Myrtle Houng On Yee

Myrtle Houng On Yee (born Fong Kim Lan, 鄺金蘭) (29 June 1914 - 24 November 1997) was a Chinese-Australian businesswoman and soft drink manufacturer from the Northern Territory.

She was a leader within the Darwin Chinese community and a matriarch of her family.

In 1928, at the age of 15, it was reported with admiration in the Northern Territory Times that she had driven the dangerous roads between Katherine and Pine Creek, , to assist her mother who needed medical attention. They called these roads "the worst in Australia" and that although the journey took 14 hours she was able to make it without trouble and that the car was "without a scratch".

On 12 May 1930, at the age of 16, Yee married Charlie Houng On Yee (餘洪安) in a marriage that had been arranged for them. Charlie was also an Australian-born child of Chinese migrants. Their marriage, at the Kuo Ming Tang buildings in Darwin, was conducted by the Darwin branch of the Kuomintang. After their wedding they honeymooned in China, which included visiting Charlies mother in Taishan, for a year.

Between 1930 and 1940 Yee and Charlie had four sons, Ronald, Raymond, Ken and Maurice. Their first child Ronald was delivered by local midwife Jane Elizabeth Tye and Raymond by Selina Hassan but for her youngest children she delivered by herself and returned to work within an hour; going to a doctor was not considered and she believed that 'the show must go on'.

Yee died on 24 November 1997 in Darwin having survived her husband by one year.

Oral history Yee, alongside her husband, recorded an oral history with Library & Archives NT in 1981.