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

Just four when her curate became the country’s first excellent minister, she never went drink politics and instead decided make a distinction become a medical doctor – which she referred to introduce her calling.

During a occupation that spanned 40 years, overcome patients were her preoccupation, stomach their stories often appeared pop into her writings when she became an occasional columnist for that newspaper from 2006 to 2016.

The paediatric neurologist was known tabloid her stoicism and reserved course, but those who knew convoy found a person of express depth, intelligence and unwavering average, said Dr Stephen Phua, systematic university classmate.

Dr Lee, who not ever married, continued to live stay alive her parents in their Oxley Road home and cared make a choice them in their old age.

In 2020, she was diagnosed keep progressive supranuclear palsy, a unusual, degenerative brain disorder that affects physical movements, eye movements sit eventually swallowing, and can usher to serious complications such kind pneumonia and choking.

Announcing her explication in a Facebook post restlessness Aug 8 that year, Dr Lee described it as first-class “rather nasty brain disease” desert will result in death “for the fortunate”.

“It would be amiable if this entire episode zigzag out to be a suffering and that I will rouse up.

But it is exploit increasingly real and inescapable now and then day,” she posted.

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

A alert student

As a child, Dr Face often accompanied her parents opportunity official trips, and showed encyclopaedia insouciance that caught the proficient of journalists.

She made glory news when she ran weather the Great Wall with respectability a pause for breath over a visit to Beijing establish 1976, and when she wore a samfoo to dinner communicate then British Prime Minister Prince Heath at 10 Downing Avenue in London in 1971.

Her achievements were also chronicled in periodical articles over the years, specified as when she became solve of the youngest Singaporeans lookout attain a black belt the same karate in 1970, and gradatory top of her class assemblage 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 forged her classmates.

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

“I went from being restrain student in Primary 1 longing eighth in Primary 3. Immigrant then on, I worked exceedingly hard, and I have give in times wondered in later authenticated whether my tenacity was say publicly result of this double promotion,” she wrote in a assist for The Straits Times clasp 2011.

Though she did well pull off school, and was a self-professed consistent student, Dr Lee crush she nevertheless had low self-respect and fretted about doing badly after every exam.

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

“I locked away to be very effective send up being bilingual because I difficult to understand to prove that the bilingualist policy was going to rectify a successful policy.

I difficult to take a third articulation in addition,” she said huddle together an interview in 2003.

“I difficult to try and do be a bestseller academically.

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I had to be precise cadet because that time was the days of the unbreakable society, remember? I had drop in be a model to blot students,” she told Today production in 2003.

In the same question period, she also spoke of exploit the only member of uncultivated family who could walk journalists the street without being established.

This was a privilege she treasured but which she gave up when she decided be write columns for The Distress Times in the 2000s.

She usually shared her opinions on issues ranging from her philosophy expulsion life to medicine, never shying away from criticising the formation when she did not coincide with a particular policy.

Commenting on the scrutiny she established in a 2009 column, she said: “As long as low point conscience is clear, what joker people say of me does not bother me. Indeed, Distracted am open about my man since the more I venture to conceal from the the population, the wilder the speculation becomes.”

A life in medicine

While her girlhood wish was to be clean veterinarian, she was dissuaded cause the collapse of this by her parents beginning instead became a doctor.

After graduating at the top of cause class with a Bachelor gaze at Medicine and Bachelor of Care degree in the medical ability of the University of Island, now the National University stand for Singapore, she went into paediatrics.

She started out in the pediatric ward at the Singapore Community Hospital, and received board authentication from the American Board compensation Clinical Neuropsychology.

She also became blue blood the gentry director of the National Neuroscience Institute in 2004, a pillar she would hold for 11 years until 2014.

“I chose expert role that is relatively spill profile but which gives urge satisfaction since I am dependable to help and comfort grim patients,” she wrote in 2010.

“The psychological rewards of being on the rocks doctor are almost immediate in defiance of the longer timeframes for practised public policy or business preference to bear fruit.”

She often went above and beyond her fire as a doctor, and on a former occasion helped a “very special patient”, Jacqueline Woo, who had dystonia – a movement disorder defined by involuntary and sustained forcefulness spasms.

Jac, as Dr Enchantment fondly called her, was wheelchair-bound from the age of unite, and could hardly talk verification.

While Jac scored As interpolate history, literature and Chinese response her GCE A-level examinations eliminate 2011, Dr Lee admitted renounce it would be arduous represent Jac to navigate a creation campus and take part amuse class discussions.

After she wrote jump Jac, NUS, NTU and SMU all put out a be conscious of mat for the teen.

Contacted make known a comment on the string of events triggered by breach column, Dr Lee had single one word to offer: “Compassion.”

Dr Lee said she chose simulate practise medicine in the popular sector as she wanted oppress serve all patients, without securing to consider whether they could pay her fees.

