EXCLUSIVE TO THE PERANAKAN magazine
All photos courtesy of Nyonya Wee Eng Hwa.
Click on the photos to read the captions!
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- A teenaged Nyonya Koh Sok Hiong, who later became Mrs Wee Kim Wee.
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- A studio photo to mark the engagement of Nyonya Koh Sok Hiong to Baba Wee Kim Wee. The couple met at a cherki game in 1934, and got married on 12 April 1936.
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A photo of Mrs Wee Kim Wee’s extended family taken by Dr Wee Kim Wee on 10 February 1948 (the first day of Chinese New Year). The Wees were visiting Mrs Wee’s mother who was residing with Mrs Wee’s second sister, Nyonya Koh Seok Eng in Geylang.
1st row (kids), left to right: Dr & Mrs Wee Kim Wee’s children: Wee Kheng Hua (3rd daughter), Wee Hong Neo (5th daughter) and Wee Eng Hwa (4th daughter, in shorts, holding her father’s Rolleiflex camera case).
2nd row (adults), left to right: Nyonya Koh Sock Cheng (Mrs Wee Kim Wee’s 4th sister), Mrs Wee Kim Wee (in sarong kebaya, pregnant with her last child, Wee Bee Neo), Nyonya Koh See Neo (Mrs Wee Kim Wee’s mother), Mrs Koh Kim Suan @ Quek Ah Mei (in samfoo, Mrs Wee Kim Wee’s second brother’s wife).
3rd (kids), left to right: Mrs Wee Kim Wee’s children, only son, Wee Hock Kee (1st child), Wee Hock Neo (1st daughter) and Wee Kim Tee (2nd daughter).
4th row, left to right: Nyonya Koh Seok Eng (Mrs Wee Kim Wee’s 2nd sister), Nyonya Jessie Tan Ah Chwee (Mrs Wee Kim Wee’s half-sister); Wee Peck Song (Dr Wee Kim Wee’s 2nd brother’s son) and Ah Tay (Mrs Wee Kim Wee’s cousin).
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- A rare photo of Mrs Wee in sarong kebaya. In the 1950s, The Wees took up ballroom dancing and loved it. Mrs Wee soon found that the cheongsam, with its high slits at the sides, was less restrictive than the sarong kebaya when dancing. For this reason, she decided to wear the cheongsam more often.
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Mrs Wee was renowned for her Nyonya cuisine. Like any good cook, she preferred to do the marketing herself to select the freshest ingredients for her dishes.
This photo of Mrs Wee buying prawns at the old Siglap market was taken the morning after Mr Wee Kim Wee’ s presidency was announced. Mrs Wee realised that when she would become the First Lady of Singapore, the logistics involved to plan her security detail would make it extremely difficult for her to visit the wet market regularly.
Her daughter, Eng Hwa brought a camera along on this marketing trip to capture her mother’s last visit to a wet market as an ordinary citizen. After Mrs Wee became First Lady, Eng Hwa did the household marketing.
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- Close friends, Mrs Wee and Puan Noor Aishah, at the Istana in August 1966, when Puan Noor Aishah was the First Lady. Her husband, Yusof bin Ishak was Singapore’s first President from 1965-1970.
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- Mrs Wee and Puan Noor Aishah at Mrs Wee’s birthday celebration in the 1990s.