Ede was born in 1923 to Chinese parents. She had four siblings. She and her siblings were later adopted by Englishman
Following the end of the war, her adoptive father persuaded her to enter politics.Singapore Municipal Commission, after Eu, who had been elected to the commission in April.[2]
She soon began campaigining for better health service for
She was re-elected in the 1952 Singapore City Council election.[22] In July 1955, she campaigned for the relaxation of the policy on attap houses to allow the construction of new huts in designated areas, as the existing policy forbade the construction of new attap houses.[23] She retired from politics in 1956.[24]
After retiring from politics, Ede devoted her time to helping her adoptive father run the Mandai Orchid Garden, which was built on 5 acres of land he had bought in 1951. Her husband retired in 1962 to focus on the business. The couple wrote several books in the 1980s, such as Living With Orchids and Living With Plants. However, following her husband's death in 2003, she decided to sell the business as she was no longer able to run the business by herself.[1]
Ede was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1950. Due to this, she flew to Australia on 28 August to seek medical treatment.[25] She returned to Singapore on 29 November.[26] She married John Ede, then director of the Cathay Organisation as well as the secretary of the Singapore Progressive Party, on 30 October 1953.[27][28] After the wedding, they went on a two month long honeymoon.[29] Together, they had one daughter, Anita. Ede was a close friend of conservationist and photogtapher Lady Yuen Peng McNeice.[1] She opposed sexism,[30] and believed that there were many cases where women could "do better than men".[31]
Ede suffered a stroke in October 2007 and died on 8 November. Her wake was held at 2 Swettenham Road, and her funeral was held at the Saint George's Church on 10 November, after which she was cremated at the Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium.[1] The orchid hybrids Aerides Amy Ede, which was first hybridised by her friend, amateur horticulturist Gracia Lewis,[32] Papilionanthe Amy, which was hybridised by her adoptive father,[33] and the Dendrobium Amy Ede are named in honour of her.[1]