Cover Story

Debbie Lee:
“I Love Chatting With
Jordan!”

By: Kua Kee Eng

Photography by: Johny Kok
Make-up & Hair: Amy Ng
Location: bijou, Mont Kiara

Debbie Lee — being a mum is her top priority!

Nothing else can measure up to that —
neither her successful career as a fitness instructor nor entrepreneur!
Parenthood introduces to you the woman
behind Fit For 2 and bijou.

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 T here were chuckles of laughter
when Johny, our photographer was
snapping away pictures at bijou. Well,
the whole crew couldn’t help smiling,
laughing and blowing whistles into the
air when the adorable four-year-old
posed unabashedly for the camera.
Accuse me of exaggerating but Jordan,
the pretty girl who graced our cover
with her mother this month, was so
confident and poised, she could strike
attractive poses without being
demonstrated, and very natural too, at
that. Her mother, Debbie, did not mind
a single bit that her daughter was
stealing her limelight. And she obviously
enjoyed watching her daughter in the
middle of everyone’s attention.
Why Debbie on Cover?
When my editor, Teresa, said that we’re
having Debbie Lee on Parenthood’s
March cover, the first question I popped
to her was “Is she someone famous?”
“Famous is not the factor,” came the
reply. “She is a successful entrepreneur
who owns a fitness studio and a
restaurant. She has the looks of a
healthy radiant mum. She is a Datin
who prefers not to use her title. She’s
humble, she’s fit, she’s every inch what
a moder n mum should look like,”
Teresa tattered off.
Well, enough reasons to be on the cover.
And the first time I met her in person,
my impression of her was a woman full
of energy. Debbie is cheerful, practical
and most obviously a loving mother. A
fitness instructor by profession, Debbra,
affectionately known as Debbie, owns
Fit For 2, a fitness studio in Bangsar,
and co-owns bijou, a newly opened
restaurant in Mont Kiara with her
husband and her father-in-law.
However, it doesn’t matter how
successful her career is, nothing can
supersede her only child, Jordan.
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“Priorities have not changed since
Jordan was born. She is my number one
Now, let’s take a closer look on how
Debbie’s life revolves around her
priority, then work, and then comes my daughter, Jordan. “My daily routine
husband and finally, there is me,” was starts with my daughter waking me up
her remark when asked about her list and then getting showered before
of priorities. sitting down for breakfast. I then drop
my daughter at school before heading
Life Revolves Around to Fit For 2 for a meeting at 9 a.m. with
Jordan the manager there and followed by
There isn’t a word that could describe teaching two classes to pregnant mums
her passion for being a mum; Debbie and new mummies. I then pick up my
likes to be a mum more than anything daughter from school and head home
else. When she was asked what’s the for lunch with her,” said Debbie, “and
best thing about motherhood,
“Everything!” was her absolute answer.
Motherhood has definitely changed her
life. “Nothing prepares you for
motherhood! There is the immense
feeling of love for your child. Also, it is
amazing how protective you become of
not just your child, but your family unit,
” said Debbie, “it becomes ver y
apparent just how important family
bonds are and how unimpor tant
everything else is in comparison.”
Debbie also admitted that she’s a
perfectionist, a control freak, having to
think back of the time she first became
a mother. “When I was first a mother, I
was completely out of my comfort zone
and I didn’t like not being in control. I
wish I had known then that I ought to
relax and just let things take their
course,” she said. Indeed, she would
have had a much easier time adjusting
herself to being a mother, only if she
realise it then. Still, I think Debbie has
yet to rid herself of the perfectionism
in her motherhood (of course there’s
nothing wrong being a perfectionist,
except a bit stressful though) — when
I asked her to rate herself as a mum
from 1 to 10, guess what’s her answer?
“A definite 10” was what she was
looking for, if ever this question was
addressed to her daughter, Jordan. See
what I meant!
057

