In this biography of Lee Kuan Yew, we explain who Lee Kuan Yew was and what he did for Singapore.
The year was 1965. Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia and it became an independent nation. Illiteracy, mass unemployment, and a lack of natural resources were threatening to destroy the country. But its biggest problem was security. With a weak military in a volatile region, the island was doomed to fail.
Fast forward 50 years. The year is 2015. Singapore is now one of the leading financial centers in the world. Its citizens are highly skilled, and many of them speak English better than their mother tongue. Singapore's Gross Domestic Product per Capita, the average economic output per person, is eighth in the world. Its military has more than 70,000 active military personnel and a million more in reserve.
Even though every Singaporean deserves to be praised for this Herculean transformation, one man stood at its zenith. That man is Lee Kuan Yew, who served as Singapore's Prime minister for 30 years and oversaw one of the most successful social engineering feats in history. But even though he was the most important man in Singapore, he did not live luxuriously. He led a simple and frugal life. He even wore the same exercise shorts for 17 years. Whenever it tore, he or his wife patched it up.
How could a man who believed in simplicity pull a nation from the brink of failure and transform it into a powerful economy? Read this biography of Lee Kuan Yew to find out.
Lee Kuan Yew - By Robert D. Ward - Cropped by Ranveig from File:Defense.gov News Photo 020502-D-9880W-030.jpg, Public Domain, Link
Early Life
Ancestors
Lee Kuan Yew's great grandfather, Lee Bok Boon, was born in southern China in 1846. In 1863, he moved to Singapore and married a woman there, with whom he had three children. Even though he returned to China two years later, his family stayed back in Singapore. His subsequent generations were born in Singapore too.
Birth
Harry Lee Kuan Yew was born to Lee Bok Boon's grandson Lee Chin Koon and a woman named Chua Jim Neo in 1923. His parents named him Kuan Yew, and his grandfather named him Harry. Thus he came to be known as Harry Lee Kuan Yew. Harry Lee Kuan Yew had three younger brothers and a younger sister.
Schooling
Like most children in Singapore, Harry started primary school at the age of seven. After finishing primary school, he joined Raffles institution in 1935. The Raffles institution is the oldest school in Singapore and also a prestigious one. Many of its students get admissions to the University of Cambridge every year.
The syllabus in the Raffles institution was tough, and the best students from all over Singapore came to study there. So, initially, Harry had difficulty keeping up. However, he soon caught up, becoming the top of his class. One of his teachers even predicted that he would do unusually well in life and attain a high place. When he was 16 years old, he took the Senior Cambridge Examination and was ranked first in Western Malaysia, which was called Malaya back then. He also got several scholarships.
A Titbit About A GREAT Personality In Your Inbox Everyday
Find out how people changed our world and made history while doing it. Find out what motivated them to become their best self. Find out how they found innovative solutions to impossible problems.
Get a peek into the life of a great personality every day.
Harry had the qualifications to enroll at the University of Cambridge. But, due to the start of World War II, there was a looming threat of Cambridge being bombed by Germans. So, studying at Cambridge wasn't safe anymore. Therefore, due to safety concerns and other reasons, he started college at Raffles College in Singapore with the help of John Anderson scholarship. He met his future wife, Kwa Geok Choo, there.
The Japanese invasion of Singapore
In 1942, when Harry was 19 years old, the Japanese invaded Singapore. So, Harry's studies was interrupted once again. Until 1945, he couldn't continue his studies. Therefore, he learned Japanese and worked for the Japanese by listening to the communications of the allied forces and writing them down.
The Japanese invasion of Singapore had a profound impact on Harry. One incident, in particular, affected him a lot.
Once, Japanese soldiers rounded up some Chinese men for questioning. Harry was also asked to join these Chinese men. However, Harry asked them permission to go home and collect his clothes first, and one of the Japanese guards agreed. Later, Harry found out that the Japanese soldiers had taken these Chinese men to the beach and shot them. This proved to Harry that neither the Japanese nor the British had the right to govern his people. After all, the British couldn't save them from the Japanese invasion. So, he decided to make Singapore free from foreign rule.
