Historical Figure
Lee Kuan Yew
1923–2015
First Prime Minister of Singapore (1959-1990)
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"Press Conference on Singapore Independence" — August 9, 1965
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Biography
Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean statesman and barrister who was the first prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. A founding father of the modern Singaporean state, his authoritarian political leadership transformed post-independence Singapore into a highly developed country and one of the four Asian Tigers.
Timeline
The story of Lee Kuan Yew, told in moments.
Becomes the first Prime Minister of self-governing Singapore at 35. The city-state has no natural resources, no army, and two million people on a swampy island. Unemployment is above 10%. He starts building.
Singapore is expelled from Malaysia after two years of racial tension and political friction. Lee weeps on television. 'For me, it is a moment of anguish.' The tiny island is suddenly an independent country whether it wants to be or not.
Bans chewing gum, canes vandals, and executes drug traffickers. Forces everyone to learn English. Builds public housing for 80% of the population. GDP per capita will go from $500 to $55,000 in his lifetime. Critics call it authoritarian. He calls it survival.
Steps down as Prime Minister after 31 years. Stays on as Senior Minister, then Minister Mentor. He doesn't actually stop running things. Every successor consults him on major decisions.
Dies in Singapore at 91. A million people line the streets for his funeral procession in the rain. He turned a fishing village into a first-world city in one generation. His son is the Prime Minister.
In Their Own Words (20)
India is a nation of unfulfilled greatness. Its potential has lain fallow, under used.
Lee Kuan Yew in the second volume of his memoirs, published in 2000, quoted at, 2000
I bent over a chair and was given three of the best with my trousers on. I did not think he lightened his strokes. I have never understood why Western educationists are so much against corporal punishment. It did my fellow students and me no harm.
The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew (1998), 1998
I have never been over concerned or obsessed with opinion polls or popularity polls. I think a leader who is, is a weak leader. Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I’m meaningless.
The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew (1998), as quoted by Business Insider, 1998
What people mean by consultation is an imitation of what they see in America; pressure groups and lobby groups..It's an unthinking adoption of Western practices of development without any pruning and modification to suit our circumstances.
Lee Kuan Yew The Man & His Ideas (1997), 1997
I have visited (Burma) and I know that there is only one instrument of government, and that is the army...If I were Aung San Suu Kyi, I think I'd rather be behind a fence and be a symbol than after two or three years, be found impotent.
SM Lee Kuan Yew, Reuters (6 June 1996), which sparked a flurry of protests from Burmese students., 1996
Artifacts (15)
Gruppenaufnahme mit Leiter der Internationalen Abteilung der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Siegfried Bangert
Gruppenaufnahme mit Leiter der Internationalen Abteilung der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Siegfried Bangert
ASEAN+3 - the institutionalization of Asian values (IA aseaninstitution109456242)
Ahmad, Dzulkarnain
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