'Lee Kuan Yew',
GCMG,
CH (; born
September 16,
1923; also spelled 'Lee Kwan-Yew'), was the Prime Minister of the Republic of
Singapore from
1959 to
1990.
Since stepping down from office he has remained one of the most influential
politicians in Singapore. Under the administration of Singapore's second prime minister,
Goh Chok Tong, he served as
Senior Minister. He currently holds the specially created post of
Minister Mentor under his son
Lee Hsien Loong, who became the nation's third prime minister and second from the same family on
August 12,
2004.
Family background
In his memoirs, Lee mentions that he was a fourth-generation Chinese Singaporean: his
Hakka great-grandfather, Lee Bok Boon (born 1846), emigrated from the Dapu county of
Guangdong province to the
Straits Settlements in
1862.
The eldest child of Lee Chin Koon and Chua Jim Neo, Lee Kuan Yew was born at 92 Kampong Java Road in Singapore, in a large and airy bungalow. As a child Lee was strongly influenced by British culture, due in part to his grandfather, Lee Hoon Leong, who had given his sons an English education. His grandfather gave him the name "Harry" in addition to his Chinese name (given by his father) Kuan Yew. Thus Lee is known informally as "Harry" to his close friends and family and his name is sometimes cited as 'Harry Lee Kuan Yew', although this
first name is never used in official settings.
Lee and his wife
Kwa Geok Choo were married on
September 30,
1950. They have two sons and one daughter.
His elder son Lee Hsien Loong has been Prime Minister of Singapore since 2004.
Several members of Lee's family hold prominent positions in Singaporean society, and his sons and daughter hold high government and government-linked posts. His elder son
Lee Hsien Loong, a former Brigadier-General, has been the Prime Minister since 2004, and Finance Minister of Singapore. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the Government of Singapore Investment Company (GIC) — Lee himself is the Chairman. Lee's younger son,
Lee Hsien Yang, also a former Brigadier-General, was the President and Chief Executive Officer of
SingTel, a pan-Asian telecommunications giant and Singapore's largest company by market capitalisation (listed on the Singapore Exchange, SGX). Fifty-six percent of SingTel is owned by
Temasek Holdings, a prominent government
holding company with controlling stakes in a variety of very large government-linked companies such as Singapore Airlines and DBS Bank. Temasek Holdings in turn is run by Executive Director and CEO
Ho Ching, the wife of Lee's elder son, the Prime Minister. Lee's daughter,
Lee Wei Ling, runs the National Neuroscience Institute, and remains unmarried. Lee's wife
Kwa Geok Choo used to be a partner of the prominent legal firm Lee & Lee. His younger brothers, Dennis, Freddy, and Suan Yew were partners of the same firm. He also has a younger sister, Monica.
Lee has consistently denied charges of
nepotism, arguing that his family members' privileged positions are based on personal merit. However, these charges have persisted and international publications such as ''
The Economist'', ''
International Herald Tribune'' and the ''
Far Eastern Economic Review'' have been threatened, sued or banned in Singapore for implying the existence of nepotism.
Early life
Lee was educated at
Telok Kurau Primary School,
Raffles Institution, and
Raffles College. His university education was delayed by
World War II and the
1942–
45 Japanese occupation of Singapore. During the occupation, he operated a successful
black market business selling
tapioca-based glue called ''Stikfas''.
[1] Having taken
Chinese and
Japanese lessons since 1942, he was able to
collaborate as a transcriber of
Allied wire reports for the Japanese, as well as being the English-language editor on the Japanese ''Hodobu'' (å ±é“部 — an information or propaganda department) from
1943 to
1944.
[2][Lee, Time Magazine Asia 1999.]
After the war, he studied law at
Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge in the
United Kingdom, of which he was subsequently made an honorary fellow, (graduating with
Double Starred First Class honours), and briefly attended the
London School of Economics. He returned to Singapore in
1949 to work as a
lawyer in Laycock and Ong, the legal practice of
John Laycock, a pioneer of
multiracialism who, together with A.P. Rajah and C.C. Tan, had founded Singapore's first multiracial club open to Asians.