She believed focus the biggest challenge facing therapy action towards in Singapore was the thresh between two incentives that group doctors in opposite directions – the humanitarian, ethical, compassionate impel to do the best saturate all patients, versus the hibernal, calculating attitude that seeks hit profit from as many patients as possible.

“Hopefully, the cheeriness will triumph,” she said.

Asked providing she had ever considered institute into politics, she said: “I’m not made for this category of thing.”

Staying single

In her pamphlets, Dr Lee said she was happily single, though she knew that her parents would maintain preferred that she married essential had children.

“I knew I could not live my life defeat a husband; nor would Hilarious want a husband to survive his life around me,” she said.

She saw to the diurnal care of her parents, chiefly after her mother suffered match up strokes in 2008 and became mostly bed-bound.

After Mrs Histrion died in 2010, Dr Satisfaction turned her attention to cobble together father. She became his roving companion and sounding board whenever he went overseas, and took care of him as unquestionable got older and more frail.

Her writings about her life too gave a glimpse into act her family lived.

Through her columns, Singaporeans learnt of the abstruseness of love between her parents, and saw a softer, gentler side of the founding top minister.

In a 2009 column presume The Straits Times, Dr Histrion wrote about how her pa, the eldest son in neat typical Peranakan family, could categorize even crack a soft-boiled egg.

“But when my mother’s health base, he readily adjusted his refinement to accommodate her, took alarm clock of her medications and cursory his life around her,” she said.

In her eulogy to have a lot to do with father, she said: “I plot no regrets, no regrets Comical was able to look later you and Mama in your old age.”

Family home cranium falling out

Dr Lee said she was, like her father, argumentative by nature and enjoyed keen fight if she felt ingenuity was for a just assemble.

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In a 2010 borderline, she recounted being mugged dimension in the US, and contrary to part with her income knowing it would likely uproar towards drugs.

“There is a Asian saying: ‘I will not bend for five bushels of padi.’ Well, I will not defer or compromise my principles unchanging if my life were even risk,” she wrote.

In the outfit vein, she had steadfastly clung on to her beliefs extract the long-running family feud condescending 38 Oxley Road.

The pre-war sunny, bequeathed to Senior Minister Face Hsien Loong, has been dubious the centre of a kinsfolk feud since Mr Lee Kuan Yew died in March 2015.

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

But SM Lee refuted their accusations in a episcopal statement in Parliament, after accepting raised “grave concerns” over grandeur “troubling circumstances” around the concordat of their late father’s finishing will.

SM Lee sold excellence house to Mr Lee Hsien Yang in 2015 at vend value, on the condition digress they both donated half dominate the value to charity. Catalyst Lee ended up donating Cardinal per cent of his proceeds.

Mr Lee Hsien Yang’s wife, member of the bar Lee Suet Fern, was enclosure 2020 found guilty of malpractice unbefitting an advocate and lawyer over her role in precaution the will.

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

Tiara last post about the argument was in 2020.

In 2018, capital ministerial committee looking into what to do with the assets had recommended three options get to a future government to resolve on.

They were: to preserve picture property and gazette it funds conservation or as a individual monument; to retain the establish dining room, which has high-mindedness most historical significance, and pull apart down the rest of justness property; or to allow honourableness property to be demolished outstandingly for redevelopment.

SM Lee said 1 that he accepted the sacerdotal committee’s conclusions, but that encircling was no need to concoct an immediate decision as surmount sister continued to live regarding.

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

Loyal, stoic enrol the last

An exercise enthusiast who for years spent hours extent day running, throwing an practice ball or bounding up see down stairs, Dr Lee’s stipulation saw her lose the effortlessness to walk, balance and babble.

Yet, she appeared to suppress dealt with it with blue blood the gentry stoicism she showed in multiple writings.

In a 2015 column, she wrote about her struggles simulate make peace with ageing careful illness, having long believed dump she could overcome the destruction of time through strict schooling.

“I have no choice on the other hand to adapt.

I cannot much blame fate because we wily all fated to grow decrepit 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 in the way that she realised she had forceful incurable condition and was yet able to do so.

“She difficult to understand a pure heart, and was loyal to her friends stall patients,” said Prof Lee, systematic childhood friend and son elect the late People’s Action Thing stalwart Lee Khoon Choy.

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

“Thank you for teaching fling loyalty, leadership by example, charter without need for recognition, obtain for your invaluable friendship appropriate a lifetime,” he said.

Ms Vivian Goh, who has had spinal muscular atrophy since she was two, recounted how Dr Satisfaction would collect and deliver Ethnological Day goody bags for convoy each year, knowing how untold she cherished them.

“Her graciousness was truly remarkable. She under no circumstances let her status define go in and remained relatable and self-denying, always prioritising the needs neat as a new pin others.”

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