Li Lienfung

Li was born in Shanghai in 1923.[1] Her father, Li Kuo Ching, left to work in the United States, leaving Li's mother to raise her in China.[2] He eventually abandoned his family when Li's mother would not move to the U.S.[1] When China was invaded by Japan in 1937, she moved to Hunan, and then to Hong Kong.[1]

She went to Mills College in 1940, where graduated with a degree in chemistry.[1] After she graduated at Mills, she worked for a short time in an aluminum smelting plant in New Jersey as a lab assistant.[3] She started studying organic chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), but transferred to Cornell University where she earned her master's degree in literature in 1946.[3] At Cornell, her master's these was on Chinese folk literature.[4]

In July 1946, she married Ho Rih Hwa, who was also a student at Cornell.[1] She and her father also reconciled at this time.[1] Her father sent her to Bangkok in 1948, where she became the chief chemist analyzing tungsten ores that her father exported, trading with the Wah Chang Group company.[3][1] Her family then moved to Yangon in 1949.[1] Later, Li helped her father set up tapioca factories and other food-related ventures.[3]

Li's daughter, Ho Minfong, was born in Yangon in 1951.[5] Minfong would go on to become a noted writer.[5] Her son, Ho Kwon Ping, was born in Hong Kong in 1952 and later became a businessman.[6] Li has another son, Kwon Cjan, who is also involved in business.[3] In 1952, Li returned to work for the company, and was eventually made the vice-chair of Wah Chang.[1]

Li's husband became Singapore's ambassador to Thailand in 1967.[3] After Thailand, he was made the ambassador to several European countries and entities, meaning that Li lived in Europe until the early 1970s, when they moved to Singapore.[3]

Li died on 3 August 2011 after going into a coma following a massive brain haemorrhage.[7] She died in the National University Hospital.[1] Li was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.[2]

The Sword Has Two Edges had its origins in research she started in 1956 on the story of San Guo Shi Yan Yi.[4] Li wrote the manuscript quickly and when she was asked to rewrite it as a comedy, she put it away, only to revisit the story in 1971.[4] A member of the Experimental Theatre Group, D. Murugan, decided to produce the play in 1977.[8][4] Her next play, Trials and Turbulence of the Twilight Years won a first place award in its category from the Ministry of Culture in 1978.[1] In 1981, her play, The Late Storm was produced.[9]

Li wrote a popular column in English and Chinese, called "Bamboo Green" which ran between 1979 and 1984 in The Straits Times.[10] In 1986, a compilation of her columns, A Joss Stick for My Mother was released.[2] Li revived the column in 1993, and continued to write it until 1998.[10][7] The column educated Singaporeans on Chinese history, literature, life and culture.[10] Li then started writing a Chinese column for the Lianhe Zaobao between 1998 and 2009.[7]

Li published the Chinese version of her memoir, A Daughter Remembers, in 2010, with the English translation coming out after her death.[2]