Hidden deep within Challenge, a publication for the Singapore Public Service, is a rare interview with Yeong Yoon Ying, the last Press Secretary to the late Lee Kuan Yew, dated March 2.

A Press Secretary (Press Sec) is the top communications person for a minister.

The Press Sec manages the Minister's communications with the media and sometimes act as his/her spokesperson. An example of how a Press Sec acts as a Minister's spokesperson was Press Sec to PM Lee's rebuttal to blogger Roy Ngerng's sketchy recollections of a closed-door high court hearing last year.

Media interviews with Ministers are usually conducted in the presence of him or her. In turn, the Press Sec helps to shape the public's perception of the minister he or she assists.

Below is a photo of Yeong from author and journalist Tom Plate in his interview with Lee:

And this was how Plate described Yeong:

"I peered over at his press secretary, Yeong Yoon Ying. This was a Chinese woman of the most remarkable intensity and command." The Fine Art of the Political Interview (2015), p66

While most of the interview touches on many well-trodden narratives about the late founding Prime Minister, Mdm YY, as she is now known, does reveal some fascinating aspects of working with the late Lee that not many would know about.

We share a few of the more interesting ones:

1. Lee was a champion for women

Yeong was a high flyer who had embarked on a post-graduate business administration course part-time, alongside two sons to take care of, when she was asked to interview for the position to replace James Fu (the father of Minister Grace Fu), who was retiring.

Despite his usual no-nonsense attitude, Lee, in the meeting he had with Yeong for her appointment as his press secretary, was concerned about whether the travel requirements of the job might affect her family.

"He respected mothers. He knew we have a duty."

2. He was perceptive to shifts in body language

It seems few things avoid the gaze of the late PM, who, as Yeong relates, once picked up negative vibes from her during a TV interview.

Sensing that Yeong was uncomfortable, he asked her what the matter was during a pause in the recording.

She explained the problem she had lay with an example he raised to illustrate a point, and after some thought, he re-recorded his answer to ensure it wasn't misinterpreted.

3. Getting to the point

Brevity was the name of the game for Lee, who was known for frequently asking "So?", and "So what does this mean for Singapore?".

Yeong relates a similar story — in the first months of her tenure, she was submitting three-page recommendations on each interview request submitted to her for the highly-sought-after Lee:

“After a couple of months, the late Mr Lee told me, ‘YY, just give me three paragraphs.’ Do you know that three paragraphs is harder than three pages?”

The man certainly did not appreciate beating around the bush.

4. Lee's nonverbal communication was a language she had to learn

Yeong related that during some of the initial meetings Lee had with foreign dignitaries that she sat in on, and which photographers were allowed into, he would keep flashing her pointed looks that she couldn't understand.

It was eventually Lee’s security officer who explained his nonverbal communication — he meant it was time for the photographers who were allowed in to leave the room.*

How he appraised her six months in:

“Mr Lee didn’t say anything, I didn’t say anything, so we carried on for 21 years plus.”

*A similar encounter with Lee and photographers was experienced by a Mothership.sg editor.

5. He really loved his job

It's no secret that the late Lee was a fanatic about staying fit and exercising as often as he could find opportunities to do so, but Yeong says he always told her to

“love your job, so that the moment you wake up, you can expect a whole day of things you love to do.”

It also well-known that Lee loved his wife dearly, and Yeong saw the way he pampered her after after she suffered her first stroke.

Working with dedication till the very end, Yeong was a pallbearer at Lee's funeral.

And did you know that Yeong was involved in designing the brochure for Lee's funeral service?