Lee Hsien Loong

In 1978, Lee Hsien Loong married Wong Ming Yang, a Malaysia born doctor. He has two children with her; a daughter named Xiuqi and a son named Yipeng. Wong Ming died on October 28, 1982 three weeks after giving birth to Yipeng.

In 1985, Lee married Ho Ching. At the time of their marriage, she was a civil servant under the Ministry of Defense. Later in January 2002, Ho Ching joined Temasek Holdings and by May became its Executive Director. The couple has two sons; Hongyi and Haoyi.

Lee Hsien Loong was born on February 10, 1952 in Singapore to Lee Kuan Yew and Kwa Geok Choo. Lee Kuan Yew, popularly known as LKY, was the founding father of independent Singapore and also its first Prime Minister; he was in the office from 1959 to 1990.

Lee Hsien Loong’s mother Kwa Geok Choo was the pioneer advocate of Singapore’s women’s right and a partner of the law farm Lee and Lee. When the city state was separated from Malaysian Federation, Kwa drafted part of the separation agreement.

Lee Hsien Loong has two other siblings; a sister named Lee Wei Ling and a younger brother named Lee Hsien Yang. Yang is currently the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

Lee Hsien Loong began his education at Nanyang Primary School and then joined Catholic High School for his secondary education. After graduating from there in 1969 he was enrolled at National Junior College for his post secondary studies and passed out from there in 1970.

In 1971, Lee joined Singapore Armed Forces. At the same time, he received scholarship for studying mathematics at Trinity College under University of Cambridge, which he readily accepted.

In 1984, Lee joined the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), a center right political party led by his father, Lee Kuan Yew. It has been dominating Singapore’s political scenario right from 1959 general election.

In December 1984, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from Teck Ghee Single Member Constituency and was appointed as the Minister of State at the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Defense. He was at that time only 32 years old.

In 1985, Lee was made the Chairman of the Economic Committee, set up to revive the economy of Singapore. The committee, under Lee’s Chairmanship, proposed a change in state’s policies. For example, the committee recommended reduction in corporate and personal taxes; in its place it proposed introduction consumption tax.

In 1986, Lee became a member of PAP Executive Committee and also the Chairman of PAP Youth Committee. This is also the year, when he became Acting Minister for Trade and Industry. Next year in 1987, he became a full Cabinet Minister in charge of Trade and Commerce and Second Minister for Defense.

In 1990, Lee’s father, Lee Kuan Yew, stepped down from his long held of position of Prime Minister and handed over the rein to Goh Chok Tong. Lee Hsien Loong was appointed as one of the Deputy Prime Ministers in the new setup. Alongside, he also retained the Trade and Commercial portfolio.

In 1992, Loong had to give up Trade and Commerce portfolio as he was diagnosed with lymphoma and had to undergo long treatment. However, he retained his position as the Deputy Prime Minster.

As his cancer went into remission, Lee returned to his duties. In 1998, he became the Chairman of Monetary Authority of Singapore and served in that capacity until 2004.

In 2001, he was awarded the Ministry of Finance. In that capacity, he proposed various tax reforms. To reduce the growing deficit in budget he decided to raise the GST from 3% to 5%. Side by side, as deputy Prime Minister, he also concentrated on improving relation with other countries