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 and graduated with a degree in chemistry.^[1] She worked for a short time in an aluminum smelting plant in New Jersey as a lab assistant.^[3] She studied 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 thesis 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]