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Christina Balsara (née Lee; 1923 – 2009) was a Singaporean businesswoman.

Background

Early life

Her father was Lee Chong Miow, the head of Lee and Fletcher Co, Singapore Photo Co. There are some differing versions of her early life. One is that she came from a humble background, later entered a beauty competition and was noticed by her future husband Loke Wan Tho. Hers was that her grandfather was a judge and her father wasn't happy with his childhood and left to become a photographer who went to Borneo, traveled with Verner Brook and then ended up settling in Singapore which was where she was born.

Professional and public

In 1957 she made a presentation at the Odeon Theatre in Singapore to the winners of a rock'n'roll competition that was in conjunction with the screening of the film Love Me Tender. The winners of the competition were presented with the Elvis Presley cup and the Platters cup. The competition was to aid a children's fund.

In February 1962 she petitioned for divorce from her husband Loke Wan Tho on the grounds of cruelty. He also had do the same. Hers was a counter petition.

In 1962, Lee and American actor Jeffrey Stone co-founded the company Perfumes of the Orient, with production factories were based in Jurong and Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

In 1965 she appeared in Vogue magazine as one of Singapore's most beautiful women. Also in the same year she married Jeffrey Stone.

In 1966, she became involved in her husband Jeffrey Stone's ill-fated film project, Strange Portrait, which was never released. She had a role in the film playing a ballet dancer. In 1967, she opened Sarong Island which was a tourist isle on a 5-acre island that she owned. Jeffrey Stone said the name sarong was chosen as it was an easy word for Westerners to remember.

In 1971, the Sarong Island, along with a plot of land on Sentosa that was also owned by Lee was acquired by Singapore Government. By 1972 she was divorced from Stone.

Later she married Parsi businessman Dr. Dadi Balsara, the founder and owner of Mount Everest Mineral Water Limited. Dadi helped rebrand her perfume business to Perfumes of Singapore Pte Ltd. As a businesswoman she was chair of Perfumes of Singapore.

In 1977 she and her husband launched the Singapore Girl perfume which did well at department stores and hotels. It was popular with tourists and was sold on the planes of Singapore Airlines. It received the Singapore Manufacturers Association's top prize for its design and packing in 1977.

After the Himalayan natural mineral water brand was sold to the TATA group in 2007, the couple lived at the Taj Mansingh.

In 2008, Perfumes of Singapore closed down after Dadi Balsara secured support from the Indian government to undertake large scale projects in India.

Christina died in 2009, while Dadi Balsara died in 2016.

References

1. "Aim to put Singapore on the world's perfume making map". Straits Times. 23 September 1977. p. 36 – via NewspaperSG.
2. "Perfumes of Singapore". Roots.gov.sg. Singapore: National Heritage Board. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
3. ^ Adventure-9 Sarong Island [Pulau Selugu] Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
4. Malcolm MacDonald: Bringing an End to Empire By Clyde Sanger Page 318 Asia
5. The Straits Times, 1 March 1957 Page 5 Coups Presented
6. The Straits Times, 14 February 1962 Page 1 Loke divorce case opens
7. Jeffrey Hunter: The Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances by Paul Green Strange POrtrait-Dimension 5 Page 118
8. National Archives of Singapore Media - Image No: PCD0295 - 0011
9. Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012 By Harris M. Lentz III Page 276 Obituaries 2012
10. Paul Green (22 April 2014), Jeffrey Hunter: The Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances, McFarland, p. 118, ISBN 978-1-4766-1441-0
11. The Straits Times, 16 September 1967 Page 7 Christina's isle of joy to be opened on Thursday by R. CHandran
12. "From Sarong Island With Love: Singapore's Original Tourist Isle". biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
13. Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012 By By Harris M. Lentz III Page 276 Obituaries 2012
14. Malcolm MacDonald: Bringing an End to Empire By Clyde Sanger Page 468 Notes to pages 315-24
15. National Archives of Singapore Media - Image No: PCD0315 - 0087
16. The Straits Times Aug 20, 2014 Fun facts about made-in-Singapore products By Melody Zaccheus
17. "Delhi: Businessman living in five-star hotel for 37 years, paying Rs 15,000 per day, dies". Retrieved 6 January 2016.

• Socialites
• Singaporean socialites
• Singaporean photographers
• Singaporean women photographers
• Singaporean people of Chinese descent
• 1923 births
• 2009 deaths
• 20th-century Singaporean businesspeople
• 21st-century Singaporean businesspeople
• 20th-century Singaporean businesswomen
• 21st-century Singaporean businesswomen