Studying Law at Cambridge University
After the world war ended, Harry went to study in England. But by the time he reached there, the admissions to the University of Cambridge were closed. So, he enrolled at the London School of Economics instead. However, London was overwhelming to him. He preferred to study in the pleasant surroundings of Cambridge instead. So, with the help of an acquaintance, he got admission for the 1947 spring term at Cambridge University to study law. Thus his desire to study at Cambridge University overcame all the obstacles which disrupted his education.
While studying at Cambridge University, he maintained an excellent academic record. In 1949, he graduated with first-class honors in the two crucial comprehensive examinations. So, he won the Fitzwilliam's Whitlock Prize for graduating with special distinction.
Returning to Singapore
On August 1st, 1950, Harry returned to Singapore. After one month, he got married to Kwa Geok Choo. Upon returning to Singapore, Harry started working as a lawyer for a law firm, earning $500/month. Like Harry, his younger brother Dennis had also studied law at Cambridge University. So, a few years later, he started his own law firm in partnership with his wife and younger brother Dennis. Even though he was a lawyer, his real interest was in politics since he wanted to liberate Singapore from Britain.
Dropping his English name
Harry was born into an English-speaking family. He was also educated in English. On the contrary, most of the common people in Singapore were educated in Chinese. So, he often felt disconnected from the common people due to language and cultural barriers.
Lee believed that having a name similar to that of a typical Singaporean would help him overcome these barriers. Therefore, Harry dropped his English name, Harry, to better connect with the voters, most of whom didn't have English names. Thus Harry Lee Kuan Yew became Lee Kuan Yew. However, even though he dropped his English name, his family and close friends continued to call him Harry until his death.
The People's Action Party
While working as a lawyer, Lee became the legal advisor to many trade unions and student unions. In 1952, he helped the postal workers union get some important concessions from the British colonial government. This made him famous among the common people.
Between 1952 and 1954, he met five like-minded English-speaking middle-class men every week or every fortnight at his home. Together, they formed the People's Action Party (PAP) in November 1954, and Lee became its secretary-general. The socialist PAP Party formed an alliance with communist trade unions. Their common goal was to free western Malaysia from the British colonial rule and make it self-governing.
The reason for the alliance is that the English-speaking PAP needed the help of Chinese-speaking trade unions to get the support of the locals. With their help, three out of the four candidates that PAP fielded in the 1955 elections won. However, their alliance turned against them when these communists took over leadership positions of the PAP. They could have even overthrown Lee from the Party. But the then Chief minister interfered at the last moment and ordered an arrest of the communists.
Singapore after the Second world war
In 1945, the second world war ended. Even though the allied powers won the war, Britain and France were weakened terribly. So, anti-colonial movements started gathering momentum all over the world. In Singapore, too, such movements were taking shape because the locals didn't see Britain as a strong ruler anymore. After all, it couldn't protect Singapore from Japan during the second world war.
Once world war II ended and the axis powers lost, the Japanese occupation of Singapore came to an end. In 1946, Singapore became a British colony once again, ruled by a governor appointed by Britain. It was ruled separately from Malaya. But due to these anti-colonial movements and riots, Britain couldn't continue ruling without opposition.
So, in 1953, Britain offered partial self-government to Singapore. Singapore would now be governed by a Chief Minister elected by the people. Britain, however, would retain control of some areas like foreign affairs and internal security. After all, Britain wasn't willing to give up Singapore's port and rubber plantations so easily.
The first Prime Minister of Singapore
The first Chief Minister, David Marshall, was from the labor front, which supported the communists. During his rule, Singapore was unstable due to riots caused by labor unions, student unions, and trade unions. It was during this time that communists tried to take over the PAP from Lee.
When the situation seemed dire for Lee, Marshall resigned. The chief minister who took command after Marshall arrested the union leaders and the communist members of PAP, thus saving Lee's neck in the last minute. He also held new rounds of talks with the British government in 1957. As a result of these talks, the state of Singapore was created with its own citizenship. In the national elections held two years later, the PAP won 43 of the 51 seats. Consequently, on June 3rd, 1959, Lee became the first Prime Minister of Singapore.
