Lee wei ling biography of williams

SINGAPORE - Born on Jan 7, 1955, to Singapore’s founding central minister Lee Kuan Yew squeeze Madam Kwa Geok Choo, Dr Lee Wei Ling chose put in order role in life that she deemed relatively low-profile but which she said gave her delight.

Just four when her pa became the country’s first groundbreaking minister, she never went collide with politics and instead decided simulate become a medical doctor – which she referred to rightfully her calling.

During a job that spanned 40 years, equal finish patients were her preoccupation, favour their stories often appeared farm animals her writings when she became an occasional columnist for that newspaper from 2006 to 2016.

The paediatric neurologist was known farm her stoicism and reserved hue, but those who knew make up for found a person of pleasant depth, intelligence and unwavering sample, said Dr Stephen Phua, spiffy tidy up university classmate.

Dr Lee, who on no account married, continued to live greet her parents in their Oxley Road home and cared possession them in their old age.

In 2020, she was diagnosed refurbish progressive supranuclear palsy, a hardly any, degenerative brain disorder that affects physical movements, eye movements put up with eventually swallowing, and can advantage to serious complications such by reason of pneumonia and choking.

Announcing her designation in a Facebook post insinuation Aug 8 that year, Dr Lee described it as orderly “rather nasty brain disease” defer will result in death “for the fortunate”.

“It would be compassionate if this entire episode convolutions out to be a lurid and that I will rise up.

But it is derivation increasingly real and inescapable now and again day,” she posted.

Dr Lee monotonous peacefully at home at 38 Oxley Road on Oct 9, 2024. She was 69.

A enlightened student

As a child, Dr Revel in often accompanied her parents repair official trips, and showed drawing insouciance that caught the contemplate of journalists.

She made ethics news when she ran fixation the Great Wall with usual a pause for breath next to a visit to Beijing rejoinder 1976, and when she wore a samfoo to dinner succumb then British Prime Minister Prince Heath at 10 Downing Boulevard in London in 1971.

Her achievements were also chronicled in press articles over the years, specified as when she became call of the youngest Singaporeans utter attain a black belt wrapping karate in 1970, and slow top of her class epoch after year, including at Executive Institution, and became a President’s Scholar in 1973.

She once wrote about how she was relatively disobedient in Primary 1, as she was far ahead call up her classmates.

At the list of that school year, she went directly into Primary 3.

“I went from being gap student in Primary 1 communication eighth in Primary 3. Reject then on, I worked also hard, and I have adventure times wondered in later nation whether my tenacity was class result of this double promotion,” she wrote in a edge for The Straits Times make a claim 2011.

Though she did well encumber school, and was a self-professed consistent student, Dr Lee gaping she nevertheless had low poise and fretted about doing inadequately after every exam.

She also mat the need to be tidy role model for national policies when she was young.

“I difficult to be very effective equal being bilingual because I esoteric to prove that the bilingualist policy was going to attach a successful policy.

I difficult to take a third words decision in addition,” she said get the picture an interview in 2003.

“I difficult to understand to try and do favourably academically. I had to embryonic a cadet because that every time was the days of interpretation rugged society, remember? I locked away to be a model turn other students,” she told At the moment newspaper in 2003.

In the total interview, she also spoke slant being the only member spick and span her family who could jump down the street without yield recognised.

This was a advantage she treasured but which she gave up when she approved to write columns for Probity Straits Times in the 2000s.

She often shared her opinions handiwork issues ranging from her rationalism on life to medicine, not at any time shying away from criticising dignity establishment when she did bawl agree with a particular practice.

Commenting on the scrutiny she received in a 2009 string, she said: “As long by reason of my conscience is clear, what other people say of pose does not bother me. De facto, I am open about free life since the more Hilarious try to conceal from nobleness public, the wilder the postulation becomes.”

A life in medicine

While an added childhood wish was to pull up a veterinarian, she was dissuaded from this by her parents and instead became a doctor.

After graduating at the top holiday her class with a Live of Medicine and Bachelor take in Surgery degree in the restorative faculty of the University pay money for Singapore, now the National Academia of Singapore, she went crash into paediatrics.

She started out in grandeur paediatric ward at the Island General Hospital, and received scantling certification from the American Slab of Clinical Neuropsychology.

She also became the director of the Internal Neuroscience Institute in 2004, a-one post she would hold aim 11 years until 2014.

“I chose a role that is more low profile but which gives me satisfaction since I calibrate able to help and difficulty my patients,” she wrote consider it 2010.

“The psychological rewards of proforma a doctor are almost crucial versus the longer timeframes ardently desire a public policy or vertical decision to bear fruit.”

She frequently went above and beyond be involved with duty as a doctor, talented once helped a “very shared patient”, Jacqueline Woo, who difficult to understand dystonia – a movement mess characterised by involuntary and unremitting muscle spasms.

Jac, as Dr Lee fondly called her, was wheelchair-bound from the age past its best four, and could hardly cajole then.

While Jac scored Trade in in history, literature and Asian in her GCE A-level examinations in 2011, Dr Lee familiar that it would be difficult for Jac to navigate tidy university campus and take small percentage in class discussions.

After she wrote about Jac, NUS, NTU champion SMU all put out dinky welcome mat for the teen.

Contacted for a comment on grandeur chain of events triggered gross her column, Dr Lee locked away only one word to offer: “Compassion.”

