| Lee Chin Koon | |
| Birth Date: | 1 June 1903 |
| Birth Place: | Semarang, Central Java, Dutch East Indies |
| Death Place: | Singapore |
| Children: | 5; including Lee Kuan Yew |
| Relatives: | Lee family |
Lee Chin Koon (1 June 1903 – 12 October 1997) was a Singaporean storekeeper, manager, and salesman who was formerly employed with the Shell Oil Company. Prominently, he was also the father of Lee Kuan Yew and the paternal grandfather of Lee Hsien Loong, the first and third Prime Minister of Singapore respectively.
Lee was born on 1 June 1903 in the port city of Semarang, Central Java, during Dutch colonial rule. He was from an upper-class family of Straits Chinese descent and was raised in an English-speaking household.[1] His parents were Hakka-Peranakan Lee Hoon Leong (1871–1942) and Indonesian-Peranakan Ko Liem Nio (1883–1959).
His father, Lee Hoon Leong, worked as a pharmacist and later became a purser at Heap Eng Moh Shipping Line. His family later moved to Singapore when he was five, where he studied at St. Joseph's Institution.[2]
During the Great Depression, Lee's family was affected but, in the 1930s, he managed to secure a job as a storekeeper for Shell Oil Company, later becoming a manager after World War II. He later worked at a shop at High Street, selling watches and jewellery.[3]
In 1957, he helped his son Lee Kuan Yew campaign at the Tanjong Pagar by-election.[4]
He married his wife Chua Jim Neo (1905–1980) on 20 May 1922 when he was 18 and she was 16 in a traditional Chinese arranged marriage by Chua's family.[5] Together they had 5 children including the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew.[6] In 1945, Lee and Chua bought a bungalow at 38 Oxley Road. Lee was a frequent gambler, usually being stood up by Chua when he went to gamble.[7]
In 1959, after Lee Kuan Yew was elected Prime Minister, Lee led a mostly private life, having told a cousin, "I don't like publicity."[8]
Lee died on 12 October 1997 at the age of 92. His wife had died in 1980.[9]