@may.chin794: A LOVE THAT STAYED UNTIL THE END For Lee Kuan Yew, Kwa Geok Choo was more than a wife. She was his lifelong companion, confidante, intellectual partner and the person who stood beside him through the most difficult chapters of his life. They had been together since 1947, and Lee later described their 63 years together as filled with precious memories. He openly acknowledged that without Choo, he would have been “a different man, with a different life.” Their relationship was forged long before Singapore became independent. When Lee left for England in 1946, they were separated for a time, but Kwa later won the Queen’s Scholarship and joined him at Cambridge. They studied law, built a family and eventually established Lee & Lee together. Throughout their marriage, Kwa was not simply living in the shadow of a political leader; Lee regarded her as someone whose judgment, discipline and counsel shaped his own life and work. The most poignant chapter came in her final years. After suffering a series of strokes, Kwa became bedridden, and according to Singapore’s official memorial account, Lee remained her daily bedside companion—reading her favourite poems aloud and telling her about his day. When she died peacefully at home on 2 October 2010, aged 89, Lee was left to confront the loss of the woman who had shared more than six decades of his life. At her funeral, Lee spoke not as a statesman, but as a husband grieving the woman he had loved for most of his adult life. His words were simple but deeply personal: “Without her, I would be a different man, with a different life.” Five years later, Lee himself died on 23 March 2015. Their story therefore remains one of Singapore’s most enduring personal chapters—not merely because they spent 63 years together, but because when one was no longer able to walk beside the other, the bond continued through memory, care and presence until the very end. #LeeKuanYew #KwaGeokChoo #LeeAndChoo #SingaporeHistory #SingaporeStories

May Chin

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Region: SG

Thursday 24 September 2026 01:45:22 GMT