Chia Yei Yei

Senior Correspondent, Lianhe Zaobao

Chia Yei Yei is a veteran journalist of over 30 years. She first joined Min Pao as a reporter in 1978, studied English literature and Chinese at the National University of Singapore from 1982, then became a political reporter with Shin Min Daily News from March 1986. In January 2008, she moved to Lianhe Zaobao to cover the political and community beat. During her time at Zaobao, she covered topics on cultural heritage, and became interested in Singapore's history and heritage, frequently writing related features and articles, such as delving into the history of Singapore's pioneers during the Xinhai Revolution. She is one of the main authors of a commemorative book on the centennial of the Xinhai Revolution.

Office workers wearing face masks at Raffles Place, Singapore, on 6 September 2021. (SPH Media)
Society

What does multiculturalism mean in Singapore?

By Chia Yei Yei 19 Aug 2022
As Singapore celebrates its 57th national day, Zaobao senior correspondent Chia Yei Yei shares her thoughts on the importance of understanding one’s ancestry in defining one’s identity. In a multicultural country, a Singaporean’s identity goes beyond that of merely being Chinese, Malay or Indian.
Teo Soon Kim (right) with only son Peter Wang, taken in March 1950. The photo was vandalised during the Cultural Revolution.
Culture

Singapore’s first female barrister and the cultural revolution: Her happiest moments were spent here

By Chia Yei Yei 22 Jan 2020
Lost love, tumultuous times. Teo Soon Kim, Singapore’s first female lawyer and daughter of rubber magnate and revolutionary Teo Eng Hock, may have had the most beautiful wedding in Singapore during the 1920s, but she passed away in her staff quarters in China that was just 15sqm in size. In the end, her ashes were laid to rest in Singapore's Choa Chu Kang Christian Columbarium. Chia Yei Yei, senior correspondent of Zaobao, talks to family members and pieces together this poignant story.
Chen Cuifen was not recognised. History does not remember her name. Her relationship with Sun Yat-sen was never made public. (SPH)
History

Sun Yat-sen’s lover Cuifen and her Malaysia villa

By Chia Yei Yei 16 Oct 2019
What will matter most on one’s deathbed? For Chen Cuifen, partner of Sun Yat-sen, it was a gold ring and a pocket watch, engraved with Sun’s English name.
A sketch of the old Shuang Lin Monastery by well-known Taiwanese historian Lee Chian-Lang. (SPH)
Culture

A 120-year-old Singapore monastery is getting a makeover from mainland China and Taiwan experts

By Chia Yei Yei 24 Sep 2019
Singapore’s oldest Buddhist monastery, the Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, is set for a fresh round of restoration works. Its bell and drum towers, which are in severe disrepair, will be rebuilt at an estimated cost of $7 million, and will open to the public by the second half of 2022.