Christina Balsara
Born
Christina Lee
OccupationBusiness woman
Spouse(s)Dato Loke Wan Tho
(m. 19??; div. 1962)
​
​
(m. 1965; div. 1972)​

Dadi Balsara
(m. 19??; died 2016)

Christina Stone was a business woman, and was married to Loke Wan Tho, a Singaporean business magnate and later to Jeffrey Stone a film director. Her final marriage was to the Parsi businessman, Dadi Balsara.

Background

Personal

Her father was Lee Chong Miow, the head of Lee and Fletcher Co, Singapore Photo Co.[1] There are some differing versions of her early life. One is that she came from a humble background, later entered a beauty competition and was noticed by her future husband Loke Wan Tho. Hers was that her grandfather was a judge and her father wasn't happy with his childhood and left to become a photographer who went to Borneo, traveled with Verner Brook and then ended up settling in Singapore which was where she was born.[2]

In 1962 she petitioned for divorce from her husband Loke Wan Tho on the grounds of cruelty. He also had do the same. Hers was a counter petition.[3][4] In 1965 she married actor Jeffrey Stone.[5] By 1972 she was divorced from Stone.[6][1]

Later she married Dr. Dadi Balsara the head of Perfumes Singapore and later the founder and owner of the Himalayan natural mineral water brand. After the Himalayan natural mineral water brand was sold to the TATA group, he lived with Christina at Taj Man Singh Hotel for 37 years, until his death in January 2016.[7]

Professional and public

In 1957 she made a presentation at the Odeon Theatre in Singapore to the winners of a rock'n'roll competition that was in conjunction with the screening of the film Love Me Tender. The Winners of the competition were presented with the Elvis Presley cup and the Platters cup. The competition was to aid a children's fund.[8] In 1965 she appeared in the Vogue Magazine as one of Singapores most beautiful woman.[9] In 1966, she became involved in her husband's project, the ill-fated film Strange Portrait. She had a role in the film playing a ballet dancer.[10] In 1967, she opened Sarong Island which was a tourist isle on a 5-acre island that she owned. Jeffrey Stone said that sarong was an easy word for westerners to remember so that's why they chose the name.[11]

Later she married Dr. Dadi Balsara who at the time was the head of Perfumes Singapore.[12] As a business woman she was chairman of Perfumes Singapore.[13] in 1977 she and her husband launched the Singapore Girl perfume which did well at department stores and hotels. It was popular with tourists and was sold and on the planes of Singapore Airlines. It got the Singapore Manufacturers Association's top prize for its design and packing in 1977. The same year Perfumes of Singapore closed down.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 Adventure-9 Sarong Island [Pulau Selugu] Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Malcolm MacDonald: Bringing an End to Empire By Clyde Sanger Page 318 Asia
  3. ↑ The Straits Times, 14 February 1962 Page 1 Loke divorce case opens
  4. ↑ Jeffrey Hunter: The Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances by Paul Green Strange POrtrait-Dimension 5 Page 118
  5. ↑ Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012 By Harris M. Lentz III Page 276 Obituaries 2012
  6. ↑ Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2012 By By Harris M. Lentz III Page 276 Obituaries 2012
  7. ↑ "Delhi: Businessman living in five-star hotel for 37 years, paying Rs 15,000 per day, dies". Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  8. ↑ The Straits Times, 1 March 1957 Page 5 Coups Presented
  9. ↑ National Archives of Singapore Media - Image No: PCD0295 - 0011
  10. ↑ Paul Green (22 April 2014), Jeffrey Hunter: The Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances, McFarland, p. 118, ISBN 978-1-4766-1441-0
  11. ↑ The Straits Times, 16 September 1967 Page 7 Christina's isle of joy to be opened on Thursday by R. CHandran
  12. ↑ Malcolm MacDonald: Bringing an End to Empire By Clyde Sanger Page 468 Notes to pages 315-24
  13. ↑ National Archives of Singapore Media - Image No: PCD0315 - 0087
  14. ↑ The Straits Times Aug 20, 2014 Fun facts about made-in-Singapore products By Melody Zaccheus
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