally. Not only was receiving an extra Brother a boon to Hong Kong but the fact that he could speak Cantonese was an added bonus. He taught Religious Studies and Integrated Humanities at La SalleCollege, was a member of the Discipline Board and also took care of the Lasallian Youth and a praesidium of the Legion of Mary.

Then, in August 2012, he was transferred to St. Joseph’s College on Hong KongIsland where his presence was needed both at the Brother’s Community level and in the school. In fact he has recently become Supervisor of the school, while continuing to help the Lasallian Family generally by means of formation presentations and advice.