Early political career – 1951 to 1959
Pre People's Action Party
Lee’s first experience with politics in Singapore was his role as election agent for his boss
John Laycock under the banner of the pro-British
Progressive Party in the 1951 legislative council elections. However, Lee eventually realised the party’s future looked bleak as it was unlikely to have mass support, especially from the Chinese-speaking
working class masses. This was especially important when the
1953 Rendel commission significantly expanded the electoral rolls to include all local-born as voters, resulting in a significant increase in Chinese voters. His big break came when he was engaged as a legal advisor to the
trade and
Students' unions which provided Lee with the link to the Chinese-speaking, working class world (later on in his career, his party the
PAP would use these historical links to unions as a negotiating tool in
industrial disputes).
Formation of the People's Action Party (PAP)
On
November 21,
1954, Lee, together with a group of fellow English-educated middle-class men whom he himself described as “beer-swilling bourgeoisâ€
formed the socialist
People's Action Party (PAP - 人民行动党) in an expedient alliance with the pro-communist trade unionists. This alliance was described by Lee as a marriage of convenience, since the English-educated group needed the pro-communists’ mass support base while the communists needed a non-communist party leadership as a smoke screen because the
Malayan Communist Party is illegal. Their common aims were to agitate for self-government and put an end to British colonial rule. An inaugural conference was held at the
Victoria Memorial Hall, packed with over 1,500 supporters and trade unionists. Lee became
secretary-general, a post he held until
1992, save for a brief period in
1957.
UMNO’s
Tunku Abdul Rahman and
MCA’s
Tan Cheng Lock were invited as guests to give credibility to the new party.
In opposition
Lee contested and comprehensively won the
Tanjong Pagar seat in the
1955 elections. He became the opposition leader, pitting himself against
David Saul Marshall’s
Labour Front-led coalition government. He was also one of PAP's representatives to the two constitutional discussions held in
London over the future status of Singapore; the first being led by Marshall and the second by
Lim Yew Hock, Marshall's hardline successor. It was in this period when Lee had to contend with rivals from both within and outside of the PAP. While Lee had to keep a safe distance from his pro-communist colleagues as they actively participated in mass and often violent actions to undermine the government’s authority, he also consistently maintained his opposition to the ruling coalition, often attacking the latter as incompetent and corrupt. Lee’s position in the PAP was seriously under threat in 1957 when pro-communists took over the leadership posts, following a party conference which the party's left wing had stacked with fake members.
[3] Fortunately for Lee and the party's moderate faction, Lim Yew Hock ordered a mass arrest of the pro-communists and Lee was reinstated as secretary-general. After the communist 'scare', Lee subsequently sought and received a fresh and stronger mandate from his Tanjong Pagar constituents in a by-election in 1957. The communist threat within the party was temporarily removed as Lee prepared for the next elections. It was during this period when he had the first of a series of secret meetings with the underground communist leader,
Fong Chong Pik (or Fang Chuan Pi) whom Lee referred to as the Plen, short form for
plenipotentiary.
Prime Minister, pre-independence – 1959 to 1965
Self-government administration – 1959 to 1963
In the national elections held on
June 1,
1959, the
PAP won forty-three of the fifty-one seats in the legislative assembly. Singapore gained self-government with autonomy in all state matters except in defence and foreign affairs, and Lee became the first prime minister of the state of Singapore on
June 3,
1959, taking over from Chief Minister
Lim Yew Hock. Before he took office, Lee demanded and secured the release of
Lim Chin Siong and
Devan Nair who were arrested earlier by
Lim Yew Hock's government.
Lee faced many problems after gaining self-rule for Singapore from the British, including education, housing, and
unemployment. In response to the housing problem, Lee established the
Housing and Development Board (HDB), an agency which began a massive public housing construction programme to relieve the housing shortage.
Merger with Malaya, then separation – 1963 to 1965
After Malayan Prime Minister
Tunku Abdul Rahman proposed the formation of a federation which would include Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei in
1961, Lee began to campaign for a merger with
Malaysia to end British colonial rule. He used the results of
a referendum held on
September 1,
1962, in which 70% of the votes were cast in support of his proposal, to demonstrate that the people supported his plan. During
Operation Coldstore, Lee crushed the pro-communist factions who were strongly opposing the merger and who were allegedly involved in subversive activities.
