Lee was born 6 October 1960, in Johor, Malaysia. Her family was of "humble background", and both her parents were rubber tappers.
Education
Lee received her primary education at Kiow Min ChinesePrimary School and subsequently studied at Sekolah Dato' Dol Said, Notre Dame Convent, and Gajah Berang. Lee attended the National University of Singapore in 1981-1982 before attending the Nanyang Technological University where she completed a B.Eng. degree in Civil Engineering in 1985. She then attended the University of Liverpool in 1989–1990 where she attained a M.Sc. degree in Engineering. Described by her university as a "passionate" alumna, Lee started the Class of 1985 Pioneer Fund, a fundraising scheme which generated a few million dollars for academic incentives. In 1997, she became the NTU School of Civil & Environmental Engineering Alumni Association 's President, until 2008. She was the recipient of the 2000 Nanyang Technological University Alumni Service Award by NTU. In 2006, Lee received the Nanyang Alumni Achievement Award from NTU. The same year, the Cambodian Government presented to her the Royal Government Gold Medal. In 2011, the University of Liverpool presented to her an Honorary Doctorate. She was awarded the Nanyang Distinguished Alumni Award from NTU in 2012.
Professional career
An engineer by training, in 1996, Lee established LBW Consultants LLP. Her firm was acquired by global engineering consultancy Meinhardt Group in 2014 where she is currently Group Director. Prior to joining politics, Lee was also a senior engineer at ST Construction and an assistant project manager at Wing Tai. She served as president of the Institution of EngineersSingapore from 2008-2010. She serves as Non Executive Chairman of listed company TEE Land Pte Ltd and Independent Director of Koh Brothers Group.
Lee is married with two children. She is a Buddhist.
Controversy
Lee was criticized online for telling a story in Chinese about an "Ah Gong" during a budget debate in Parliament on 27 February 2019. In her story, she referred to Singaporeans as "Si Gui Kia", which is translated as ungrateful brats, for not being appreciative of what Ah Gong, i.e. the Singaporean government, has done for them. The video of her parliamentary speech quickly went viral.
