- Born
- Died
- Birth nameSu-Moi Yang
- Elizabeth Choy was born on November 29, 1910 in Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia. She died on September 14, 2006 in Singapore.
- After the fall of Singapore to Japan in 1942, she and her husband ran a hospital canteen, obtaining food, medicine and money for European internees. In 1943, the couple were arrested by the Japanese. For 193 days, they were locked up in a small cell, where they were tortured and interrogated. They refused to admit to any pro-British sympathies, and never revealed the names of those whom they had assisted.
- A nude photograph of her was on display as part of her exceptional life as a war heroine during the World War II at the National Museum in Singapore. The photo was taken in 1949 when she was 39 and was working in London as a nude model in an art school. On the photo, she said, "There is nothing to be ashamed of. The body is a work of nature and God's art. The room I was in was like a temple and the students treated me with such reverence. I felt like a goddess.".
- She was very interested in arts and had enrolled in an art appreciation course in London.
- She was the first principal of Singapore's School for the Blind. She had a brief appearance in Be with Me (2005) as one of her former students, Theresa Chan, is the subject of the documentary segments of the film.
- If not for war, they would be just like me. They would be at home with their family, doing just ordinary things and peaceful work. Let us pray that there will be no more war.
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