On
September 16,
1963, Singapore became part of the Federation of Malaysia. However, the union was short-lived. The
Malaysian Central Government, ruled by the
United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), became worried by the inclusion of Singapore’s Chinese majority and the political challenge of the PAP in Malaysia. Lee openly opposed the
bumiputra policy and used the
Malaysian Solidarity Convention's famous cry of "
Malaysian Malaysia!", a nation serving the Malaysian nationality, as opposed to the Malay race.
PAP-UMNO relations were seriously strained. Some in UMNO also wanted Lee to be arrested.
Race riots followed, such as that on
Muhammad's birthday (
21 July 1964), near Kallang Gasworks, in which twenty-three were killed and hundreds injured as Chinese and Malays attacked each other. Today, it is still disputed how it started, and theories include a bottle being thrown into a Muslim rally by a Chinese, while others argued that it was started by a Malay. More riots broke out in September
1964, as the rioters looted cars and shops, forcing both
Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lee Kuan Yew to make public appearances in order to soothe the situation. The price of food skyrocketed during this period, due to the disruption in transport, which caused further hardship.
Unable to resolve the crisis, the Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, decided to expel Singapore from Malaysia, choosing to "sever all ties with a State Government that showed no measure of loyalty to its Central Government". Lee was adamant and tried to work out a compromise, but without success. He was later convinced by
Goh Keng Swee that the secession was inevitable. Lee Kuan Yew signed a separation agreement on
August 7,
1965, which discussed Singapore's post-separation relations with Malaysia in order to continue co-operation in areas such as trade and mutual defence.
Prime Minister Lee announces the separation of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia on
9 August 1965.
The failure of the merger was a heavy blow to Lee, who believed that it was crucial for Singapore’s survival. In a televised press conference, he broke down emotionally as he announced the separation to the people (this particular conference is used as evidence by supporters of Lee that he had not intentionally instigated the breakup of Malaysia):
"For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I believed in merger and unity of the two territories. ... Now, I, Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore, do hereby proclaim and declare on behalf on the people and the Government of Singapore that as from today, the ninth day of August in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five, Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of the people in a most and just equal society."
On that day,
August 9,
1965, the Malaysian Parliament passed the required resolution that would sever Singapore's ties to Malaysia as a state, and thus the Republic of Singapore was created. Singapore's lack of natural resources, a water supply that was beholden primarily to Malaysia and a very limited defensive capability were the major challenges that Lee and the Singaporean Government faced.
Prime Minister, post-independence – 1965 to 1990
In his biography, Lee Kuan Yew stated that he did not sleep well, and fell sick days after Singapore's independence. Upon learning of Lee's condition from the British High Commissioner to Singapore, John Robb, British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson expressed concern, in response to which, Lee replied:
"Do not worry about Singapore. My colleagues and I are sane, rational people even in our moments of anguish. We will weigh all possible consequences before we make any move on the political chessboard..."
Lee began to seek international recognition of Singapore's independence. Singapore joined the
United Nations (UN) on
21 September 1965, and founded the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on
8 August 1967 with four other South-East Asian countries. Lee made his first official visit to Indonesia in
May 25,
1973, just a few years after the
Konfrontasi under
Sukarno's regime. Relations between Singapore and Indonesia substantially improved as subsequent visits were made between Singapore and Indonesia.
As Singapore has never had a dominant culture to which immigrants could assimilate, nor a common language, together with efforts from the government and ruling party, Lee tried to create a common Singaporean identity in the
1970s and
1980s.
Lee and his government stressed the importance of maintaining religious tolerance and racial harmony, and they were ready to use the law to counter any threat that might incite ethnic and religious violence. For example, Lee warned against "insensitive evangelisation", by which he referred to instances of Christian
proselytising directed at Malays. In 1974, the government advised the Bible Society of Singapore to stop publishing religious materials in Malay.
[1]
Decisions and policies
Lee had three main concerns – national security, the economy, and social issues – during his post-independence administration.
National security
The vulnerability of Singapore was deeply felt with threats from multiple sources including the communists, Indonesia (with its Confrontation stance), and UMNO extremists who wanted to force Singapore back into Malaysia. As Singapore gained admission to the
United Nations, Lee quickly sought international recognition of Singapore's independence. He declared a policy of
neutrality and
non-alignment, following
Switzerland's model. At the same time, he assigned Goh Keng Swee with the task of building the
Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and requested help from other countries for advice, training and facilities.