Singapore gets independence from Britain
In June 1963, Singapore gained complete independence from Britain. Since it was an important port of the British Empire, Singapore was in a good position for trading and progressing economically. Yet, Lee and other leaders of PAP knew that Singapore couldn't survive alone.
Singapore had no natural resources on its own and depended on Malaysia heavily. Moreover, even though it could produce numerous goods and services, Singapore needed access to Malaysia's markets to sell them. In addition to that, Malaysia could also support Singapore in its battle against communism. So, Lee and some members of the PAP advocated that Singapore should merge with Malaysia while maintaining its autonomy. Thus, on September 16th, 1963, Singapore became an autonomous state of Malaysia.
The Merger goes downhill
Since the beginning of the merger, PAP and Malaysia's ruling party were not on good terms. One condition for the merger was that Singapore should pay 40% of its revenues to the federal government. Another condition was that PAP should not compete in Malaysia's federal elections. In return, Malaysia's ruling party would not compete in Singapore's elections.
After the merger, Malaysia implemented several measures that affected Singapore. In 1965, the Malaysian Finance minister demanded Singapore to pay 60% of its revenue to access Malaysia's free market. This was higher than the already agreed-upon 40%.
Malaysia consisted mostly of Malayans, while Singapore consisted mostly of Chinese. So, Malaysia provided special privileges to Malayans in education, civil services, and trade. This partiality would be greatly disadvantageous to Singapore. Therefore, PAP called for a Malaysian Malaysia, with no discrimination between different ethnicities. The federal government's partiality also infuriated the Chinese in Singapore. This led to communal clashes between the Chinese and Malayans in Singapore in 1964.
In 1964, going against the condition for the merger, PAP contested in the federal elections. PAP won just one seat in that election. But, 30 - 35% of the people in Malaysia were Chinese. So, Malaysia's ruling party was afraid that, if PAP contested in the next election, it might appeal to these Chinese people throughout Malaysia and win more seats. They were afraid that Lee might even become the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Moreover, due to the importance of its port and its fast economic progress, Singapore could become the heart of Malaysia.
Singapore becomes an independent country
Therefore, to bring an end to the communal clashes and to save his party's political ambitions, the Malaysian Prime Minister expelled Singapore from Malaysia. So, on August 9th, 1965, a devastated Lee announced to his fellow citizens that Singapore had become an independent nation (Watch video below). Lee had grown up believing that Singapore was a part of Malaysia. So, the expulsion came as a shock for him. Indeed it was such a terrible shock for him that he went into isolation for six weeks. During these six weeks, he was not even reachable by phone.
Thus, Singapore had become an independent nation now. But the challenges it faced as a free nation were numerous. National security, the failing economy, the surging population, and uncontrollable corruption were all pressing issues that Singapore needed to tackle. During his stint as the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew implemented cleverly-formulated policies that tackled all these issues. As a result, the third world developing country of the 1960s transformed into a first-world developed nation in the 21st century. Let's take a look at these policies below.
National security
The first problem that Lee faced after independence was ensuring Singapore's national security. The two major threats to Singapore at that time were communism on the inside and Indonesia from the outside.
Singapore and Communism
The Communist Party of Malaya
The communist party of Malaya was formed in 1930. After establishment, it tried to spread its influence by inciting laborers to fight against the British colonial government. The communists' were initially victorious in gaining people's support. In March 1937, around 3000 Chinese laborers went on strike.
In the ensuing clash with the police, several important communist leaders were arrested. Moreover, the government soon improved the working conditions of the laborers and increased their salaries. These developments decreased the communists' appeal, and their popularity among the people declined. So, they changed their strategy and started to campaign against the Japanese aggression instead. This strategy was successful, and they attracted people's attention and support.
When the Japanese invaded Malaya in 1941, the communists joined hands with British troops. The British troops trained the communists in military warfare, and together they defended Singapore from the Japanese. Even though the communists had the support of Singaporeans, soon, Singapore fell to the Japanese, and the British troops surrendered. The communists, who had no allies anymore, resorted to guerilla warfare.
