Lee Bee Wah
李美花
Lee in 2011
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Nee Soon GRC
(Nee Soon South)
In office
7 May 2011 – 23 June 2020
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byCarrie Tan (PAP)
Member of the Singapore Parliament
for Ang Mo Kio GRC
(Nee Soon South)
In office
6 May 2006 – 19 April 2011
Preceded byTan Boon Wan (PAP)
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1960-10-06) 6 October 1960 (age 63)
Batu Pahat, Johor, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
NationalitySingaporean
Political partyPeople's Action Party
Alma mater
Profession
  • Politician
  • engineer

Lee Bee Wah (Chinese: 李美花; pinyin: Lǐ Měihuā; born 6 October 1960), also known as Huajie (Chinese: 花姐; pinyin: Huājiě; lit. 'Sister Flower'), is a Malaysian-born Singaporean former politician and engineer. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), she was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Nee Soon South division of Nee Soon GRC between 2011 and 2020, and previously Ang Mo Kio GRC between 2006 and 2011.[1]

Early life

Lee was born on 6 October 1960 in Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia but grew up in Malacca.[2] She is the eldest among seven siblings. Both her parents were rubber tappers.[3]

Education

Lee received her primary education at Kiow Min Chinese Primary School and subsequently studied at Sekolah Dato' Dol Said, Notre Dame Convent, and Gajah Berang.

She attended the National University of Singapore (NUS) between 1981 and 1982 before attending the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) where she graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in civil engineering in 1985.[2][4] She then attended the University of Liverpool between 1989 and 1990 where she attained a Master of Science degree in engineering.

Described by her university as a "passionate" alumna, Lee started the Class of 1985 Pioneer Fund, a fundraising scheme which generated a few million dollars for academic incentives. In 1997, she became the NTU School of Civil & Environmental Engineering Alumni Association (NTU CEEAA)'s President until 2008. She was the recipient of the 2000 Nanyang Technological University Alumni Service Award by NTU. In 2006, Lee received the Nanyang Alumni Achievement Award from NTU. The same year, the Cambodian Government presented to her the Royal Government Gold Medal.

In 2011, the University of Liverpool presented to her an Honorary Doctorate. She was awarded the Nanyang Distinguished Alumni Award from NTU in 2012.[5]

Career

Lee was the president of the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA)[5] from 2008 till 2014.[6]

Engineering career

An engineer by training, in 1996, Lee established LBW Consultants LLP.[7] Her firm was acquired by global engineering consultancy Meinhardt Group in 2014 where she is currently Group Director.[8] Prior to joining politics, Lee was also a senior engineer at ST Construction and an assistant project manager at Wing Tai.[2] She served as president of the Institution of Engineers Singapore from 2008 to 2010.[9] She served as Non Executive Chairman of listed company TEE Land Pte Ltd and Independent Director of Koh Brothers Group.[10]

In 2020, Lee retired from her engineering practice.[11] She became the school advisory committee chair of the Nanyang Technological University School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.[11]

Political career

Lee served as MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC from 2006 till 2011, and Nee Soon GRC from 2011 to 2020.[2] She was previously the Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development as well as for the Environment and Water Resources.[12]

In 2015, Lee was the subject of controversy when it was uncovered that LBW Consultants LLP had successfully tendered to provide civil and structural engineering services to the Housing and Development Board for projects within Nee Soon South ward, which was under her care at that time.[13]

In 2019, Lee was criticised twice from the public over her parliament speeches. Lee spoke against community cat feeders whose "irresponsible cat feeding" led to pest issues in her Nee Soon South ward.[14] Cat welfare society and animal lovers criticised her as there was a prior arrangement on responsible cat feeding and it was unfair that Lee targeted the community cat feeders for the pest issues.[14] Lee was again criticised online[15] for telling a story in Chinese[16] about an "Ah Gong" during a budget debate in Parliament. In her story, she referred to Singaporeans as "Si Gui Kia", which is translated as ungrateful brats,[17] for not being appreciative of what Ah Gong, i.e. the Singaporean government, has done for them. The video of her parliamentary speech quickly went viral.[16]

In June 2020, Lee announced her retirement from politics and would not contest the 2020 Singaporean general election.[18]

Business career

In 2022, real estate company Heeton Holdings appointed Lee as its independent non-executive director.[19]

Personal life

Lee is married with two children. She is a Buddhist.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Member's Profile – Lee Bee Wah". Archived from the original on 26 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Er Dr Lee Bee Wah . 李美花 . லீ பீ வா". Parliament of Singapore. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  3. ^ Low, Aaron. "Daughter of rubber tapper refuses to quit". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  4. ^ Ming John, Tie Hock (14 March 2013). "Nanyang Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient (2012)". Nanyang Technological University. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Nanyang Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient". Nanyang Technological University. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  6. ^ Chua, Siang Yee (15 August 2014). "Table tennis: Lee Bee Wah to end six-year tenure as STTA president". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  7. ^ "LBW Consultants LLP". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Profile for Er Dr Lee Bee Wah" (PDF). Parliament of Singapore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  9. ^ Chang, Rachel (6 February 2010). "Lee Bee Wah to step down as engineers' institute head". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Profile for Er Dr Lee Bee Wah" (PDF). Parliament of Singapore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  11. ^ a b "I am not a 'yes woman': Retired politician Dr Lee Bee Wah on defying the odds". AsiaOne. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Profile for Er Dr Lee Bee Wah" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  13. ^ Sha, Ariffin (23 July 2015). "MP Lee Bee Wah defends her company's involvement in a project in her constituency". The Online Citizen Asia. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Parliament remarks on cat feeders not criticism of animal lovers and activists: MP Lee Bee Wah". TODAY. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  15. ^ Guan Zhen Tan (7 March 2019). "MP Lee Bee Wah uses Hokkien phrase 'Si Gui Kia' to label 'ungrateful' S'poreans, raises eyebrows". Mothership. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  16. ^ a b Stolarchuk, Jewel (9 March 2019). "Lee Bee Wah slammed for portraying the Govt as one that 'scrimps on itself' to provide for "stupid wastrels"". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  17. ^ Subramaniam, Vengadeshwaran (5 July 2020). "Singapore GE2020: Lee Bee Wah questions need for more opposition MPs, as constituents ask her to stay on". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  18. ^ Yuen, Sin (29 June 2020). "Singapore GE2020: Lee Bee Wah retiring from politics". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Heeton appoints former MP Lee Bee Wah as independent director, Property - THE BUSINESS TIMES". www.businesstimes.com.sg. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2024.

External links

Parliament of Singapore Preceded byTan Boon Wan Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC (Nee Soon South) 2006 – 2011 Constituency redrawn New constituency Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC (Nee Soon South) 2011 – 2020 Succeeded byCarrie Tan
Member of multiple Parliaments of Singapore
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