{{Short description|Singaporean storekeeper and salesman (1903–1995)}}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}}{{Family name hatnote|Lee|lang=Chinese}} {{infobox person | name = Lee Chin Koon | native_name = 李進坤 | image = Lee Chin Koon and Lee Kuan Yew, 1925.jpg | caption = Lee in 1925 with his son, Lee Kuan Yew | birth_date = 1 June 1903 | birth_place = Semarang, Central Java, Dutch East Indies | death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|10|12|1903|6|1|df=y}} | death_place = Singapore | spouse = {{marriage|Chua Jim Neo|1921|1980|end=died}} | children = 5; including Lee Kuan Yew | relatives = Lee family | module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes|hide=no | t = 李進坤 | s = 李进坤 | p = Lǐ Jìnkūn | poj = Lí Chin-khûn}} }}
'''Lee Chin Koon''' ({{Lang-zh|c=李進坤}}; 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 the father of Lee Kuan Yew and the paternal grandfather of Lee Hsien Loong, the first and third Prime Minister of Singapore respectively.
== Early life and career == 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=2015 |title=Lee Kuan Yew, Singaporean (1923–2015) |url=https://www.peranakan.org.sg/magazine/2015/Issue%201/Issue_1_1.pdf |access-date=26 May 2024 |work=The Peranakan Issue|pages=8–9}}</ref> His mother, Indonesian-Peranakan Ko Liem Nio (1883–1959), was local to Semarang while his father, Hakka-Peranakan Lee Hoon Leong ({{Lang-zh|c=李雲龍}}; 1871–1942), was born in Singapore.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhang |first=Qing |title=新加坡: 小國繁榮之道 |last2=Guo |first2=Jiguang |year=2010 |isbn=978-9629371821}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Corfield |first=Justin |title=Historical Dictionary of Singapore |date=2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810873872 |pages=141–142 |language=en}}</ref> Lee Hoon Leong, worked as a pharmacist and later became a purser at Heap Eng Moh Shipping Line. Lee's paternal grandfather, Li Muwen, was a merchant who had previously done business in Singapore before returning to the Lee family's ancestral home in Tangxi village, Dabu County, where he built the Zhonghandi house.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-03-23 |title=Lee Kuan Yew: The pride of a tiny village in China |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/politics/lee-kuan-yew-the-pride-of-a-tiny-village-in-china |access-date= |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}</ref>
When Lee was five, his family moved to Singapore, where he studied at St. Joseph's Institution.<ref name=":0" /> During the Great Depression, Lee's family was affected but,<ref name=":1" /> in the 1930s, he managed to secure a job as a storekeeper for Shell Oil Company, later becoming a manager after World War II.<ref name=":0" /> He later worked at the B.P. de Silva jewellery store on High Street, selling watches and jewellery.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Josey |first=Alex |author-link=Alex Josey |title=Lee Kuan Yew: The Crucial Years |date=2012 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=9789814435499 |pages=4 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1957, he helped his son Lee Kuan Yew campaign at the Tanjong Pagar by-election.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 September 1993 |title=Snapshots of SM Lee's life |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19930917-1.2.118.2.5? |access-date=26 May 2024 |work=The Straits Times |pages=5 |via=NewspaperSG}}</ref>
== Personal life == Lee married 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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Byramji |first=Nancy |date=21 May 1978 |title=Proud and happy day for the Lees |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19780521-1.2.11 |access-date=26 May 2024 |work=The Straits Times |pages=1 |via=NewspaperSG}}</ref> Together they had 5 children including the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hung |first1=David |title=Lee Kuan Yew's Educational Legacy: The Challenges of Success |last2=Ee |first2=Ling Low |last3=Oon |first3=Seng Tan |date=6 March 2017 |publisher=Springer Nature Singapore|isbn=9789811035258 |pages=4 |language=en}}</ref> In 1945, Lee and Chua bought a bungalow at 38 Oxley Road.<ref name=":1" /> Lee was a frequent gambler, usually being stood up by Chua when he went to gamble.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Chan |first1=Robin |last2=Tan |first2=Sumiko |date=24 March 2015 |title=Remembering Lee Kuan Yew: Devoted husband and caring father |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/remembering-lee-kuan-yew-devoted-husband-and-caring-father |access-date=26 May 2024 |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}</ref>
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."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Oei |first=Anthony |title=Lee Kuan Yew: Blazing The Freedom Trail |date=15 June 2015 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=9789814677875 |language=en}}</ref>
=== Death === Lee died on 12 October 1997 at the age of 94. His wife had died in 1980.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 October 1997 |title=SM Lee's father dies at 94 |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19971013.2.7.4 |access-date=12 October 2024 |work=The Straits Times |pages=2 |via=NewspaperSG}}</ref>{{Lee Kuan Yew family tree}}
== References == {{reflist}} {{portalbar|Biography|Singapore}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Chin Koon}}
Category:1903 births Category:1997 deaths
Category:Storekeepers Category:Indonesian emigrants to Singapore Category:20th-century Singaporean businesspeople Category:Lee family (Singapore) Category:Singaporean people of Hakka descent Category:Peranakan people in Singapore Category:Singaporean people of Chinese descent