Biography
Lee Kuan Yew,The First Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, is regarded as the Founding Father of Modern Singapore. His dream of making Singapore a part of the Federation of Malaysia was shattered. Continuing as the Prime Minister of the new republic, he was beset with numerous problems that mainly stemmed from the nation's limited natural resources. Though he adopted the policies of non-alignment and neutrality for Singapore, he did not take his country’s independence for granted. Apart from strengthening its military might, he brought in conscription. He encouraged foreign investment, developed the necessary infrastructure, ensured racial harmony, and eliminated corruption. During his three decades as Prime Minister, Singapore achieved a per capita income next only to Japan's in East Asia, and emerged as a chief financial hub in the region. He is responsible for grooming the people of Singapore as the most disciplined and hard working people in the world. Though widely admired, his autocratic methods invited criticism. He did not tolerate dissent from political opponents and the media.
Lee Kuan Yew
Childhood & Early Life
Falderal
Lee Kuan Yew,The First Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, is regarded as the Founding Father of Modern Singapore. His dream of making Singapore a part of the Federation of Malaysia was shattered. Continuing as the Prime Minister of the new republic, he was beset with numerous problems that mainly stemmed from the nation's limited natural resources. Though he adopted the policies of non-alignment and neutrality for Singapore, he did not take his country’s independence for granted. Apart from strengthening its military might, he brought in conscription. He encouraged foreign investment, developed the necessary infrastructure, ensured racial harmony, and eliminated corruption. During his three decades as Prime Minister, Singapore achieved a per capita income next only to Japan's in East Asia, and emerged as a chief financial hub in the region. He is responsible for grooming the people of Singapore as the most disciplined and hard working people in the world. Though widely admired, his autocratic methods invited criticism. He did not tolerate dissent from political opponents and the media.
Childhood & Early Life
· Lee Kuan Yew was
born on 16 September 1923, to Lee Chin Koon and Chua Jim Neo. He has three
brothers: Dennis Lee, Freddy Lee and Lee Suan Yew, and one sister, Monica Lee.
The family was prosperous, and his father received an English education.
· He studied at the
prestigious Raffles Institution, and stood first in Singapore and Malaysia in
the Senior Cambridge exams. Awarded an Anderson Scholarship to Raffles College,
he studied there between 1940 and 1942.
· When World War II
ended, he went to study in England. He graduated with a rare Double Starred Law
Degree from Fitzwilliam College, affiliated to the University of Cambridge.
Career & Works:
· Lee Kuan Yew
returned to Singapore in 1949. He gained invaluable experience in politics as
the election agent to the pro-British Progressive Party leader, John Laycock in
whose law firm he was employed.
· Along with some
English-educated middle class men, he founded the People's Action Party (PAP)
as a facade for the illegal Malayan Communist Party, and was supported by
pro-communist trade unions.
· In the 1955
elections, he secured the Tanjong Pagar seat and became the Opposition leader.
He represented the PAP in two discussions over the future constitutional status
of Singapore, in London.
· PAP swept the 1959
elections, gaining an absolute majority by winning 43 of the 51 Legislative
Assembly seats. Singapore achieved self -government status, and Lee was sworn
in as its first Prime Minister.
· He inherited
numerous problems in the various sectors. In 1960, he established the Housing
and Development Board (HDB). The board undertook steps to provide affordable
homes on war-footing.
· He supported Malaya
Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman’s proposal to form of a federation consisting
of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei. A referendum in 1962 validated
the federation.
· Singapore declared
complete independence from the British in 1963 to become part of the
Federation. But it was expelled two years later, owing to widespread racial
riots between Chinese and Malays.
· On August 9 1965,
the Republic of Singapore was born. As the Prime Minister of the tiny fledgling
republic, the fundamental problem was in managing its limited natural
resources.
· He ensured that
Singapore was accepted to the United Nations in 1965, and to the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) two years later. He declared a policy of
neutrality and non-alignment.
· He assigned the task
of creating the Singapore Armed Forces to the then Deputy Prime Minister, Goh
Keng Swee, which he did with international assistance. In 1967, compulsory
military service was introduced.
