Lee family (Singapore)
The Lee family ([lì]; Chinese: 李; pinyin: Lǐ) is a political family in Singapore, with members prominent in Singaporean politics, public service, law, business and academia.
Background
The son of Lee Chin Koon and Chua Jim Neo, Lee Kuan Yew served as the first Prime Minister of Singapore and his eldest son Lee Hsien Loong served as the third Prime Minister.
Members of the Lee family also held leadership positions in the People's Action Party which forms the incumbent Government of Singapore.
Family tree
| Family tree of Lee Kuan Yew | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Government offices held
- Lee Kuan Yew: Member of Parliament 1955–2015; Leader of the Opposition, 1955–1959; Prime Minister of Singapore, 1959–1990; Senior Minister of Singapore, 1990–2004; Minister Mentor of Singapore, 2004–2011
- Lee Hsien Loong: Member of Parliament 1984–; Acting Minister for Trade and Industry, 1986; Second Minister for Defence (Services), 1987–1990; Minister for Trade and Industry, 1987–1992; Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, 1990–2004; Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, 1998–2004; Minister for Finance, 2001–2007; Prime Minister of Singapore, 2004–2024; Senior Minister of Singapore, 2024–
- Lee Wei Ling: Director of the National Neuroscience Institute, 2004–2014
- Lee Hsien Yang: Chief Executive Officer of Singtel, 1995–2007; Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, 2009–2018
Ho Ching: Wife of Lee Hsien Loong; Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings, 2004–2021[11]
38 Oxley Road dispute
38 Oxley Road is an eight-bedroom two-storey bungalow located near Orchard Road, Singapore. The house was built in the late 19th century and was the residence of the first prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, from the 1940s until his death in 2015.[12] The first meeting of the People's Action Party (PAP) occurred in the basement.[12]
In 2017, it became central to a dispute in Singapore among Lee's children, Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang and Lee Wei Ling, over its use and demolition. Lee Kuan Yew had originally willed the house to Lee Hsien Loong, who later sold it to Lee Hsien Yang in 2015 at market price, on the condition that both of them would donate half of the value to charity.[13]
Lee's will included a condition that his daughter Lee Wei Ling be allowed to stay there. She died on 9 October 2024, opening a range of plausible options for the house as set out by the Ministerial Committee in 2018. The options are to (i) retain the property by gazetting it as a National Monument or for conservation; (ii) retain the dining room and demolish the rest of the property; or (iii) allow the property to be demolished fully and allow for the site to be redeveloped. In 2025, the government announced their intentions to gazette it as a national monument.
Relation to other prominent families
Kwa Geok Choo, the wife of Lee Kuan Yew, is the daughter of Wee Yew Neo,[14][15] who is in turn the sister of Helene Tan, wife of Tan Chin Tuan.[16][17] The Tans are another prominent family in Singapore, whose members include:[18][19][20]
- Tony Tan, the 7th President of Singapore
- Tan Kim Seng, a Peranakan businessman
- Tan Eng Sian, who the College of Alice and Peter Tan of the National University of Singapore is named after
- Simon Chesterman, former dean of the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law
The Lee family is also distantly related to Teo Chee Hean through Kwa Geok Choo:
- Choo's brother, Kwa Soon Chuan,[21] was married to Ivy Lim Seok Cheng, the second daughter of Lim Chong Pang,[22][23][24] who was in turn the son of Lim Nee Soon.[25]
- Lim Nee Soon's maternal grandfather was Teo Lee,[27] a predecessor of Teo Eng Hock, Teo Soon Kim, and Teo Chee Hean.[28]
- The Lims were also related to Oei Tiong Ham via Nee Soon's eldest daughter, who married a son of Oei.[29]
The Lee political family is also distantly related to the Lee family that founded the Chinese Commercial Bank, via Kwa Geok Choo:
- Lim Chong Pang, the father-in-law of Choo's brother, Kwa Soon Chuan, was married to the daughter of Lee Choon Guan and Tan Teck Neo.[25]
- Choon Guan was the son of Lee Cheng Yan.[30]
- Teck Neo was the daughter of Tan Keong Saik, who Keong Saik Road is named after.[31][32]
- Lee Choon Guan was the cousin of Lee Keng Kiat, who is the father of Lee Chim Tuan and Lee Chim Huk.[33]
- Huk was the father of Lee Kip Lin and Lee Kip Lee, the latter being the father of Singaporean creative Dick Lee.[34]
- Tuan was a maternal cousin of Malaysian politician Tan Cheng Lock.[35]
See also
References
- ^ "Shengwu Li | Department of Economics". Harvard University. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
- ^ Chua, Alivin. "Lee Chin Koon". Singapore Infopedia.