With the British announcement of having the intentions to pull out or cut down the troops from Singapore and Malaysia, in
1967, he and Goh introduced National Service, a conscription program that developed a large reserve force that can be mobilized in a short notice. In January 1968, Lee bought some
AMX-13 French-made tanks and a total of 99 refurbished tanks in 1972.
Later, Singapore was able to establish strong military relations with other nations of
ASEAN, the
Five-Powers Defence Agreement (FPDA) and other noncommunist states. This partially restored the security of the country following the withdrawal of British troops in
31 October 1971.
Economic issues
The separation from Malaysia signified a permanent loss of a common market (though it was part of the Merger agreement, it was never set up) and an economic hinterland. The economic woes were further exacerbated by the British withdrawal that would eliminate over 50,000 jobs. Although the British were backing out from their earlier commitment to keep their bases till
1975, Lee decided not to strain the relationship with
London. He convinced
Harold Wilson to allow the substantial military infrastructure (including a dockyard) to be converted for civilian use, instead of destroying them in accordance with British law. With advice from
Dr Albert Winsemius, Lee set Singapore on the path of
industrialization. In
1961, the
Economic Development Board was established to attract foreign investment, offering attractive tax incentives and providing access to the highly skilled, disciplined and relatively low paid work force. At the same time, the government maintained
tight control of the economy, regulating the allocation of land, labour and capital resources. In the balancing of labour and capital, specifically the labour unions and employers of Singapore, a form of tripartite
corporatism was introduced to provide stability and consistent economic growth that arguably ended exploitation and major strike activity simultaneously. Modern infrastructure like the airport, the port, roads, and communications networks were improved or constructed with state intervention. The
Singapore Tourist Promotion Board was set up to promote tourism, which would eventually create many jobs in the service industry and prove to be a major source of income for the country.
In formulating economic policies, Lee was primarily assisted by his ablest ministers, especially
Goh Keng Swee and
Hon Sui Sen. They managed to reduce the unemployment rate from 14 percent in
1965 to 4.5 percent in
1973. Some structural problems, however, have remained in Singapore including the heavy foreign ownership of capital.
Designating official languages
Lee continued the colonial legacy of imposing English as the language of the workplace and the common language among the different races, while recognising Malay, Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua), and Tamil as the other three official languages. All state schools use English as the medium of instruction, although there are also lessons for the so-called mother tongues.
Lee discouraged the usage of non-Mandarin
Chinese dialects (such as Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese) by promoting Mandarin as the 'Mother Tongue' of ethnic Chinese, in view of having a common language of communication within the Chinese community. In 1979, Lee officially launched the first
Speak Mandarin Campaign. Lee also cancelled the broadcasting of all television programmes in non-Mandarin dialects, with the exception of news and operas, for the benefit of the older audience. However, the policy worked at the expense of non-Mandarin Chinese dialects. Since that time, most of the younger Chinese Singaporeans are no longer able to speak non-Mandarin Chinese dialects fluently, thus encountering some difficulty when communicating with their dialect-speaking grandparents.
In the 1970s, graduates of the Chinese-language
Nanyang University were facing huge problems finding jobs because of their lack of command in the English language, which was often required in the workforce, especially the public sector. In response, Lee had Nanyang University absorbed by the English-language
University of Singapore; the combined institution was renamed the
National University of Singapore. This move greatly affected the Chinese-speaking lecturers and professors who would now have to teach in English. It was also opposed by some Chinese groups who had contributed significantly to the building of Nanyang University and therefore had strong emotional attachments to the school.
Government policies
Like many countries, Singapore was not immune to the disease of
corruption. Lee was well aware how corruption had led to the downfall of the
Nationalist Chinese government in mainland
China. Fighting against the communists himself, he knew he had to '
clean house'. Lee introduced legislation that gave the
Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) greater power to conduct arrests, search, call up witnesses, and investigate bank accounts and income tax returns of suspected persons and their family. With Lee’s support, CPIB was given the authority to investigate any officer or minister. Indeed, several ministers were later charged with corruption.
Lee believed that ministers should be well paid in order to maintain a clean and honest government. In
1994, he proposed to link the salaries of ministers, judges, and top civil servants to the salaries of top professionals in the private sector, arguing that this would help recruit and retain talents to serve in the public sector.