then we follow whatever schedule she
has for the day, such as play dates,
mandarin lessons or just reading and
doing arts and crafts. Then we organise
dinner and sit down for dinner before
she is showered and then we read a
book together before I put her to bed. It
is after she’s in bed that I head either
to the gym or the tennis court.” Her
busy routine does not stop there, after
the gym; she will head towards bijou
to ensure things are running smoothly
there. Isn’t it obvious? Looking at
Debbie’s tight-schedule, Jordan always
comes first before any other thing.
Active, outgoing and confident are the
three words that I would use to
describe the charming Jordan. During
the photo-shooting session, she
managed to bring forth so many
professional poses, without any
hesitation or shyness — well, it’s not
too much if I said she actually
enjoyed posing like a supermodel,
and she did, just check out the
photos! It’s true that you can see a
child’s happiness through her eyes and
her behaviour. The way she clings on
her mum, the broad-smile of hers, the
way she carries herself with confidence
— all these are the evidence of Debbie’s
hard work for ensuring a proper
upbringing of Jordan,
into a fine lady one
day.
Dreams Come True …
“I never thought I would be doing what
I am doing now, but I’m so lucky to be
doing what I love …” said Debbie. She
first started out as a fitness instructor
who had been accepting freelance jobs
from various fitness studios. Lucky
enough for her that she has had a very
supportive father-in-law, to the extent
of providing her with a loan to start-up
her own fitness centre, Fit For 2. To
show her gratitude towards his
generosity, she has made sure that the
businesses of her centre a successful
one, and keep growing, so that she
could repay her father-in-law with the
profits she’s making. Debbie now
focuses in pre-natal and post-natal
exercises (of course, she’s teaching in
her own fitness centre).

Spending time with Jordan, is the

utmost impor tant thing and the
happiest moment for Debbie. She
believes that children see things
differently — simple and outright —
perhaps it’s because innocence and
sincerity always exist in a child’s heart.
“I love chatting with Jordan, we have
a great time just hanging out and
chatting. We chat about everything and
it is so much fun and extremely
enlightening to see the world through
Jordan’s eyes. Kids see things as they
really are and say how they really feel,
” she said. Well, I couldn’t help, but to
agree with her on this one. I believe that
most of you, will see how direct and
outspoken your children actually are,
whenever they are giving their
opinions, and just about anything.

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 “Priorities have not changed
Not only that, currently, she is one of
since Jordan was born.
the owners of a new restaurant in Mont She is my number one priority...”
Kiara, namely bijou, apart from the
other two owners — her husband and
her father-in-law. She oversees the
daily business in bijou. (Oh, please
allow me to slot in some information
about bijou, as I feel guilty not to share,
since I personally tasted and knew how
delicious they are!) Most of the food
there, be it specialties or not, are made
up of natural source of ingredients; the
grains used for baking the bread, the
fresh fish fillet, the salad and dressings,
and so on. Debbie said that she dislikes
processed foods and anything with
preservatives. Thus, she came up with
these ideas of turning all the dishes in
the menu into healthy meals that are
made up of natural ingredients. Junk
food is out of the menu when it comes
to Jordan’s meals time. Everything that
she eats is home-cooked (or from bijou),
well balanced meals made of
ingredients from natural sources. (Sorry
for the little detour, do check out the
bijou’s review in Parenthood’s Febru-
ary issue!).

Lucky as it might seem to you, but the

truth is, Debbie had put a lot of effort
into running the fitness centre as well
as the restaurant. True, she has had a
very supportive husband and father-in-
law, yet, without Debbie’s perseverance

and wits, the businesses would

No kidding —
Jordan certainly poses
like a supermodel!
never have turned out as flourishing
as they are today. “I have one goal
in life and that is to be happy and to
live each day as if it was my last.
Dream of whatever it is that you
want, but also MAKE those dreams
a reality. Always be open to new
ideas and suggestions too — you
never know where it may take you,”
said Debbie, “as long as I am happy
and enjoying every minute of the
journey, then my goal has been
a c h i e v e d . L I V E , E N J O Y,
APPRECIATE, BE HAPPY!” PH

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