Dr Lee Wei Ling dies aged 69, 4 years after being diagnosed with brain disorder

Lee Wei Ling died at home on 9 Oct, says brother Lee Hsien Yang

Dr Lee Wei Ling, only daughter of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, has passed away at the age of 69.

Her death was announced by her younger brother Mr Lee Hsien Yang in a Facebook post on Wednesday (9 Oct) morning.

Details for funeral to be revealed

In his post, Mr Lee said his sister passed away at home that same morning.

Before quoting the novel Lord of the Rings, Mr Lee said:

At our father’s funeral in 2015, Ling closed her eulogy thus ‘I can’t break down (and cry), I am a Hakka woman.’ Ling, I am less stoic than you.

The details of her funeral arrangements will be revealed “in due course”, he added.

He asked for well-wishers not to send flowers, but to donate to three charities instead:

She was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy in 2020

Dr Lee’s death comes more than four years after she revealed that she had been diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy — an uncommon brain disorder that causes severe body movement problems and behavioural changes.

In her Facebook post in August 2020, she said the illness was like Parkinson’s: It slows physical movements, impairs fast eye movements and balance and results in a tendency to fall.

This would be followed by difficulty swallowing, choking aspiration, pneumonia and death.

In 2023, Mr Lee said his sister was “extremely unwell” and as he is overseas, he was pained to know that he was unlikely to see his sister face to face again.

She was living at 38 Oxley Road

Dr Lee lived at 38 Oxley Road, the Lee family home, till her death.

On 29 Sept, Mr Lee described the house as his “significant asset in Singapore”. He owns the property after his brother and former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sold it to him at market price in 2015.

He also said his sister continued to stay in the house during her illness.

Also read: Lee Wei Ling Gets Lost & Fractures Bone In Fort Canning, Rescued Within 6 Hours

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Featured image adapted from Wiki.sg and Lee Hsien Yang on Facebook.