Minister Mentor, Prime Minister's Office Kuan Yew Lee of Singapore
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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.
When the Japanese conquered Singapore in February 1942, Lee was nearly 19 years old.
Lee described the impact of the Japanese occupation on him in the following way:I did not enter politics.
From 1952 to 1954, Lee met Goh Keng Swee, Toh Chin Chye, S.
Apart from being the only prime minister of Singapore for over 26 years, Lee was also perhaps the only non-Communist leader who succeeded in collaborating with the Communists during the nationalist struggle without succumbing to them after the struggle was won.
In 1990 Lee turned over the reins of government to Min Goh Chok Tong, who became the the second prime minister in Singapore's history.
Lee found himself in some controversy after he left office: it was reported in The Far Eastern Economic Review that he and his eldest son had purchased condominiums in housing-scarce Singapore at discount prices, a charge Lee strongly denied, and the New York Times reported that Lee won a $71,000 libel suit in April of 1997 against Christopher Lingle, a reporter from the International Herald Tribune, who had charged Lee had used Singapore courts as instruments of repression.
Lee was hospitalized for heart surgery in early 1996, but swiftly recovered.
In a speech given June 7, 1996, to the Singapore Press Club and Foreign Correspondents Association, and reported by the Straits Times, Lee expressed his belief he had left his country in capable hands.
Further ReadingThe most comprehensive biography of Lee is Alex Josey's Lee Kuan Yew (1968 and 1980) in two volumes which cover the 1959-1978 period.
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.
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.
Lee was educated at Telok Kurau Primary School, Raffles Institution, and Raffles College.
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-communists 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.
Fortunately, Marshall’s successor, Lim Yew Hock ordered a mass arrest of the pro-communists and Lee was reinstated as secretary-general.
Lee was adamant and tried to work out a compromise, but without success.
Lee had three main concerns national security, the economy, and social issues during his post-independence administration.
In building the economy, Lee was assisted by his ablest ministers, especially Goh Keng Swee and Hon Sui Sen.
Lee had to take drastic measures, and had Nanyang University absorbed by the English-language University of Singapore; the combined institution was renamed the National University of Singapore.
Lee was well aware how corruption had led to the downfall of the Nationalist Chinese government in mainland China.
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.
During the three decades in which Lee was in office, Singapore grew from being a developing country to one of the most developed nations in the world, 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.
Lee was once quoted as saying he preferred to be feared than loved.
On one occasion, after a court ruling in favor of Lee was overturned by the Privy Council, the right of appeal to the Council was abolished.
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.
Recently, Lee has expressed his concern about the declining proficiency of Mandarin among younger Singaporeans.
However, Lee has consistently denied charges of nepotism, arguing that his family members' privileged positions are based on personal merit.
Lee was one of the leading advocates of Asian values, though his interpretation of Asian values is open to debate.
In an interview with The Straits Times, Lee said that he is an agnostic.
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
For all his success, Lee remains on the alert for perils that may exist only on the distant horizon: the rising role of China in the region as the United States looks the other way, the buffeting of the world economy, even climate change.
A British-educated lawyer, Lee is one of Asias remarkable personalities, a world figure whose guest book is filled with the names of international political and financial leaders.
Bloomberg News Apologizes to Top Singapore OfficialsBy WAYNE ARNOLDThe company that made Michael R.
Lee is not optimistic that other nations can replicate East Asia?s staggering growth.
He speculated that, had Lee lived in another time and another place, he might have "attained the world stature of a Churchill, a Disraeli, or a Gladstone.
Since his retirement, Lee has embarked on another career of sorts as a world-class pundit, speaking his mind with impolitic frankness.
open up Australia's economy to competition.
On John Howard, Lee is somewhat ambivalent.
Lee is a determined, dogmatic man.
Lee was told that Singapore did not have a grassland climate in which rain fell gently from the skies.
But Lee was not one to let climate get in the way.
As a boy, Lee lived in his paternal grandfather's two storey terrace house at 147, Neil Road.
of Tanjong Pagar, where Lee has served as a Member of Parliament since 1955.
Lee met his wife, Kwa Geok Choo, at Raffles College.
How Lee went through those tumultuous events, his views about them today and how they affected him: the answers to these questions are essential for anyone who wants to understand the man that Lee is today and the Singapore that he has shaped.
Lee was already courting Kwa Geok Choo before they left for studies in Cambridge, England.
Lee was born into a wealthy Chinese family that had been established in Singapore since the 19th century.
A brief power struggle within the PAP then ensued: in August Lee was ousted from the secretary-generalship by the partys left wing, but he regained his post in October.
After their release, Lee was sworn in as prime minister on June 5, 1959, and he formed a cabinet.
In 1963 Lee took Singapore into the newly created Federation of Malaysia.
In August 1965 Lee was told by his Malaysian colleagues in the federal government that Singapore must leave the federation.
adversarial in his personal approach.
and is noted for his confrontational politics.
effects of that to a clean and transparent government.
The eldest child of former-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Kwa Geok Choo, Lee was born in Singapore on February 10, 1952.
In Lee Kuan Yew's biography, Lee had learned Jawi since he was five, and was always interested in the affairs of Singapore, often following his father to the rally grounds since 1963.
Lee joined the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in 1971, retiring as brigadier general in 1984 when he was elected as a Member of Parliament.
In 1992, Lee was diagnosed with lymphoma and he went through a three-month period of chemotherapy.
Mr Lee was subsequently appointed Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore in 1998, and Minister for Finance in 2001.
During election 2006 Mr Lee said that he would be paying close attention to how the electorate votes.
In announcing the appointment, Lee was quoted in.
From British rule, to the communist war, to the brutal Japanese occupation, Lee said he learned from Singapore's violent past.
The elder Lee said Ms Bhutto chose to stay the course despite threats on her life.
In a lecture at Korea University, Lee said a nation needs to control dramatic changes if it wants to make true progress.
Lee said when Russia first opened itself to the world, it found itself in chaos because the big changes were too sudden, and the nation stabilized only when President Vladimir Putin took office and provided firm leadership.
Lee said Korea was in a similar position to Singapore in being sandwiched between two powers, the US.
Lee said if he were a Korean student now, he would try to get a ¡°global education,¡± warning Korean students will find themselves at a disadvantage if they interact with Koreans only in an age of globalization.
Before the lecture, Lee received an honorary doctorate in politics from Korea University for his ¡°contribution to peace and prosperity in the world by playing a leading role in Singapore¡¯s independence with his excellent political insight and by firmly implementing his philosophy and leadership.
Lee was a member of the delegation that negotiated Singapore's independence from the British in 1956-58.
The longest serving prime minister in the world, Lee was lauded for overseeing Singapores outstanding economic growth that transformed it from a poor port to a wealthy nation, but he was criticized for his repressive policies.
After some three weeks of silence, Lee resurfaces at Nanyang Poly.
Talking about the current global financial crisis, the 85-year-old Lee said that China should keep its economy running and help the countries around the region.
At their meeting, MM Lee said that more economic links between Taiwan and China will revive Taiwans economy and benefit the cities on the Mainland, where more than a million Taiwanese are residing and conducting successful businesses.
Falling asset prices, people feel poorer, they cant pay their mortgages, home values are down, credit cards cant be paid up, installments due on cars, theyre fearful of being retrenched, so theres a spiral downwards.
With scientists forecasting that global temperatures could rise by as much as 6 deg C over the coming decades, Mr Lee said the world must aim to keep the increase to the minimum prediction of 2 deg C.
Mr Lee expressed confidence that the US Treasury would be able to revive the economy.