Chen Jen Hao was born in Fuzhou, China, in 1908. He studied at the Xinhua Art Academy in Shanghai and later continued his studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. After returning from Paris, he taught at the Shanghai College of Fine Arts.

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In 1937, he moved to Malaya and worked as an art educator. He later settled in Singapore and served as the principal of the school that became today’s Dunman High School from the 1950s to the 1960s.

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Chen Jen Hao was both an educator and a pioneering artist. He was especially well known for Chinese calligraphy, while also producing oil paintings influenced by Western art. His experience with both Chinese and Western artistic traditions made him an important figure in Singapore’s early art and art education scene.