Chua Jim Neo (; 1905 – 7 August 1980) was a Singaporean chef and cookbook writer best known for ''Mrs. Lee's Cookbook'', which preserves the recipes of Peranakan cuisine. Chua was also the mother of

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

, the first

Prime Minister of Singapore The prime minister of Singapore, is the head of government of Singapore. The President of Singapore, president appoints the prime minister on the advice and consent of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent prime minister is Lawrence Wong, ...

and the paternal grandmother of

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...

, the third Prime Minister of Singapore.

Biography

Chua was born in Singapore in 1905 to Chua Kim Teng, a wealthy local businessman, and Liong A Soen (aka Neo Ah Soon), a

Chinese Indonesian Chinese Indonesians (), or simply ''Orang Tionghoa'' or ''Tionghoa'', are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese Indonesians are the fourth largest community of Overseas Chinese in th ...

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

descent who hailed from

Pontianak Pontianak, also known as Khuntien in Teochew and Hakka, is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, founded first as a trading port on the island of Borneo, occupying an area of 118.21 km2 in the delta of the Kapuas R ...

West Kalimantan West Kalimantan () is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces comprising Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital and largest city is Pontianak. It is bordered by East Kalimantan and Central ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

(present-day

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

). While her father was born in Singapore, her paternal grandfather came from a

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

Peranakan family in

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

with ancestry from Haicheng,

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (, ) is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and (with Quanzhou) surrounding the prefecture of Xiamen. Nam ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

. Her parents then arranged a marriage for her to a storekeeper named Lee Chin Koon and they married when she was sixteen, whilst he was eighteen years old in 1921. Chua and Lee had five children, four sons and a daughter, her first-born was

who went on to become the first

. Chua saved her family jewelry and money, managing household finances and helping Kuan Yew attend law school in Britain. In 1974, she wrote ''Mrs. Lee's Cookbook: Nonya Recipes and Other Favorite Recipes'' in order to preserve the heritage of Peranakan cuisine (also known as ''nyonya'' or ''nyonya/baba'' cuisine), which combines

Straits Chinese The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British, Portuguese, and Dutch colonial ports i ...

cooking with Malay-style cooking. Chua, a nyonya (

Peranakan The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...

Chinese woman), was considered a "highly respected authority" on the subject. The original publication included a preface by her cousin

Wee Kim Wee Wee Kim Wee (4 November 1915 – 2 May 2005) was a Singaporean journalist and diplomat who served as the fourth president of Singapore between 1985 and 1993. Born in Singapore in the Straits Settlements, Singapore during colonial rule, Wee was ...

, who was then serving as the high commissioner to Malaysia and would later become

President of Singapore The president of the Republic of Singapore, is the head of state of Singapore. The president represents the country in official diplomatic functions and possesses certain executive powers over the government of Singapore, including the contro ...

. The cookbook was updated and republished in 2003 by her granddaughter, Lee Shermay. Chua died on 7 August 1980, aged 75 and was cremated at the Mount Vernon Columbarium. She was inducted posthumously in to the

Singapore Women's Hall of Fame The Singapore Women's Hall of Fame is a virtual hall of fame that honors and documents the lives of historically significant women in Singapore. The hall is the creation of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO), and grew out of an ...

in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chua, Jim Neo 1905 births Singaporean people of Chinese descent 1980 deaths 20th-century Singaporean writers 20th-century women writers Cookbook writers Lee family (Singapore) Singaporean people of Hakka descent Peranakan people in Singapore Singaporean chefs Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Singaporean women writers