Singapore leaders pay tribute to Lee Wei Ling

SINGAPORE: Singapore leaders paid tribute to Dr Lee Wei Ling, who died on Wednesday (Oct 9) at 69.
She was the daughter of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Dr Lee, the second of three children, is survived by her brothers, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Mr Lee Hsien Yang.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, currently in Laos for the ASEAN Summit, paid tribute to Dr Lee’s devotion to her medical profession.
“I did not know Dr Lee personally. But I do know that she devoted her life to medicine, as a paediatric neurologist, epileptologist, and head of Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s neuroscience department,” he said in a Facebook post.
“She helped to establish the National Neuroscience Institute and later served as its Director for 11 years. Throughout her career, she was unswerving in her focus on patient welfare and medical ethics.”
Dr Lee was also a regular contributor to The Sunday Times, and her columns were later compiled into a book, A Hakka Woman’s Singapore Stories: My life as a daughter, doctor and diehard Singaporean.
“Later in her career Dr Lee wrote newspaper columns, where she shared her stoic outlook in life, as well as stories of Mr Lee Kuan Yew,” said Mr Wong.
“Many readers would have come away enriched by her strong convictions and incisive observations.”
Dr Lee’s death was announced by Mr Lee Hsien Yang at 5.50am on Wednesday in a Facebook post. She suffered from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare brain disease that affects body movements such as walking and swallowing.
A high-achieving student, she was awarded the President’s Scholarship in 1973, alongside Mr George Yeo and Mr Lim Hng Kiang, who would go on to become Cabinet ministers.
Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean, who was also in that batch of President’s Scholars, described Dr Lee as a “passionate and dedicated person”, who “put her all into what she did, in particular as a doctor”.
“Over the five decades we’ve known each other, we had a number of deep discussions on the issues which meant much to her, like early childhood education,” he said in a Facebook post.
“She remained stoic in her final years though she was afflicted with a degenerative and debilitating illness and saw just a few close family members and associates,” said Mr Teo.
“May she Rest in Peace.”
Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong described Dr Lee a “fighter” who was loyal to her friends.
He also remembered how, as the doctor in the family, his younger sister took a close interest in the treatment of his lymphoma which he battled in the early nineties.
“One day at our weekly family lunch at Oxley Road, one of her nephews came with a tummy ache. She did a quick examination, suspected appendicitis, and sent him to be properly examined. She turned out to be right,” Mr Lee recounted.
Dr Lee was a filial daughter, remembered Mr Lee.
“After the sons married and moved out, Ling stayed on at Oxley Road with our parents. She kept a watchful eye on their wellbeing as they grew older,” said Mr Lee.
“She supervised our mother’s care after her strokes. She took care of my father too, who was himself growing older and frailer even as he looked after our mother, and especially after she died in 2010.”
Mr Lee’s wife, Ho Ching, the former head of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek, also paid tribute to her sister-in-law.
“You are now free and at peace,” she said in a Facebook post.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who was “deeply saddened” by Dr Lee’s death, praised her passion for children’s learning and development.
“I have known Wei Ling since 1997, when I was serving as the Principal Private Secretary to then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew,” he said.
“I was involved in several discussions with Wei Ling, including in the learning and development of children. Wei Ling had strong views and convictions, and articulated these well.”
The former education minister said that Dr Lee’s knowledge of how young children learn languages was particularly valuable in his work on Singapore’s bilingual polices, with many experts agreeing with her views.
Mr Heng also remarked on how Dr Lee visited him in the hospital after he fell unconscious for several days after he had stroke eight years ago .
“When I regained consciousness, Wei Ling visited me at Tan Tock Seng Hospital,” he said. “She spent almost an hour with my wife and me, advising us on how to recover well and to stay physically and mentally active to rebuild my neural network.
“Wei Ling will be well remembered by us, and the many patients she helped, for her professional care, and her concern for others. Our young ones have benefited from her views on learning, especially of languages,” he added.
“Thank you, Wei Ling. May you rest in peace.”
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said he got to know Dr Lee while he was a minister.
“She was passionate about her work in medicine, where her contributions chiefly lay,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“She also had strong views on education, that were always worth listening to.”
He recalled witnessing Dr Lee compete as a medium-distance runner in the National Schools Track and Field Championships while she was still a student.
“She had determination written on her face,” said Mr Tharman. 
“That same determination she had from her youth took her through life. Rest in peace, Lee Wei Ling.”