Communists help Lee form the PAP
After the second world war ended, the British returned to power once again. So, the communists resumed their fight against the British government. They incited people to revolt and, in 1948, even killed three Britishers. Therefore, the British government declared the Communist Party of Malaya an illegal entity. However, the communists still continued to infiltrate trade unions and student unions. In 1952, Lee Kuan Yew became the legal advisor of such trade unions and student unions and came to be known as a left-wing lawyer. This earned him the respect of the communists, who helped him form the People's Action Party in 1954.
Disagreements between Lee and pro-communist party members
As Lee's party grew, the number of communist supporters in his party also increased. Initially, the communist supporters and Lee got along well. But, disagreements grew because Lee wanted to merge Singapore with Malaysia after its independence. But his communist friends did not want that. Moreover, Lee had no problems with the internal security of Singapore being controlled by Britain, which had been the case till then. On the contrary, his alleged communist friends wanted Singapore to handle its internal security.
So, in 1957, Lee's communist friends took over leadership positions in the party and threatened to overthrow Lee. However, the Chief Minister interfered at the last moment and arrested all the communists. Gradually, the popularity of Lee and his party increased. As a result, his party won the 1959 election. However, in the two by-elections held in 1961, the PAP lost to a labor party. In the same year, members of Lee's party broke away and formed another party, which Lee claimed was communist. So, Lee considered communism a real threat to his party and the country.
Lee arrests his pro-communist party members and political opponents
Lee's golden chance to fight the alleged communists came in 1963. In 1963, when Singapore obtained its independence, Lee's party wanted to merge with Malaysia. On the other hand, the communists wanted Singapore to remain an independent nation. But, the people of Singapore were overwhelmingly in support of the merger. So, Lee's party went on with the merger. As a condition for the merger, Malaysia wanted to arrest the communists in Singapore. Lee was thrilled with the condition and wanted to arrest the communists. But the British government was against Lee's idea, because there was no reason to arrest them.
In 1961, the conditions of the merger were released publicly in Singapore. Two of the conditions annoyed the so-called communists. These conditions were that Singaporeans should not vote in Malaysia's federal elections, and Singapore's internal security will be handled by Malaysia. This led to revolts in 1962 because the merger would deprive Singaporeans of their own rights.
But it was not clear if the communists were behind the revolts. However, Lee, who took this as a golden opportunity, blamed the alleged-communists for the revolts. He then arrested not only these alleged-communists but also his political opponents. This operation was named Operation Coldstore. Thus, with the help of Malaysia, Lee had managed to keep the communists under check. However, in 1965, when Singapore was kicked out of Malaysia, communism became a real threat once again.
Singapore and Indonesia
Indonesia became an independent nation in 1945. In 1962, it started an undeclared war against Malaysia because it was against the creation of Malaysia. The reason for Indonesia's actions is not clear.
Some speculate that Indonesia chose to divert attention towards foreign conflict because its political scenario was unstable. From 1950 to 1962, Indonesia pursued its claim on a colony of the Netherlands. Some speculate that after winning this colony, Indonesia became emboldened to exert its influence on other weaker neighbors. Some others speculate that the Indonesian president wanted to create Greater Indonesia, which would unite Singapore and a part of Malaysia with Indonesia.
But whatever the reason may be, Indonesia started a war against Malaysia in 1962. The war ended in 1966 when Indonesia's president handed over power to a military general. However, in 1965, when Singapore became an independent country, the war was still going on. Hence, the aggressive Indonesia was a significant threat to the newly formed country of Singapore.
Lee's approach to national security
As there were looming threats to Singapore's national security, Lee wanted to gain international recognition of its independence and sovereignty. So, Singapore applied to become a member of the United Nations. There were two requirements for a country to join the United Nations.
The first condition was to be sponsored by at least two security council members. The second condition was to get at least 67% of the votes in the United Nations general assembly. Among the 11 security council members at that time, Singapore was sponsored by Malaysia, the UK, Jordan, and Ivory Coast. In the general assembly held a day later, Singapore gained unanimous support. Thus, on September 21st, 1965, after fulfilling both the conditions to join the United Nations, Singapore became its 117th member.
Lee's next step was to create a strong defense. For this purpose, he requested the help of Taiwan and Israel to train the Singapore Armed Forces. In 1967, he also introduced conscription, making it compulsory for all able-bodied men above 18 to serve in the defense for two years.