- ^ "Kuan Yew's brother Dennis dies". Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore, and his family, 1989 – BookSG". National Library Board, Singapore. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ "Lee Kuan Yew bids farewell to brother". Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ^ "The Lee Kuan Yew I remember: His sister Monica Lee, 85". Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Lee Kuan Yew (1998). The Singapore Story. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish.
- ^ Chua, Mui Hoong (19 October 2003). "From the archives: Private side of DPM Lee". The Straits Times. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ Wong, Chun Han (14 July 2017). "Singapore, a Model of Orderly Rule, Is Jolted by a Bitter Family Feud". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Stolarchuk, Jewel (4 October 2020). "Rare interview: Li Shengwu felt like the first grandson to Mr and Mrs Lee". The Independent Singapore. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
- ^ "Leadership Transition at Temasek Holdings: Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara to be appointed Executive Director & CEO with effect from 1 October 2021". 9 February 2021.
- ^ a b Tan, Judith (27 March 2015). "Modest home rich memories". The New Paper. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
- ^ Ng, Kelly (April 2017). "Deal made to sell house for S$1 to appease siblings". TODAYonline.
- ^ "Great Peranakans: Fifty Remarkable Lives" (PDF). National Heritage Board. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ "FROM LEFT, ZURIANA AND ORCHID KAMARIAH, DAUGHTERS OF …". www.nas.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ "View of service at Bethesda (Katong) Church at junction of …". www.nas.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ "FASHIONABLE WEDDING". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ Hermes (10 February 2019). "Shedding light on life and legacy of Peranakan pioneer Tan Kim Seng | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ "A place in the sun for key Singaporeans?". www.asiaone.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ "Grads must be creative thinkers: New NUS law dean". SMU Newsroom. November 2011.
- ^ "Grads must be creative thinkers: New NUS law dean". SMU Newsroom. November 2011.
- ^ "Grads must be creative thinkers: New NUS law dean". SMU Newsroom. November 2011.
- ^ "Lim Nee Soon". www.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
- ^ "STA chairman's mother dies". Eastern Sun. 9 August 1968. p. 5. Retrieved 31 May 2025 – via NewspaperSG.
- ^ a b Chua, Alvin. "Lim Chong Pang". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
- ^ "Grads must be creative thinkers: New NUS law dean". SMU Newsroom. November 2011.
- ^ "Lim Nee Soon". www.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
- ^ "Teo Eng Hock". reference.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
- ^ "Lim Nee Soon (standing second from left) and wife Madam Wee …". www.nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
- ^ Song, Ong Siang (1923). One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore. pp. 111–112.
- ^ Tan, Ban Huat (3 January 1978). "Street talking : Tan Keong Saik". The Straits Times. Singapore. p. 6.
- ^ Tan, Ban Huat (3 January 1978). "Street talking : Tan Keong Saik". The Straits Times. Singapore. p. 6.
- ^ "Papers from the Past: The Lee Family Archives". biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
- ^ Soo, Tan. "Lee Kip Lin". www.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
- ^ Biodata on Tan Cheng Lock, Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia 2000