Chua Jim Neo (; 1905 – 8 August 1980) was a Singaporean chef and cookbook writer best known for ''Mrs. Lee's Cookbook'', which preserves the recipes of

Peranakan cuisine Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine comes from the Peranakans, descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia, inter-marrying with local Malays. In Baba Malay, a female Peranakan is known as a ...

. Chua was also the mother of

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

, the first

Prime Minister of Singapore The prime minister of Singapore is the head of government of the Republic of Singapore. The president appoints the prime minister, a Member of Parliament (MP) who in their opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of the majority o ...

Biography

Chua was born in Singapore in 1905 to Chua Kim Teng, a wealthy local businessman, and Leong Ah Soon, a

Chinese Indonesian Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have ...

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

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

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

Peranakan family in

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

with ancestry from Haicheng,

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, 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 surrounding the prefect ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of 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 ...

. Her parents arranged a marriage for her to a storekeeper, named Lee Chin Koon, and they married when she was fifteen. Chua had five children and her oldest son 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

(also known as ''nyonya'' or ''nyonya/baba'' cuisine), which combines

Straits Chinese The Peranakans () 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 Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, t ...

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

Peranakan The Peranakans () 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 Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, ...

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 ( zh, s=黄金辉, poj=Ûiⁿ Kim-hui, p=Huáng Jīnhuī, first=s,poj,p; 4 November 1915 – 2 May 2005) was a Singaporean journalist and diplomat who served as the fourth president of Singapore from 1985 until his resignation in ...

, who was then serving as the high commissioner to Malaysia and would later become President of Singapore. The cookbook was updated and republished in 2003 by her granddaughter, Lee Shermay. Chua died on 8 August 1980, and was cremated at the

Mount Vernon Columbarium Mount Vernon Columbarium was a columbarium complex on Mount Vernon, Singapore. Built in 1962 as a crematorium, the columbarium closed in 2018 to make way for future redevelopments in the upcoming Bidadari housing estate, with plans for a new funer ...

. 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 e ...

in 2015.

References

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