Raised in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, Chan attended the Sri Cempaka school before pursuing a degree in international business from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia. He began his working life in the corporate world before taking up photography. After two years as an executive assistant, Chan became burnt out and decided to take up an apprenticeship at a photography studio under TS Lim of Studio 88. , former Prime Minister of Malaysia In 2000, through a management buyout, he took over a company called Portrait One. The company was later renamed Kid Chan Studio. Originally concentrating on corporate photography, Chan agreed to take photographs of his clients' children's weddings. He has since photographed many royalty, politicians, artists and celebrities. Chan has photographed numerous celebrities, and was the sole photographer for the weddings of Paula Malai Ali and Tengku Kudin, and Siti Nurhaliza and Khalid Jiwa. He was also the official photographer for the royal wedding of Tengku Aslahuddin Jaa'far and Sofia Erica Lane, and these photos were used in an cover story in Harper's Bazaar. Other people he has photographed include Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Cherie Blair, Jackie Chan, Elle Macpherson, Jimmy Choo, and Francis Yeoh for the cover of Millionaireasia, In a photography competition organised by the History Channel in 2009, the grand prize was a photography session worth RM10,000 with Chan. In 2010, his collection of images of three cancer survivors and their families was exhibited in 50 Courts Malaysia's stores nationwide, as part of an exhibition to raise funds for the National Cancer Society of Malaysia through its "Hope for Our Children" campaign. In the same year, he photographed the shooting of Britain's Next Top Model Cycle 6 in episode 11, which was filmed in Kuala Lumpur. In 2011, Chan was a judge for the Malaysia's Online Fashion Entrepreneurs' Weekend, together with Amber Chia. In 2012, he was appointed ambassador for MenCare. Chan is married to Shirlyn Lim, a chartered accountant, and they have two daughters Faith and Adira, and a son Joshua.
Book
Chan published the book Kid Chan's Guide to the Business of Photography, which covers setting up a photography business from a Malaysian perspective. The book had the number one position on the MPH best-sellers list in the non-fiction category for the week ending 16 June 2013. It was the number one selling book for the month of June 2013.
Accolades
Chan was the first Malaysian to be accepted as a member of the US based Wedding Photojournalist Association, and was named by Malaysian TatlerTatler as "one of the 100 people you must know in Asia" in 2006. In the same year, Le Prestige magazine named him in their "Top 40 under 40" list. The media often refers to him as "one of Malaysia's most sought-after wedding photographers". In 2008, Tiger Tales, the official magazine of Tiger Airways, named him in their "annual list of trail-blazers across Asia and Australia". In the same year, he was named as one of Malaysia's most influential youth entrepreneurs under 30 by Youth Entrepreneur. In 2011, Glam, a Malaysian magazine, listed Chan as the only photographer in their top choice for luxury wedding vendors, citing knowledge of Malay wedding culture and protocol. In 2012, he was the only Asian photographer to be listed in Conde Nast's Brides UK's "Top 20 Extremely Talented Destination Wedding Photographers in the World" feature. Chan has been featured in Harper's Bazaar, The Edge, the New Straits Times, Persona Pengantin, Harian Metro, and Prestige magazine. Chan was also featured in the inaugural Malaysia edition of August Man magazine.
