Lau was born to a poor family and his mother died when he was three years old. He was schooled at
St Michael's College, Adelaide and studied accountancy at the South Australia Institute of Technology (now the
University of South Australia). In Australia he met his wife, Kapitan Dato' Janet Lau Ung Hie. He had three children with his wife; Alvin Lau Lee Ren (eldest son), Tammy Lau Lee Teng (daughter) and Pierre Lau Lee Wui (son). His political career began in 1983 when he joined SUPP. He first contested a Parliamentary election in the
1990 Malaysian general election, winning the seat of Sibu against a
Democratic Action Party candidate by a majority of 2,008 votes. He defended the seat in four further elections. ==Death==