He was the fourth president of Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a major component party of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) from 1975 to 1983.

[3] He completed his A-Level in 1955, and although he had intended to continue his education abroad, family financial constraint forced him to abandon the plan.

[4] He held a minor position in the government's Social Welfare Department, then worked as a clerk in a textile factory.

[7] In 1968, as MCA Youth leader, he was involved in the creation of the Koperatif Serbaguna Malaysia Bhd (KSM), a business organization based on the cooperative principle.

[8] On 8 April 1974, just before the 1974 general election, he was made Acting President of MCA after Tun Tan Siew Sin resigned on the grounds of ill health.

These were the building of Wisma MCA, the headquarters of the party; the setting up of a building fund for Tunku Abdul Rahman College to expand opportunity for tertiary education for the Chinese population; the founding of Multi-Purpose Holdings Berhad, an investment holding company; the establishment of Malaysian Chinese Cultural Society; and a drive to increase MCA membership.

[1] Education was a contentious issue in the 1978 general election, and MCA saw a small loss of support, winning 17 of the 28 parliamentary seats contested, which was down 2 from 1974.

However, on 24 March 1983, at the height of his career, Lee unexpectedly resigned his cabinet post of Minister of Transport for unspecified reasons and relinquished his position as President of MCA a day later.

[14] He never gave an explanation for his resignation, apart from stating in an interview with the Chinese edition of Asiaweek in 2000 that he was "stabbed in the back" by UMNO leaders in the 1982 election.