At the time of its independence, Singapore's defense had only two infantry battalions, with a maximum of 2000 soldiers. But now, it has at least 72,000 active personnel serving in its army, navy, and air force combined. In addition to that, it also has a million more in reserve. He also increased defense spending to 5.4% of Singapore's GDP in 1970. This enabled the Singapore Armed Forces to have better facilities and state-of-the-art weapons.
Economy
When it became an independent nation, Singapore faced severe economic and social problems. From unemployment to lack of housing for citizens, these problems were threatening to destroy Singapore's economy.
The impending doom
In 1967, Britain confirmed Singapore's worst fears by announcing that it would withdraw its troops from Singapore by the mid-1970s. At that time, Britain employed 25,500 Singaporeans, and its military spent $450 million annually in Singapore. So, British withdrawal would make thousands of Singaporeans unemployed while reducing Singapore's revenues. This would worsen Singapore's already failing economy.
The PAP, Lee's party, realized that foreign and local investments were the key to survive the oncoming doom and improve Singapore's economy. So, in 1968, Singapore's government passed the Employment bill.
The employment bill
According to this bill, the number of working hours in a week was made 44 for all classes of employees. This eliminated the discrimination between people who work with hands and people who sit in offices. If an employee worked for more than 44 hours a week, he should be paid overtime payments. If he worked on his rest day, he had to be paid twice his ordinary pay. Moreover, employees were not permitted to work more than 48 hours of overtime in a month. This ensured that employers would not be able to exploit workers. So, labor unions became less significant. Moreover, hiring a new employee became more viable for companies financially, compared to forcing an existing employee to do overtime. Therefore, new jobs were created.
According to the bill, retrenchment benefits, the benefits an employee gets upon loss of employment, were removed for employees with less than three years of service. This helped companies, that hired workers on a short-term to counter seasonal export demands, reduce their costs. Finally, mandatory bonuses to employees were reduced to one month's pay per year. On the other hand, the government gave bonuses to employees to reward their productivity and performance. This motivated employees to work efficiently, thereby increasing Singapore's Gross Domestic Product per Capita.
Thus, the employment bill increased productivity and reduced labor costs. It also created new jobs, increased working standards, and made the employees more responsible. Therefore, Singapore began to attract foreign investments, which led to a rapid expansion of its economy. As a result, the unemployment rate reduced from 7.3% in 1968, when Britain announced the withdrawal of its troops, to 4.8% in 1971, when it actually withdrew its troops.
Lowering tax rates
To attract further investments, Singapore lowered tax rates to encourage foreign and local bodies to invest in Singapore. Moreover, to prevent future labor riots, PAP quelled all the labor unions and brought them under a single organization affiliated with the government. To make Singaporeans more appealing as employees, PAP established many vocational schools and made English the medium of teaching. All these measures made Singapore an attractive investment for both foreign and local businessmen.
The housing problem
In the 1960s, a big part of Singapore was covered in slums, and many Singaporeans were homeless. Lee realized that, to attract and keep foreign investments, he needed to bring Singapore to Western standards. So, Lee Kuan Yew created the Housing and Development Board. Within the first two years of its construction, it constructed 5,000 low-cost houses, which were easily affordable. Lee believed that owning a house would give Singaporeans a base using which they could accumulate wealth. It would also make them more responsible because they would own a part of the city now.
Lee's plan was a big success. Today, Singapore has one of the world's highest home-ownership rates. Almost 90 percent of Singaporeans own their homes. Thus, Lee converted a slum city into a metropolis.
The Garden City campaign
Even though Singapore was on its way to becoming a metropolis, Lee was not satisfied. He did not just want a metropolis made of bricks and stones. As a nature lover, he wanted to beautify the country. So, in 1967, he launched the 'Garden City' campaign. As a result of this campaign, in November 1971, Lee introduced the first tree planting day in Singapore. Following his lead, his fellow citizens started planting trees all over the country.
Even today, the tradition that Lee started 50 years ago is followed religiously. Every year, on the first Sunday of November, thousands of Singaporeans gather in public places and plant trees. Thus, due to Lee's efforts, Singapore became not only a metropolis, but also a garden city.
