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Ouyang Huanyan, 94, from Shunde, Guangdong province, recalls her more than 40 years of life working as a domestic helper for Singapore's most prominent family - the Lee family - that has given birth to two of the country's prime ministers. Picture taken on May 10, 2011. Zou Zhongpin / China Daily
As a nanny and domestic helper for five decades, Ouyang Huanyan has cleaned up after some pretty big hitters.
Lying in a wooden chair and watching a soap opera in her South China village is a far cry from her days in Singapore taking care of the prime minister's children.
"The work was not too hard and we were like part of the same family," she said, displaying photos taken with the family of former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore.
Then an 18-year-old girl, Ouyang left her home in Xixi village in Guangdong province and boarded a boat in 1934 to follow her aunts and sisters overseas.
She started working for the Lee family, where she would remain for 40 years, helping with the children and cleaning around the home.
As prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew would oversee the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965 and become its first leader.
In the meantime, Ouyang was overseeing his children, especially his daughter, Lee Wei Ling.
She also remembers watching his son, Lee Hsien Loong, grow from a baby to a young man heading off to pursue studies overseas.
He has followed his father's footsteps and is now Singapore's prime minister.
Enjoying her independent life in Singapore, Ouyang became a zishunu in her 40s.
She returned to the mainland with her elder sister in 1986 and decided to stay to take care of her sister after she fell ill, despite repeated invitations from the Lee family to go back.
Zheng Erqi contributed to this story.
Source:China Daily
As a nanny and domestic helper for five decades, Ouyang Huanyan has cleaned up after some pretty big hitters.
Lying in a wooden chair and watching a soap opera in her South China village is a far cry from her days in Singapore taking care of the prime minister's children.
"The work was not too hard and we were like part of the same family," she said, displaying photos taken with the family of former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore.
Then an 18-year-old girl, Ouyang left her home in Xixi village in Guangdong province and boarded a boat in 1934 to follow her aunts and sisters overseas.
She started working for the Lee family, where she would remain for 40 years, helping with the children and cleaning around the home.
As prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew would oversee the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965 and become its first leader.
In the meantime, Ouyang was overseeing his children, especially his daughter, Lee Wei Ling.
She also remembers watching his son, Lee Hsien Loong, grow from a baby to a young man heading off to pursue studies overseas.
He has followed his father's footsteps and is now Singapore's prime minister.
Enjoying her independent life in Singapore, Ouyang became a zishunu in her 40s.
She returned to the mainland with her elder sister in 1986 and decided to stay to take care of her sister after she fell ill, despite repeated invitations from the Lee family to go back.
Zheng Erqi contributed to this story.
Source:China Daily
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