Kwa Geok Choo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kwa Geok Choo
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柯玉芝
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Kwa in 1985
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| Spouse of the Prime Minister of Singapore | |
| In role 5 June 1959 – 28 November 1990 |
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| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Tan Choo Leng |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Kwa Geok Choo
21 December 1920 Singapore, Straits Settlements, British Malaya |
| Died | 2 October 2010 (aged 89) Singapore |
| Resting place | Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium |
| Political party | People's Action Party (1959–1990) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Lee Hsien Loong (son) Lee Wei Ling (daughter) Lee Hsien Yang (son) |
| Education | Methodist Girls' School Raffles Institution |
| Alma mater | Raffles College Girton College, Cambridge (BA) |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Kwa Geok Choo (Chinese: 柯玉芝; pinyin: Kē Yùzhī; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Koa Gio̍k-tsi; 21 December 1920 – 2 October 2010) was an important Singaporean lawyer. She was the wife of Lee Kuan Yew, who was Singapore's first Prime Minister. She was also the mother of Lee Hsien Loong, who later became Prime Minister himself.
Kwa Geok Choo helped start the law firm Lee & Lee. She also served as the spouse of the Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Kwa Geok Choo was born in Singapore. Her father, Kwa Siew Tee, was a general manager at a bank and a city commissioner. Her mother was Wee Yew Neo.
She went to Methodist Girls' School and Raffles Institution. She then studied at Raffles College. Kwa was a very bright student. She even won a special scholarship called the Queen's Scholar award for Malaya.
In 1939, Kwa and Lee Kuan Yew were both top students at Raffles. They often came first and second in their exams. Their studies were stopped during the Japanese occupation. After the war, Kwa went back to Raffles College in 1946. Lee Kuan Yew went to the University of Cambridge in England to study law.
Kwa also went to Girton College in Cambridge in 1947. Lee Kuan Yew helped her get in, saying she was "a very bright girl, brighter than I was." She finished her studies with top marks in 1949. The next year, she officially became a lawyer. She returned to Singapore in 1951 and started working as a lawyer. She was one of the few female lawyers in the country at that time.
Career Highlights
On 1 September 1955, Kwa Geok Choo started a law firm called Lee & Lee. She founded it with Lee Kuan Yew and Dennis Lee Kim Yew. Kwa focused on property law and writing legal documents. She stopped being a partner in 1987 but continued to work as a consultant.
When her husband, Lee Kuan Yew, was Prime Minister, Kwa often joined him. She went on trips with him to other countries and met with foreign leaders. In 2008, she had two strokes. This made it hard for her to move or speak, but she could still understand what people said.
Kwa was also a founding member of the People's Action Party (PAP). She helped write the rules for the party. Before the 1959 elections, she gave a speech on the radio. She talked about the PAP's plans for women. She supported equal pay for women and marriages where one person is married to only one other person. She usually stayed out of the public political spotlight during her husband's career.
When Singapore became independent from the Malaysian Federation, Kwa played a key role. She wrote the parts of the Separation Agreement that protected Singapore's water agreements with the Malaysian state of Johor. This was a very important legal task.
Kwa was also a strong supporter of women's rights in Singapore. She spoke about family planning. She also pushed for laws to protect women. Her ideas, along with those of other women's activists, were included in the important Women's Charter of 1961. This law aimed to improve and protect the legal rights of women.
Personal Life
Kwa Geok Choo and Lee Kuan Yew secretly married in London in 1947. They had another wedding in Singapore on 30 September 1950. They had two sons, Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Hsien Yang, and one daughter, Lee Wei Ling. Her brother, Kwa Soon Bee, worked as a top official in the Ministry of Health. She also had three sisters.
Death
Kwa Geok Choo passed away peacefully in her sleep at home on 2 October 2010. She had been ill for a long time. She was given a state funeral, which is a special ceremony for important people. She was cremated at Mandai Crematorium on 7 October 2010.
Legacy and Tributes
Many places and programs have been named after Kwa Geok Choo to honor her. In 2011, the Singapore Management University named its new law library, a scholars program, and a law graduate award after her. The National University of Singapore also created a special professorship, visitor program, and scholarships in her honor.
Nanyang Girls' High School has a statue of Kwa in its Yu Zhi Library, which is named after her. Her old school, the Methodist Girls' School, named its auditorium after her after it was renovated in 2011.
The Peranakan Museum in Singapore displays Kwa's barrister wig. This is the special wig lawyers wear in court.
Cultural Depictions
In 2011, a comic artist named Morgan Chua released a book of sketches and cartoons. It was called In Memory of Kwa Geok Choo (1920-2010) and was a tribute to her.
In October 2014, the Madame Tussauds Singapore museum showed wax figures of Kwa and Lee Kuan Yew. They were sitting and smiling together. The statues were based on a photo taken by Kwa's niece in 2008.
That same month, artist Tan Swie Hian finished a painting of Kwa and Lee Kuan Yew called A Couple. The painting took five years to complete. It shows Kwa and Lee when they were young, based on a 1946 photo from Cambridge. Tan said, "I have always felt [Madam Kwa] was a great woman who, despite her intelligence and capability, was also a humble and dedicated wife." This painting is now displayed at the National Library Building in Singapore.
In 2022, a play called Madam Kwa Geok Choo was produced. It was a one-person show where an actress played Kwa.
Honours and Awards
Philippines: Golden Heart Presidential Award (15 January 1974)