In the late
1960s, fearing that Singapore's growing population might overburden the developing economy, Lee started a vigorous 'Stop-at-Two'
family planning campaign. Couples were urged to undergo
sterilisation after their second child. Third or fourth children were given lower priorities in education and such families received less economic
rebates.
In
1983, Lee sparked the 'Great Marriage Debate' when he encouraged Singapore men to choose women with high education as wives. He was concerned that a large number of graduate women were unmarried. Some sections of the population, including graduate women, were upset by his views. Nonetheless, a match-making agency
Social Development Unit (SDU) was set up to promote socialising among men and women graduates. Lee also introduced incentives, such as
tax rebates, schooling, and housing priorities for graduate mothers who had three or four children, in a reversal of the over-successful 'Stop-at-Two' family planning campaign in the
1960s and
1970s. By the late-1990s,
birth rates had become so low that Lee's successor
Goh Chok Tong extended these incentives to all married women, and gave even more incentives, such as the 'baby bonus' scheme.
Relations with Malaysia
Mahathir bin Mohamad
Lee looked forward to improving relationships with
Mahathir bin Mohamad upon the latter's promotion to Deputy Prime Minister. Knowing that Mahathir was in line to become the next Prime Minister of Malaysia, Lee invited Mahathir (through then-President of Singapore
Devan Nair) to visit Singapore in
1978. The first and subsequent visits improved both personal and diplomatic relationships between them. Mahathir told Lee to cut off links with the Chinese leaders of the
Democratic Action Party; in exchange, Mahathir undertook not to interfere in the affairs of the
Malay Singaporeans.
In December 1981, Mahathir changed the time zone of the
Malay Peninsula in order to create just one time zone for Malaysia, and Lee followed suit for economic and social reasons. Relations with Mahathir subsequently improved in 1982.
In January 1984, Mahathir imposed a RM100 levy on all goods vehicles leaving Malaysia and Singapore. However, when
Musa Hitam tried to discourage Mahathir's policy, the levy was doubled to discourage the use of Singapore's port, and a breakdown in relations with Malaysia was evident.
In June 1988, Lee and
Mahathir reached a major agreement in
Kuala Lumpur to build the Linggui dam on the Johor River. Lee approached Mahathir in 1989, when he intended to move the railway
customs from
Tanjong Pagar in Southern Singapore to
Woodlands at the end of the Causeway, in part because of an increasing number of cases of drug smuggling into Singapore. This caused resentment in Malaysia, as some of the land would revert to Singapore when the railway tracks were no longer used. In response, Mahathir designated
Daim Zainuddin, then Minister of Finance of Malaysia, to settle the terms.
After months of negotiation, an agreement was reached involving the joint development of three main parcels of land in Tanjong Pagar, Kranji, and Woodlands. Malaysia had a sixty per cent share, while Singapore had a forty per cent share. The
Points of Agreement (POA) was signed on
27 November 1990, a day before Lee stepped down as Prime Minister.
Senior Minister – 1990 to 2004
After leading the PAP in seven victorious elections, Lee stepped down on
28 November,
1990, handing over the prime minister position to
Goh Chok Tong. He was then the world's longest serving Prime Minister ever.
This leadership transition was meticulously planned and executed. The recruitment and grooming for the second generation leaders took place as early as 1970s. In the 1980s, Goh and the younger leaders started to assume important cabinet positions. Prior to the official transition, all other first generation leaders (the "old guards") were retired, including
Goh Keng Swee,
S. Rajaratnam and
Toh Chin Chye. Being so thoroughly planned, the transition was quite a non-event in Singapore, even though it was the first leadership transition since independence. By stepping down when he was still mentally alert and in good health, Lee set himself apart from other strong contemporary Asian leaders such as
Mao Zedong,
Suharto,
Ferdinand Marcos, and
Ne Win.
As Goh Chok Tong became the head of government, Lee remained in the cabinet with a non-executive position of
Senior Minister and played a role he described as advisory. In public, Lee would refer to Goh as "my Prime Minister", in deference to Goh's authority. Nonetheless, Lee's opinions still carry much weight with the public and in the cabinet. He continues to wield enormous influence in the country and is ready to use it when necessary. As he said in a 1988 National Day rally:
"Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up."
