Foreign Minister George Yeo is currently in the hot seat now, contesting a fiercely battled Aljunied GRC. I believe he is well-liked by many due to his constant dialogues with young people and his active participation in social media. But it is anybody’s guess how the campaign at Aljunied will pan out… Vote wisely everyone!
Well, today’s blog post is not really about him but his wife, Jennifer Yeo. She is a lawyer by training and she opened her own law firm Yeo-Leong & Peh LLC. Most notably, she set up Viva Foundation, a charity that aims to increase the cure rate for children suffering from childhood cancer, especially leukemia by teaming up with St Jude Children's Research Hospital. This was no doubt a result of her own son’s struggle with leukemia of which he has recovered from and he is now a healthy 17-year old. I’m sure she is now also giving her full support to her husband. She apparently wrote on her Facebook wall “Who dares to kill my tiger will have to deal with me.” in response to Mr Low Thia Khiang’s use of a Chinese proverb about a tiger in the mountain!
On motherhood
I have four children and I used to tell myself I love each one 25 per cent. But when my son was ill, I realised I love him 100 per cent. I also realised that it doesn’t matter if you have 10 children; you love each one as if he or she is the only one.
On juggling her law firm and four children
It would have been super impossible without my mother and the maids. At one point, we had three maids. There were times when I felt guilty but I comforted myself that my mother was there and she was enjoying herself so much.
On her husband
(When she had to bring her son to US for a bone marrow transplant) We left poor George alone because he had just been made Minister for Foreign Affairs.
But because of who my husband is, I have to be very discreet so that nobody will misunderstand and think that I am using my position as a minister’s wife to further my interests. I try to keep a very low profile, and that’s fine by me.
I watched an interview with George Yeo on Clicknetwork.tv and he did speak a few words on his experiences when his son was suffering from leukemia. Then I knew this was a man who knew suffering and could empathize with others. What was admirable was his wife, together with his support, decided to do something to help others going through the same suffering.
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