[2] He went to Cheklang University to read history, but his studies were interrupted by the Civil War.
He was an avid connoisseur of cigar and pipe smoking, and eventually succumbed to lung cancer.
He often visited Kew Gardens in England, where the initial rubber seeds collected by Henry Wickham from Brazil were germinated before export to British Malaya, Singapore and Ceylon.
Lee Boon Chim was involved in all aspects of the industry, including trading, research and development, marketing and management.
[9][10] He has also received an Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Malaya (1971) and the 1992 Gold Medal from the Malaysian Institute of Chemistry (IKM).