THE STRAITS TIMES WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2012 LADY YUEN;,PENG MCNEICE, 94 Grande dame of Botanic Gardens dies

Lady Yuen-Peng McNeice died at home on Sun~ay. The wife of the late Sir Percy McNeice, Singapore's first president of the City Council, she was renowned in her own right for her work as a conservationist and philanthropist. BT FILE PHOTO

By FENG ZENGKUN She is survived by two children fairs and attended functions on Sun­ Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. and four grandchildren, and left a leg­ days with her husband. Each jar would be capped by paper acy of scholarships, plants and ani­ But her heart was in her volunteer printed with photographs of her two SHE was the grande dame of the Sin­ mals named after her. These include work at centres set up to feed the dogs. gapore Botanic Gardens and a prot eo­ a crab in the French Loyalty Islands poor after the war and at the Family Said Dr Shawn Lum, president of tor of animals and plants long before and an orchid in Papua New Guinea Planning Association of Singapore, the Nature Society: "She took up the such causes became fashionable. - testament to her wide-reaching forerunner of the Singapore Planned cause for the environment and ani­ On Sunday, Lady Yuen-Peng Mc­ work. Parenthood Association. mals long before it was fashionable." Neice died at horne at age 94 and, as Born in to Mr Loke Yew, She described her work with the Her wake at Singapore Casket in she wanted, was next to her garden, the richest Malaysian of his day, and · women who carne to the association Lavender yesterday was marked by a with birdsong in the air. Mrs Loke Cheng Kim, the eldest as "eye-opening", as they were of­ giant orchid display from the Nation- The wife of the late Sir Percy Mc­ daughter of tin mine owners, she ten treated like "breeding machines" al Parks Board. . Neice, Singapore's first president of made her horne here after she mar­ by their husbands. Friends from the Photographic So­ the City Council, and sister of the ried Sir Percy. Later, after Sir Percy retired - he ciety of Singapore, where she was an late Loke Wan Tho, founder of Ca­ . They met in just died in 1998 of a brain haemorrhage, honorary patron, and Mr Mah Bow thay Organisation, she was re­ before World War II through her she would give her voice to those Tan, former minister for the environ­ nowned in her own right for her mother, who was involved in commu­ with even less autonomy: plants and ment' paid their respects. work as a conservationist and philan­ nity work. animals. Lady McNeice's daughter She­ thropist. He was the Secretary of Chinese Environmentalists said Lady Mc­ lagh, 59, a teacher based in Britain, She won a Public Service Medal in Affairs for Malaya and Singapore, Neice was unstinting in her advoca­ said at the wake that her mother's 2005 for her work for the environ­ and fluent in Cantonese. Although cy, even in her private life. one regret in life was not going to ment, including donating an entire he was 16 years her senior, she was "When we went to the hawker university to study botany. collection of plants bought in the smitten. . centre; she would collect the used When she was young, Lady Mc­ United States to the Botanic Gar­ "He had that Irish charm, you chopsticks to recycle as stakes in her Neice would press flowers in books dens. know, that Irish blarney," she said in garden," said Madam Ohn Set, 65, to preserve them. She also donated several sculp­ a 2007 interview with the National who used to work: with Lady Mc­ She remained a cheerleader for flo­ tures to the Botanic Gardens and Archives of Singapore, referring to Neice at the Botanic Gardens. ra and fauna to the end, sponsoring sponsored the publication of 3,000 his gift of the gab. Friends said she wOlild make jams roses for the upcoming Gardens by books commemorating its l50th anni­ They married after the war ended and jellies each year and sell them to the Bay. versary in 2009. and she entertained officials, opened raise funds for the Society for the ~ [email protected]~