Portrait of Lee Kuan Yew

Credit line: On loan from National Heritage Board

Madam Kwa Geok Choo (b. December 21, 1920; d. October 2, 2010) was one of Singapore's earliest women lawyers and the wife of Mr Lee Kuan Yew (b. September 16, 1923; d. March 23, 2015), the founding Prime Minister of Singapore.

They met at Raffles Institution, where she was the only girl in the boy's school, though their relationship only developed later during the Japanese Occupation. In 1946, Mr Lee left for England to read law; a year later Mdm Kwa joined him in Cambridge, having won the Queen's Scholarship. She became the first Malayan woman to graduate with first class honours, and he was the first Malayan to be awarded a starred first.

Together with Mr Lee's brother, they founded a law firm in 1955. Mdm Kwa went on to become an eminent conveyancing lawyer. She was a pillar of support for her husband, managing the family and bringing up the children, and freeing Mr Lee to concentrate on his political work and leading Singapore.