Social-Media Romance – It Works At Any Age

Just Married. Joseph Michael Lee and Liew Swee Fong

Liew Swee Fong, 56 is the Principal of SMJK Ave Maria Convent and Joseph Michael Lee is a businessman who is also the Chairman of PTA of SMK St. Michael's Institution.

On Friday 7 December 2018 they registered their marriage at the Registrar of Marriages in the presence of relatives and friends, the oldest couple in the room that morning.

At the Registry of Marriages

Their witnesses Raveendran and Chan Kam Luen

Family, from left.. Richard Lee, Joseph Michael Lee, Liew Swee Fong, Carolyn Tan and Peter Lee Chuen Zhang.

Friends from Ave Maria Convent

The Registrar who attended to them, Zulkifli Abu Hanafiah said the event was one of merriment and was very romantic when compared to other couples that pledge their love before him.

The relationship of Lee and Liew was a social-media romance that started on Facebook. When it got more personal they shifted to Whatsapp, which was more private and eventually led to a proposal in a matter of months, three to be exact.

 ‘From 23 April 2018, the first time we met privately and subsequently by July, I had proposed to her’ said Joseph Michael Lee about the love of his life Liew Swee Fong.

Lee’s first encounter with Liew was when St Michaels Institution was looking for a replacement for their retiring Principal. 

Liew was one the names proposed as she was a former student of SMI and was lady head prefect in the year in the year 1982.

That appointment didn’t materialize and she was subsequently appointed the Headmistress of SMJK Ave Maria Convent.   

“Liew has a Facebook account and regularly posts on it. Her Fb is public and is more like the Ave Maria notice board. She writes well and I was attracted to it and used to comment on her posts” said Michael.

Liew noticed there was this one guy making a lot of comments. “I have 5000 Fb friends but they were mostly ‘likes’ but he was regularly posting comments. 

Then one day he said he was just a friend and something clicked. That was when he started posting to me on Whatsapp and nobody else was included."

In July, 3 months after they clicked Lee proposed to Liew. 

Registrar Zulkifli briefing the couple

Making their pledge to each other ...

Lee slips on a ring and a pendant 

Its official and congratulations are in order

Group photos

“He proposed so fast saying he didn’t want to lose me. We had gone past that romantic stage and we really and truly enjoyed each other’s company”.  

They wanted to get married soon but because she had so many family members who were overseas they decided to hold the formal celebration during the coming Easter celebration in April next year.

Chan Kam Luen, Liew’s best friend and witness to the marriage said both their ages combined totaled over 100 years yet they found a way to blossom their relationship using the tool called social- media.

JAG