Jennifer Yeo — daughter, spouse, mom, attorney, business owner, girl

This Overseas female's Day, we hear from a girl whom lives virtually all areas of womanhood.

We met Jennifer Yeo for a Monday afternoon regarding the 21st flooring of this Monetary Authority of Singapore building. Occupying the majority of it will be the offices of Yeo-Leong and Peh — A singapore-based attorney she began 30 years ago, which she now chairs.

In a seminar room with a floor-to-ceiling rack trying out one wall surface, lined with austere-looking appropriate games, we discover though she had a very busy morning, which included a trip in and out of Johor Bahru, into the office asian mail order brides, chiefly to meet us that she has cleared her entire afternoon for “a very important personal appointment” — even.

We ought to also include that ab muscles mild, soft-spoken Yeo met us minus the idea that is faintest that which we is speaking with her about.

But her gentleness, down-to-earth humility and persistence will be the very very first three things that strike us — somebody like her should otherwise have packed routine of tasks and appointments; she was just in Singapore for around a week on her behalf guide launch (more about that later) before going returning to hong kong, where she and her spouse are actually based.

Within the couple of hours we invested we came to understand the fulfilment of the idea that two people in a marriage or a long-term relationship become more like each other as the years pass with her. Anger or frustration at some body like Yeo would have now been practically impossible because she was just therefore soothing and calm become around.

But all of that said, we ought to have the elephant when you look at the space taken care of first.

Chances are, you’re wondering — if it is Overseas Women’s Day, why, of the many female CEOs, big-name general public numbers or politicians you will find in Singapore, are we interviewing a girl that is most widely known to be her husband’s spouse?

Then again again, you may be one of the combined band of those who know more about her than just that.

Just about Superwoman

right Here she actually is holding her own together with her spouse and a number of big title dudes at their guide launch a couple of years back. (Mothership.sg file picture)

To begin with, Yeo-Leong and Peh has about 240 staff, with another working workplace in Shanghai.

After her 3rd and youngest son, Frederick, had been clinically determined to have leukaemia at age three, she fought for nearly ten years for their success, also using months off strive to go the U.S. with him for the bone tissue marrow transplant, and sticking to him till he recovered completely.

We’re letting you know this as it had been following this experience that she began Viva Foundation, that has made great strides in children’s cancer tumors treatment in Singapore because of ties founded because of the foundation between your nationwide University Hospital therefore the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee, that was instrumental inside her son’s data recovery.

And she did these two while being the spouse of a foreign minister — which implied juggling work, visits and meetings all around the globe with worldwide dignitaries.

Oh, and yes, it's likely you have noticed — she recently published book concerning the rules pertaining to wedding.

But on top of that, Yeo, that is now 58, admits to us instead candidly she had never excelled at any of the roles she has been playing that she feels.

“I think i usually felt I became rather mediocre… you can find simply a lot of hours when you look at the day, therefore I always felt I became maybe perhaps maybe not the greatest mum and neither ended up being we the greatest attorney. You have to accept that, you know so it’s a trade off and. You need to create your alternatives. In my situation, i needed become an attorney and I also wished to be described as a mum therefore, individuals assisted to really make it happen.”

Jennifer Yeo, attorney business owner and mother

The Yeos, plus matriarch Mary Ho, aka the Grandma of Rock (have a look at her YouTube page pls) in Taipei on the year-end. Photo from George Yeo’s Twitter web page

In a job interview six years back, Yeo said she began her practice that is own in away from a aspire to “do one thing outrageous”.

It absolutely was just 2 yrs after she began Yeo-Leong and Peh that the Yeos began having children — plus they arrived one very nearly right after another: Edwina arrived first in 1989, then Edward in 1990, William in 1991 and Frederick in 1994.

It wasn’t planned, though, describes Yeo — in the 1st four several years of their wedding, these people were unable to conceive and even though each of these actually desired to have young ones. Because they had been both Christians, they are able to perhaps not explore choices like in-vitro fertilisation, either.

“We prayed for 3 years become endowed with one, so by enough time the first one arrived, I happened to be so overjoyed, plus it had been this type of delighted time… and if you have ever been through a situation where you wanted so much to have a child but somehow you didn’t have one, I think, you know, life takes on a different meaning when you finally have your first child although it was a lot of work. And thus, I happened to be therefore overjoyed and also at that time, i desired a lot of, a lot of young ones.”

Here’s an idea of the thing that was taking place in Yeo’s very early years along with her brand brand brand new company: she ended up being growing the organization, having babies, after which her cousin and brother-in-law began having kids at across the time that is same well —

“once I (had been) having my children, my partner, Adrian Peh, would assist to fill the role… there have been occasions when i possibly couldn’t started working so he would keep everything going, and this happened the same too for his own wife, my sister, and she had three children — I had four — all around the same time because I just had to rest and during the maternity leave.

For the first five, six years, we had been having children. In 5 years, there have been seven infants.

But we had been additionally really committed. Therefore as an example, for myself, in those times, we utilized to possess 2 months’ maternity leave, maybe not four, but we just took one. So after a month, I would personally return to work, because there had been simply therefore things that are many be achieved.”

Yeo is preparing to share that she had, and may manage assistance — three helpers, become precise — along with her family members just paid down the amount to two following the young ones completed additional college. They now have just one helper at home after they grew up and started going abroad to study, and especially after the Yeos moved to Hong Kong.

Jennifer Yeo, spouse

Photo from George Yeo’s Twitter web web page

And undoubtedly, no tale about Yeo is complete with no dollop that is generous of about her wedding to the previous Foreign Minister, George Yeo.

You may know already the storyline of how a yeo that is plucky then a brand new NUS Law graduate, went as much as the air-force major within the earliest phases of the courtship and asked him, “Are you single?”

But just what you don’t understand is the fact that Yeos failed to register their marriage in Singapore — they achieved it in 1984 within the U.S., where they exchanged their vows during the St. Paul Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“So when you do a search within the ROM in Singapore, you’ll think, ‘I don’t see their names right here, both of these folks are single with four kids!’ Oh, but (by) then, I happened to be currently an attorney during the time we married my better half, and I also knew what the law states, in addition to legislation recognises this international wedding as the international wedding had been celebrated based on the neighborhood rules.