Lee Kuan Yew

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Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG CH was born on 16 September
1923. He is a Singaporean statesman. He was the
first Prime Minister of the Republic of
Singapore, governing for three decades. By the
time he stepped down, he had become the world's
longest-serving prime minister.
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Family background
According to his autobiography, Lee is a
fourth-generation Singaporean. Lee Kuan Yew's
grandfather is Lee Hoon Leong. He was born in
Singapore in 1871, and was a British subject. He
was educated in English at Raffles Institution to
standard V, which is equivalent to lower
secondary school in Singapore today. Lee Hoon
Leong worked as a dispenser an unqualified
pharmacist when he left school, and later worked
as a purser on board a steamer which belonged to
the Heap Eng Moh Shipping Line, which was then
owned by Chinese businessman Oei Tiong Ham. Lee
Hoon Leong would go on to have two wives (common
for Singaporeans at that time), five daughters
and three sons. One of his sons, Lee Chin Koon,
also English-educated and a British subject,
would go on to marry Chua Jim Neo, who gave birth
to Lee Kuan Yew, in 1923, at 92 Kampong Java Road
in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew has three brothers --
Dennis Lee, Freddy Lee and Lee Suan Yew. He also
has one sister -- Monica Lee. Lee and his wife
Kwa Geok Choo were married on 30 September 1950.
Both speak English as their native tongue. Lee
started learning Chinese in 1955 at age 32,
before that he was illiterate in Chinese. Lee
also learned Japanese as an adult and he worked
as a Japanese translator during the Japanese
occupation of Singapore.
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Prime Minister
Pre-independence 1959 to 1965 In the national
elections held on 1 June 1959, the PAP won 43 of
the 51 seats in the legislative assembly.
Singapore gained self-government with autonomy in
all state matters except defence and foreign
affairs, and Lee became the first Prime Minister
of Singapore on 5 June 1959, taking over from
Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock.24 Before he took
office, Lee demanded and secured the release of
Lim Chin Siong and Devan Nair, who had been
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.
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Post-independence  1965 to 1990 In his
autobiography, Lee 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
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 on
25 May 1973, just a few years after the
IndonesiaMalaysia confrontation under Sukarno's
regime. Relations between Singapore and Indonesia
substantially improved as subsequent visits were
made between Singapore and Indonesia.
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Senior Minister 1990 to 2004
After leading the PAP to victory in seven
elections, Lee stepped down on 28 November 1990,
handing over the prime ministership to Goh Chok
Tong. He was then the world's longest-serving
prime minister. This was the first leadership
transition since independence. When Goh Chok Tong
became 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. He has 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.
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Minister Mentor 2004 to 2011
Since the 2000s (decade), Lee has expressed
concern about the declining proficiency of
Mandarin among younger Chinese Singaporeans. In
one of his parliamentary speeches, he said
"Singaporeans must learn to juggle English and
Mandarin". Subsequently, in December 2004, a
one-year long campaign called Huayu Cool! was
launched, in an attempt to attract young viewers
to learn and speak Mandarin. In November 2010,
Lee's private conversations with U.S. Deputy
Secretary of State James Steinberg on 30 May 2009
were among the U.S. Embassy cables leaked by
WikiLeaks. In a U.S. Embassy report classified as
'Secret', Lee gave his assessment of a number of
Asian leaders and views on political developments
in North Asia, including implications for nuclear
proliferation. Singapore's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs expressed deep concern about the leaks,
especially when read out of context, and the need
to protect confidentiality of diplomatic
correspondence.
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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.
Indeed, for many people in Singapore and other
countries, Lee is inextricably linked with their
perceptions of Singapore's country brand. On the
other hand, many Singaporeans have criticised Lee
as being authoritarian and intolerant of dissent,
citing his numerous mostly successful attempts to
sue political opponents and newspapers who
express an unfavorable opinion. International
media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has
asked Lee, and other senior Singaporean
officials, to stop taking libel actions against
journalists. In 2004 the National University of
Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
was named after him, one of the first cases of an
institution in Singapore doing so.
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Made By Tejasva Kalra