Chuah, 60, handed over the reins of the Penang police force to Comm Thaiveegan Arumugam, 58. Chuah had spent a year as the state police chief.
Chuah is the only police Air Wing unit commandant to become a police chief. He was the police chief in Melaka before taking up the post in Penang.
“I really enjoyed my time in the police force in Penang. I had a great team of people working with me and felt very much at home.
“I am also leaving with the knowledge that we have cut down crime, especially gambling, significantly,” Chuah said when met today.
Chuah joined the police force on July 3, 1977, as an officer with the Special Branch division in Johor. He served in four state contingents and four divisions during his career.
He said the most memorable moments during his 40 years in service was the 2004 tsunami when he was deputy commander of the Police Air Wing unit.
Chuah was also involved in a rescue mission in 2005 to recover a hijacked vessel in the Straits of Melaka.
He said he would be spending more time with his wife Betty Kang, his two children aged 27 and 23, and also on his golf game.
Chuah will also be moving to Kuala Lumpur.
“Looks like I will be busy next month, I have a few golf tournaments lined up,” he joked.
He said many had offered him jobs in the aviation industry but he had yet to make a decision.
Earlier, during the handing over of duty ceremony, Chuah was joined by two other top cops.
Thaiveegan served Penang as deputy police chief not long ago while the witness, Abdul Rahim Hanafi, was Penang police chief.
Chuah and his wife were later given a grand send-off, standing at the back of a ceremonial Range Rover drawn by his district police chiefs and department heads.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram