[3] Lee was born in Ipoh, Perak and completed his GCE Advanced Level at England's Hitchin College in 1978.

Lee was successful in his candidacy for the parliamentary seat of Kampar in the 12th Malaysian general election and was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under the cabinet of Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak, in April 2009.

[6] After failing to retain the Kampar parliamentary seat in the 13th Malaysian general election held in 2013, Lee was nominated as one of two senators from Perak in 2014.

[10] He would serve in this capacity until May 2018 when the National Front (BN), together with its component parties including the MCA, was sensationally defeated in the 14th Malaysian general election.

Lee failed to regain the Kampar parliamentary seat whilst suffering a decreased share of votes.