Lee Yoong, Connie and I shared an interest in Japanese EGL fashion and the three of us loved having high tea while dressed up in our finest Lolita dresses. I still remember the day when she invited Connie and I over for high tea and had somehow convinced Victor to dress up as a butler! Victor played the part perfectly. For the entire afternoon he was pouring our tea and making sure we were well looked after as we bonded over scones and cucumber sandwiches. That was truly the beginning of a beautiful friendship and from that day, the three of us made it our mission to enjoy all the High Teas that Melbourne had to offer.

Lee Yoong loved Japan, Japanese culture, anime and J-rock.  She shared this love with Victor, Derek, Rayner, and her friends in Singapore Kenneth, Ruiling and Steph. She loved Japan so much that she ended up purchasing tickets to fly back there, 3 days after returning home from a recent Japan trip. 

Lee Yoong loved to make desserts and best of all, she loved sharing them with us as well. She would make us the most delicious cakes, different flavoured sorbets, green tea and black sesame ice creams. This eventually inspired Cindy to start baking and creating desserts as well. Each time she and Victor organized a gathering at their place, she would welcome us all with wide open arms, a warm smile and big "HELLO!". 

Lee Yoong was filled with love. She loved her family; her friends; her colleagues; and she loved her hobbies such as knitting and sewing. Even though our good friend Ki Jin moved from Melbourne to Perth she was very much like a big sister to him.  She was much like a big sister to the baby of the group Vincent as well - setting him straight if he ever played up too much. She was always looking out for us. When Jordan and Connie had a little baby, Lee Yoong knitted a beautiful shawl for Connie to make sure she would stay warm during the cold nights when the baby woke up.

Underneath that loving but tough exterior, Lee Yong had a wicked and mischievous sense of humour. One day she managed to convince the group to follow her on a little road trip to a lamb festival. The group being a bunch of greedy foodies thought that the lamb festival would be a feast of barbecued chops and slow cooked meats, as such, agreed to go on that trip with her. After a couple of hours driving, the gang were all shocked to discover that this lamb festival was in fact a celebration of yarn!  Lee Yong had wanted to visit this place to stock up on yarn and wool for her knitting projects!

Oh, she got us good, she got us really good.

Today, we remember Lee Yoong for who she was: That quiet, determined, beautiful soul filled with love and hope. We will forever treasure memories of her and her companionship. The lessons that she has taught us and the good times that we’ve had with her will remain with us always. May her light shine down upon us, and may her legacy live on so that we may all continue to love one another, to persevere in the face of difficulty and most of all, to have the courage to hope. 

This is the PC that my sister Lee Yoong built herself. I am proud of her that she can assemble all these parts by herself. It is a AMD Ryzen 5 system with 16GB of RAM and GTX1650. She even installed a AIO CPU water cooler to reduce the noise. 
She mainly uses the PC to research on sewing patterns and knitting articles,  web browsing and light gaming.

I have been trying to think of a way to express my appreciation for Lee Yoong. Everyone has spoken of her kindness, care and creativity and it’s all true, without a doubt. What struck me most about Lee Yoong was that she was game for anything.

Example 1: I really got to know Lee Yoong when we both rather naively volunteered to sing songs from Les Miserables for a youth performance. We stood next to each other, the alto girls. We were not natural singers, so we practiced in my car to and from rehearsals and meetings, inventing “car karaoke” way before it was James Corden’s idea. Our repertoire wasn’t just limited to Les Mis, but expanded to other songs, especially Redd Kross’ version of “Yesterday Once More” with its “sha-la-la-laaaaahhhh!!!!” chorus (at this point I should also add that Vic was also in the car with us). I never felt self-conscious because Lee Yoong was all in and her sense of fun and ridiculousness was infectious. I am yet to laugh and sing until I lose my voice like I did with Lee Yoong.

Example 2: When ACMI hosted the Pixar exhibition years ago, a giant Toy Story ball sculpture was sitting outside. I had the idea that we could take a photo of one of us being crushed by the ball and the other person screaming. The image in my head was hilarious, but I was not committed enough to lie on the (gross) ground. But Lee Yoong was committed to the vision and lay straight down! All I had to do was look devasted and scream, but I was so self-conscious that I only look vaguely perplexed in the photo — Lee Yoong looks amazing though. Her deep commitment to encourage those around her was expressed in her courage. She could be doing things outside of her comfort zone, but you’d never know it. She lived so true to her values and who she was that she inspired everyone to do the same.

Thank you, Lee Yoong, for your sharing your enormous heart. I am forever changed for the better for knowing you.