Foreign investments come pouring in
The sound infrastructure, skilled employees, favorable working conditions, and reduced taxes attracted not only foreign bankers but also Multinational companies. Companies like Hewlett Packard, General Motors, and Texas Instruments started setting up branches in Singapore in the 1970s. As a result, Singapore became a major electronics exporter in the following decade.
But foreign investments were not the only thing that Singapore focused on. As it was a member of the United Nations, Singapore capitalized on the many development programs offered by the UN. Until 1975, it took nine software loans from the UN, which were used for 14 projects. The government also started several new industries, like steel mills, a container shipping company, and Singapore Airlines.
Policies
Anticorruption measures
At the time of Singapore's independence, corruption was still at large. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau was created in 1952. However, it lacked the power to curb corruption. So, in 1960, Lee enacted the Prevention of Corruption Act. Under this act, the Bureau got greater power to search, question witnesses, look into bank accounts and income tax returns, and conduct arrests. Moreover, it protected the identity of informers. In 1969, Lee gave it functional independence, making it answerable only to the Prime Minister. Due to the efficiency of the Bureau, corruption was greatly controlled. Today, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau is the fourth most transparent corruption Bureau in the world.
Lee believed that to make a country corruption-free, it is not enough if the government dealt with corruption with an iron-hand. It is also important that government officers and politicians are paid handsomely. So, in 1994, he raised the salaries of ministers, top civil servants, and judges to match the top salaries in the private sector.
Population policies
In the 1960s, Singapore's population was surging. Lee was afraid that overpopulation might hinder the growth of the developing economy. So, he introduced the 'Stop at two' family campaign. He urged Singaporeans to use birth-control techniques after giving birth to two children. If people still chose to have more than two children, their families were given fewer economic benefits. The employment bill passed in 1968 also limited the number of pregnancy confinement periods to only three for female employees. Moreover, their third child and their children thereafter were given lower priorities in education.
In the 1980s, a large number of graduate women were unmarried. So, Lee encouraged graduate men to choose graduate women as wives rather than choosing uneducated women. He argued that if intelligent men did not pair with intelligent women to produce intelligent children, Singapore's next generation would be headed by idiots. He even created the Social Development Unit, a matchmaking agency, to pair graduate men with graduate women. Lee also reversed his 'Stop at two' family campaign for graduate mothers with three or more children. He provided them better educational opportunities for their children, better tax rebates, and better housing opportunities. On the contrary, he still urged lower-income families with less-educated parents to undergo birth control after having their second child.
Corporal Punishment
Besides his population policies, there was one other policy of Lee that was very controversial. When he was a student at the Raffle's institution, his headmaster punished him whenever he came late. He was asked to bend over. Then his headmaster hit him heavily using a cane three times on his bottom. Lee believed that his headmaster's punishments were effective in keeping him and his schoolmates under check. So, he adopted caning, which was already a punishment in Singapore during British rule, and expanded its scope heavily. By 1993, caning had become a punishment for 84 offenses in Singapore. It is still in use today as corporal punishment in Singapore. It is also used in schools and Singapore's armed forces.
Despite his controversial policies and authoritarian rule, Lee Kuan Yew transformed Singapore. During his stint as Prime Minister, he won eight elections consecutively. By the time he stepped down as Prime Minister in 1990 after serving for 31 years, he was the longest-serving Prime Minister in the world. Thereafter, he served as the Senior Minister, in an advisory role, for 14 years. After that, he served as the Mentor Minister for seven years until 2011. Then he served as an MP. In 2015, after suffering from severe Pneumonia, Lee Kuan Yew died at the age of 91.
The other side of Lee Kuan Yew
Demolishing his political opponents
Despite being portrayed as the savior of Singapore, Lee was a hard-core authoritarian. When Operation Coldstore was executed in 1963 for arresting communists claiming their alleged participation in the violent protests, Lee also arrested his political opposition. Lee's party was in a desperate situation because their opposition had won the by-elections held in 1961.
Lee was afraid that if the opposition prevailed, they could win the legislative assembly election in 1963 and throw him out of power. So, he used Operation Coldstore to arrest his political opponents. To this day, the authenticity of Operation Coldstore is questioned. Were his opponents really communists? Did they really start the violent protests that killed people? Or did Lee use the protests as an excuse to arrest his opponents? These are the questions that still need answers.