Lee subsequently stepped down as the Secretary-General of the PAP and was succeeded by
Goh Chok Tong in November 1992.
Lee refrained from official dealings with all
ASEAN governments, including
Malaysia, so as not to cross lines with his successor,
Goh Chok Tong. He played a major role, however, with regard to the diplomacy, such as with the agreement of the transfer of public-administration software for the development and management of China's
Suzhou Industrial Park with then Vice-president
Li Lanqing on
February 26,
1994.
Minister Mentor – 2004 to present
On
12 August 2004 Goh Chok Tong stepped down in favour of Lee's eldest son,
Lee Hsien Loong. Goh became the Senior Minister and Lee Kuan Yew assumed a new cabinet position of
Minister Mentor.
Regarding gambling laws, Lee stated that he was "emotionally and intellectually" against gambling. However, he made no opposition to his son's proposal to allow
casinos in the country, stating: "Having a casino is something the new leaders will have to decide".
Recently, Lee has expressed his concern about the declining proficiency of
Mandarin among younger Singaporeans. In one of his parliamentary speeches, he said: "Singaporeans must learn to juggle English and Mandarin". Subsequently, he launched a television programme, ''åŽè¯ Cool!'', in January 2005, in an attempt to attract young viewers to learn Mandarin.
In June 2005, Lee published a book, ''Keeping My Mandarin Alive'', documenting his decades of effort to master Mandarin — a language which he said he had to re-learn due to disuse:
"...because I don't use it so much, therefore it gets disused and there's language loss. Then I have to revive it. It's a terrible problem because learning it in adult life, it hasn't got the same roots in your memory."
In an interview with
CCTV on
June 12,
2005, Lee stressed the need to have a continuous renewal of talent in the country's leadership, saying:
"In a different world we need to find a niche for ourselves, little corners where in spite of our small size we can perform a role which will be useful to the world. To do that, you will need people at the top, decision-makers who have got foresight, good minds, who are open to ideas, who can seize opportunities like we did... My job really was to find my successors. I found them, they are there; their job is to find their successors. So there must be this continuous renewal of talented, dedicated, honest, able people who will do things not for themselves but for their people and for their country. If they can do that, they will carry on for another one generation and so it goes on. The moment that breaks, it's gone.";
A dialogue on 12 April, 2006, with a group of young Singaporeans on their questions and issues on the upcoming election, "Why My Vote Matters", can be found here.
[2]
Singapore General Elections 2006
Main articles: James Gomez
Lee's
Tanjong Pagar GRC was not contested by opposition parties. He was noted to be amongst the several PAP leaders to criticise James Gomez over a controversy surrounding Gomez's application for a minority certificate from the Elections Department. Gomez had wrongly claimed that he submitted the application, but admitted his mistake a few days later, but only after he was confronted with video evidence contradicting his claim. Lee branded Gomez a liar and challenged Gomez to sue for libel to clear his name. The controversy became a major issue during the election.
Legacy and memoirs
Legacy
During the three decades in which Lee held office, Singapore grew from being a
developing country to one of the most
developed nations in Asia, despite its small population, limited land space and lack of
natural resources. Lee has often stated that Singapore's only natural resources are its people and their strong work ethic. He is widely respected by many Singaporeans, particularly the older generation, who remember his inspiring leadership during independence and the separation from Malaysia. He has often been credited with being the architect of Singapore's present prosperity, although the role was also played by his Deputy Prime Minister, Dr
Goh Keng Swee, who was in charge of the economy.
Controversies
On the other hand, some Singaporeans and foreigners[
[3]] have criticized Lee as
elitist and even an
autocrat, and that the economic prosperity under Lee was achieved at the expense of much political and social freedom. Lee was once quoted as saying he preferred to be feared than loved[
[4]]. A strong believer that the ends justify the means, Lee often prescribed certain repressive measures to safeguard national security and interests.
Lee has been criticized for implementing some harsh measures to suppress political opposition and
freedom of speech, such as outlawing public demonstrations without an explicit police permit, the restriction of the press freedom, and the use of
defamation lawsuits to
bankrupt political opponents, such as
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam,
Tang Liang Hong and
Chee Soon Juan. On political matters, public opinion was rarely solicited.