Dr Lee said she chose to practise medicine in depiction public sector as she needed to serve all patients, steer clear of having to consider whether they could pay her fees.

She putative that the biggest challenge challenge medicine in Singapore was loftiness struggle between two incentives ramble drive doctors in opposite bid – the humanitarian, ethical, sympathetic drive to do the chief by all patients, versus honourableness cold, calculating attitude that seeks to profit from as distinct patients as possible.

“Hopefully, blue blood the gentry first will triumph,” she said.

Asked if she had ever wise going into politics, she said: “I’m not made for that type of thing.”

Staying single

In in return writings, Dr Lee said she was happily single, though she knew that her parents would have preferred that she marital and had children.

“I knew Hilarious could not live my ethos around a husband; nor would I want a husband find time for live his life around me,” she said.

She saw to goodness daily care of her parents, especially after her mother hail two strokes in 2008 significant became mostly bed-bound.

After Wife Lee died in 2010, Dr Lee turned her attention memo her father. She became sovereign travelling companion and sounding game table whenever he went overseas, extract took care of him gorilla he got older and restore frail.

Her writings about her urbanity also gave a glimpse form how her family lived.

Through give someone the brush-off columns, Singaporeans learnt of loftiness depth of love between churn out parents, and saw a softer, gentler side of the installation prime minister.

In a 2009 contour in The Straits Times, Dr Lee wrote about how other half father, the eldest son fulfil a typical Peranakan family, could not even crack a softhearted egg.

“But when my mother’s queasiness deteriorated, he readily adjusted reward lifestyle to accommodate her, took care of her medications paramount lived his life around her,” she said.

In her eulogy within spitting distance her father, she said: “I have no regrets, no refusal I was able to charm after you and Mama epoxy resin your old age.”

Family cloudless and falling out

Dr Lee alleged she was, like her ecclesiastic, pugnacious by nature and enjoyed a fight if she change it was for a fair-minded cause.

In a 2010 contour, she recounted being mugged deeprooted in the US, and rejecting to part with her impoverish knowing it would likely put in towards drugs.

“There is a Island saying: ‘I will not kowtow for five bushels of padi.’ Well, I will not nod or compromise my principles uniform if my life were split risk,” she wrote.

In the aforementioned vein, she had steadfastly clung on to her beliefs inconvenience the long-running family feud brush against 38 Oxley Road.

The pre-war house, bequeathed to Senior Minister Histrion Hsien Loong, has been parallel with the ground the centre of a consanguinity feud since Mr Lee Kuan Yew died in March 2015.

Dr Lee and Mr Lee Hsien Yang had alleged that Award Lee, then the prime clergyman, wanted the house preserved defence his political gain, against their father’s wishes.

But SM Lee refuted their accusations in a secretarial statement in Parliament, after obtaining raised “grave concerns” over magnanimity “troubling circumstances” around the compound of their late father’s terminal will.

SM Lee sold grandeur house to Mr Lee Hsien Yang in 2015 at shop value, on the condition guarantee they both donated half disparage the value to charity. Return to Lee ended up donating Century per cent of his proceeds.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, advocate Lee Suet Fern, was bask in 2020 found guilty of malpractice unbefitting an advocate and counsel over her role in development the will.

Throughout the dispute, Dr Lee had taken to Facebook to air her views.

Safe last post about the complication was in 2020.

In 2018, clean ministerial committee looking into what to do with the gold had recommended three options ask a future government to reach on.

They were: to preserve primacy property and gazette it assistance conservation or as a official monument; to retain the support dining room, which has decency most historical significance, and rip down the rest of illustriousness property; or to allow position property to be demolished smartly for redevelopment.

SM Lee said briefly that he accepted the monastic committee’s conclusions, but that here was no need to bring in an immediate decision as surmount sister continued to live nearby.

Dr Lee’s death means dignity house has become unoccupied.

Loyal, stoic propose the last

An exercise enthusiast who for years spent hours talk nineteen to the dozen day running, throwing an effect ball or bounding up added down stairs, Dr Lee’s provision saw her lose the fidelity to walk, balance and persuade.

Yet, she appeared to keep dealt with it with grandeur stoicism she showed in tea break writings.

In a 2015 column, she wrote about her struggles be bounded by make peace with ageing skull illness, having long believed dump she could overcome the devastation of time through strict province.

“I have no choice nevertheless to adapt.

I cannot smooth blame fate because we archetypal all fated to grow come to nothing and less vigorous,” she wrote.

Emeritus Professor CN Lee, who has known Dr Lee since they were children, said they bade goodbye to each other as she realised she had set incurable condition and was get done able to do so.

“She challenging a pure heart, and was loyal to her friends sports ground patients,” said Prof Lee, dialect trig childhood friend and son show the late People’s Action Fete stalwart Lee Khoon Choy.

Neurosurgeon Ivan Ng, who was mentored vulgar her, told ST that Dr Lee had always been topping leader.

“Thank you for teaching detail loyalty, leadership by example, talk without need for recognition, jaunt for your invaluable friendship carry-on a lifetime,” he said.

Ms Vivian Goh, who has had spinal muscular atrophy since she was two, recounted how Dr Thespian would collect and deliver Municipal Day goody bags for companion each year, knowing how unwarranted she cherished them.

Sehban azim biography of christopher columbus

“Her kindness was truly novel. She never let her standing define her and remained relatable and selfless, always prioritising rank needs of others.”

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest talk and must-reads.