· English, Malay,
Chinese, and Tamil were accorded official language statuses. ‘The Speak
Mandarin Campaign’ was initiated in 1979, to promote Mandarin among
Chinese-speaking people who spoke different Chinese dialects.
· To encourage the use
of English language, he ordered the Chinese- language Nanyang University be
united to the English-language University of Singapore to form the National
University of Singapore.
· The Corrupt
Practices Investigation Bureau was strengthened by successive legislations and
was given the power to make arrests, investigate bank accounts and income tax
related information of suspected individuals.
· Alarmed by the trend
of Singaporean men not accepting graduate women as life partners, he
established the Social Development Unit in 1983, to encourage the mingling of
men and women graduates.
· In 1990, he resigned
as Prime Minister in favor of Goh Chok Tong, but continued to be influential as
a Senior Minister in the cabinet in an advisory role.
· In 2004, Goh Chok
Tong resigned from prime ministership, in favor of Lee’s oldest son Lee Hsien
Loong. Lee Sr. was appointed Minister Mentor in the new cabinet.
Lee Kuan Yew for Serial Development
Major Works
· In 1961, the
Economic Development Board was established. It succeeded in industrializing
Singapore by drawing foreign investment through tax incentive, providing highly
skilled and cheap manpower, and modern transport systems and communication
network.
· Between 1965 and
1985, Singapore’s economy developed eightfold and its per capita income
improved fourfold. The percentage of families living in poverty reduced to
0.3%. Homelessness and unemployment were completely stamped out.
With The British Queen
Awards & Achievements
· Britain presented
Lee with the Order of the Companions of Honor, Knight Grand Cross of the Order
of St. Michael and St. George, and the Freedom of the City of London.
· He received the
Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars.
Personal Life & Legacy
· Lee married Kwa Geok
Choo in 1950, and has three children–Hsien Loong, (the current PM), Dr. Wei
Ling (heads the National Neuroscience Institute), and Hsien Yang (presides over
the telecommunication giant, SingTel).
· Lee Kuan Yew died of
pneumonia on 23 March 2015, at the age of 91.
· He authored many
books in his lifetime. These include: ‘The Singapore Story’, ‘From Third World
to First: The Singapore Story’, ‘The Wit and Wisdom of Lee Kuan Yew’, and ‘One
Man's View of the World’.
Falderal
· This Asian leader is
an avid reader, and likes to occasionally read Tom Clancy novels which are
famous for espionage and military science stories.
· This Asian statesman
declared, “Between being loved and being feared, I have always believed
Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I’m meaningless”.
FAMOUS AS
Founding
Father of Modern Singapore
NATIONALITY
RELIGION
Agnostic
POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
People's
Action Party
BORN ON
16
September 1923 AD
BIRTHDAY
CENTURY
DIED AT AGE
91
SUN SIGN
Virgo
Virgo Men
BORN IN
Singapore,
Straits Settlements
DIED ON
23
March 2015 AD
PLACE OF DEATH
Singapore
FATHER
Lee
Chin Koon
MOTHER
Chua
Jim Neo
SIBLINGS
Dennis
Lee, Freddy Lee, Lee Suan Yew, Monica Lee
SPOUSE/PARTNER:
Kwa
Geok Choo
CHILDREN
Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Wei Ling, Lee Hsien Yang
EDUCATION
Fitzwilliam
College
Cambridge
London School of Economics
Cambridge
London School of Economics
AWARDS
1970
- Order of the Companions of Honour
1972 - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
1982 - Freedom of the City of London
1972 - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
1982 - Freedom of the City of London
More Awards
1984 - Seri Paduka Mahkota Johor
1988 - Order of Great Leader
1967 - Order of the Rising Sun
2009 - Russian Order of Friendship
2009 - Lifetime Achievement award from U.S.-Asean Business Council
2009 - Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
2012 - Kazakhstan Order of Friendship
1988 - Order of Great Leader
1967 - Order of the Rising Sun
2009 - Russian Order of Friendship
2009 - Lifetime Achievement award from U.S.-Asean Business Council
2009 - Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
2012 - Kazakhstan Order of Friendship
Lee Kuan Yew: In His Own Words - The Mandate To Rule