Michael Chang Min Tat was a Malaysian Federal Court judge, a Commissioner of Law Revision and Law Reform and chairman of the Penang State Planning Appeals Board, among other roles, and was acknowledged for his tremendous contributions to the development of the law in Malaysia.
Education
From St. Michael's Institution in Ipoh, Perak he went to Raffles College in Singapore on scholarship in 1936 graduating with Diplomas in Arts and Education. Later, at Oxford he obtained his Master of Arts from the Honour School of EnglishLanguage & Literature.
Career
After Raffles, he became a teacher but then went to Oxford - Exeter, Oxon 1950-1952 - to further his education. Once he graduated from Oxford he became a barrister and returned to practise law in Penang—his firm commenced in 1954, was at one time known as Chang and Vello. He later became a High Court judge and then a Federal Court judge. He first took oath as a Judge of the High Court of Malaya on the 25th of June 1966 before Chief Justice of Malaya, Dato Azmi bin Haji Mohamed, Justice Dato Ong Hock Thye and Justice Dato Aziz bin Mohamed Zain. After retirement, he held various posts including:
Chairman of the Penang State Planning Appeals Board in the 1990s.
Commissioner of Law Revision and Law Reform.
Director of the public listed company Highlands & Lowlands Berhad, A Member Of The Kumpulan Guthrie Group
Chairman of the panel of judges for HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd-sponsored The Penang Heritage Trust - Living Heritage Treasures of Penang Awards, 2005
Notable court activities
Passed the death sentence on one of the country's most famous criminals, Botak Chin in 1977
Admitted Malaysia's first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman to the Bar as an advocate and solicitor on July 4, 1974.
Private life
He was a horse racing enthusiast and a committee member of the Selangor Turf Club.
An Uncommon Kindness
Dr. Richard Eric Holttum, third Director of Gardens, Straits Settlements had this to say about him:
On one occasion, when Tan Sri Chang Min Tat heard that I would be driving from Penang to Singapore with Dr. and Mrs. Holttum, he invited us to stay with him in Kuala Lumpur and to have dinner with the Lord President and the British High Commissioner. They were meeting Dr. Holttum for the first time after hearing so much about his work. Tan Sri Justice Chang showed us further kindness by offering his larger, more comfortable car for us to proceed to Singapore.
Books
He authored and edited the Index to The rules of the High Court, 1980, Malaysia, The rules of the Supreme Court, 1970, Singapore, with comparative tables of those rules with the English Supreme Court practice, 1979.
He authored Mallal's Supreme Court Practice - Vol. 1
Awards
He received St. Michael's institution Alumni Association's Outstanding Michaelian Award, 2006.