On the above issue,
Devan Nair, the third president of Singapore and who was living in exile in Canada, remarked in a 1999 interview with the Canadian newspaper ''
The Globe and Mail'' that Lee's technique of suing his opponents into bankruptcy or oblivion was an abrogation of political rights. He also remarked that Lee is 'an increasingly self-righteous know-all', surrounded by 'department store dummies'. In response to these remarks, Lee sued Devan Nair in a Canadian court and Nair countersued.
[4] Lee then brought a motion to have Nair's counterclaim thrown out of court. Lee argued that Nair's counterclaim disclosed no reasonable cause of action and constituted an inflammatory attack on the integrity of the government of Singapore. However, The
Ontario Superior Court of Justice refused to throw out Nair's counterclaim, holding that Lee had abused the litigating process and therefore Nair has a reasonable cause of action. [
[5]]
On one occasion, after a court ruling in favour of Lee was overturned by the
Privy Council, the government abolished the right of appeal to the Council. Throughout Lee's premiership from 1959 to 1990, the
Internal Security Act was invoked several times to arrest and detain a number of people without trial, often for alleged involvement in "pro-Communist" or "Marxist" activities.
Chia Thye Poh, a former MP of the opposition Barisan Socialis, was detained for 32 years, including nine years on the resort island of
Sentosa. In order to give full authority to the judges in their judicial decisions, Lee abolished the
jury system in the courts. He argued that jurors are more liable to be swayed emotionally whereas a judge would be more objective and impartial.
Memoirs
Lee Kuan Yew has written a two-volume set of memoirs: ''
The Singapore Story'' (ISBN 0-13-020803-5), which covers his view of
Singapore's history until its separation from
Malaysia in 1965, and '' (ISBN 0060197765), which gives his account of Singapore's subsequent transformation into a prosperous first-world nation.
Awards
★ Lee has received a number of
state decorations, including the
Order of the Companions of Honour (1970), Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of St Michael and St George (1972), the
Freedom of the City of
London (1982), the
Order of the Crown of Johore First Class (1984), the
Order of Great Leader (1988) and the
Order of the Rising Sun (1967).
★ Lee also received other decorations which include the highest honour of
Honorary Fellowship of the Edinburgh Royal College of Medicine (1988), and
Man for Peace (1990).
★ In 2002, Lee Kuan Yew was formally admitted to the Fellowship of
Imperial College London in recognition of his promotion of international trade and industry, and development of science and engineering study initiatives with the UK.
[Imperial College London.]
★ In 2007, Lee was conferred a Doctorate in Law at the
Australian National University in
Canberra, albeit amid protest from students and staff.
[5]
See also
★
People's Action Party
★
Minister Mentor
References
1. Ooi, Jeff (2005). "Perils of the sitting duck". Retrieved Nov. 6, 2005.
2. Pillai, M.G.G. (Nov. 1, 2005). "Did Lee Kuan Yew want Singapore ejected from Malaysia?". ''Malaysia Today''.
3. Mauzy, Diane K. and R.S. Milne (2002). Singapore Politics Under the People's Action Party. Routledge ISBN 0-415-24653-9
4. Lee v. Globe and Mail (Nair v. Lee)
5.
Hostile welcome for Lee Kuan Yew
Secondary sources
★
Barr, Michael D. 2000. ''Lee Kuan Yew: The Beliefs Behind the Man''. Washington D.C.:
Georgetown University Press.
★ Josey, Alex. 1980. ''Lee Kuan Yew — The Crucial Years''. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur: Times Books International.
★ Kwang, Han Fook, Warren Fernandez and Sumiko Tan. 1998. ''Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas''. Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings.
★ Minchin, James. 1986. ''No Man is an Island. A Study of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew''. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
External links
★
Official profile.
★
Culture Is Destiny; A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew.
Foreign Affairs, interview by
Fareed Zakaria.
★
Lee Kuan Yew reflects. Interview by
TIMEAsia.
★
War of Words Alejandro Reyes, Asiaweek.com, September 25, 1998. Retrieved 2004-12-08.
★
Lee Kuan Yew: A Chronology, 1923–1965 Largely based on Lee Kuan Yew,
The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew. Singapore: Times, 1998. Retrieved 2004-12-08
★
August 2005 Interview with the German paper, Der Spiegel
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Lee Kuan Yew: A Revisionist View?
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