But Lee's habit of eradicating his political opponents did not stop with Operation Coldstore. Even after he had won the 1963 elections, Lee continued to silence his opponents for a very long time. He filed civil defamation suits against his opponents, bankrupted them, and sometimes, even jailed them for organizing public protests.
Restricting free media
While he was in opposition, Lee strongly supported free media. But once he came to power, everything changed. In 1971, he told the International Press Institute that news media should focus on keeping the integrity of Singapore intact. They should understand that the elected government is more important than the freedom of news media. They should reinforce the values inculcated in schools and universities and not undermine them.
In 1974, he rolled out the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act, which says that newspapers should apply to the government for annual permits. In other words, newspapers, which publish articles criticizing the government, might lose their license. Moreover, this act also gave the government the power to appoint management shareholders of newspaper companies. Thus, the government essentially controlled all staffing decisions. In 1988, he forbade foreign journalists from doing investigative journalism that might affect the government.
Controlling the citizens
Lee's party also enacted restrictions on public gatherings in 1973. Citizens who criticize the government or discuss race and religion publicly were often charged with civil defamation suits. Some even faced criminal investigations and charges. Those who participated in peaceful public demonstrations and other gatherings faced the same fate too.
In an interview with the Straits Times in 1987, Lee confessed to interfering with the private lives of Singaporeans. But he had no remorse about that. He said that if he hadn't interfered with people's personal matters, Singapore couldn't have become successful. He also said that the government decides what is right and doesn't care about what people think.
Deeds of Lee's heroic acts were also published in school books. Children grow up believing that Lee is the heroic savior of Singapore, even though many people helped him.
Only one side of the coin
Thus, Lee and his party controlled news media, destroyed their opposition, and prevented people from protesting. They even decided what was taught in schools. So, it is possible that all we have heard till now is Lee's side of the story. We don't know if anyone else could have led Singapore and transformed it the way Lee did, without controlling the people. But what we have seen is only one side of the coin. May be Singapore's legendary hero and greatest democratic leader was a strategic dictator after all. Nowadays, Lee is considered a benevolent dictator, one who exercises absolute political power, not in the interest of self, like a normal dictator, but in the interest of the country.
Facts you probably didn't know
- Lee Kuan Yew was just 35 years old when he became the Prime Minister of Singapore.
- He married his first love and lived happily with her.
- Despite being the most important man in the country, he found time to exercise daily.
- Lee suffered from a mild case of Dyslexia. This affected his ability to learn languages. To compensate for that, he was more creative.
- Despite being the most important man of a nation for more than three decades, he lived a simple, frugal life. He even wore the same exercise shorts for 17 years. Whenever it tore, he or his wife patched it up.
What can you learn from the biography of Lee Kuan Yew?
We hope that this biography of Lee Kuan Yew helped you understand who he was and how he transformed his country. Lee Kuan Yew is a self-made man. He rose from nothing to become the first prime minister of Singapore. He created bold policies that transformed Singapore and gained the respect of his fellow citizens. Today, students worldwide learn about his policies to understand how to run a government effectively.
Whenever you think your goal is impossible to reach, read this biography of Lee Kuan Yew. When your love for your goal is good enough, the obstacles in the way shouldn't distract you. Lee Kuan Yew faced so many obstacles during his life. When he was born, Singapore was a British colony. Then it was occupied by the Japanese. Then, it was again occupied by the British. When Singapore gained independence, Lee knew that it couldn't survive alone. So, he wanted to be a part of Malaysia. But Malaysia imposed unfair rules on Singapore and then kicked it out.
When Singapore became a free nation, it faced many problems. National security, unemployment, and corruption were destroying the country. Moreover, the British withdrawal of its troops from Singapore was a devastating blow for the economy. But due to his love for Singapore, he worked hard to create controversial policies that turned the situation around. Even after Singapore became a developed country, he worked until his death at the age of 91 for the betterment of his country.
If you liked reading the biography of Lee Kuan Yew, you might also love these biographies too:
