Update 20 Jul 2018: LKY's grandson Supports Pink Dot
And The Event Reached Max Capacity
Thousands of Singaporeans flocked to Hong Lim Park on Saturday (July 1), as the much-anticipated Pink Dot was held after overcoming many obstacles.
Among them: Foreign sponsorship was banned, which led to local companies filling in the gap; foreigners were banned entirely, leading to barricades being erected around the park; and people complained over even the event’s ad at Orchard Cineleisure.
In happier news, however, Paralympian Theresa Goh came out and became a Pink Dot ambassador. Here she is at the event.
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Lee Kuan Yew estate donates furniture, personal effects from Oxley Road home
Two of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew's shirts, one of which is a CYC
model with the label "Lee Kuan Yew", are among items that have been
donated to Singapore (Photo: Stamford Law)
An England-made brown vinyl bag labelled "L. K. Y." which was used
by Mr Lee when he travelled to London in the 1960s. (Photo: Stamford
Law)
Executors and trustees of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's estate, Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang, have made a Deed of Gift of some furniture and personal effects from 38 Oxley Road, the home of Singapore's founding Prime Minister, to the people of the Republic. The announcement was made in a news release by Stamford Law, on behalf of the daughter and son of the late Mr Lee on Thursday (Jun 11).
The deed was signed with the National Heritage Board (NHB) on Monday. The items include all the furniture from the dining room, the study room, and work area desks, including the desk he worked on for many years, as well as his clothing worn on a number of historic occasions.
They have already been turned over to NHB in preparation for a planned major public exhibition at the SG50 Tribute Gallery in August or September, the news release said.
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Wax figures of Lee Kuan Yew and his late wife unveiled at Madame Tussauds Singapore
Wax figures of former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and his late wife Kwa Geok Choo have been unveiled at the Madame Tussauds Singapore wax museum, which had its grand opening on Thursday.
The figures show Mr and Mrs Lee smiling, arm-in-arm and seated against a backdrop of red flowers formed in the shape of two hearts. They are also dressed in the colours of Singapore's national flag - red and white.
The couple's wax figures are among other lookalikes of political leaders, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
Lee Kuan Yew revisits Battle for Merger at National Library
During his visit, Mr Lee praised the team who had put up the exhibition for their "thorough research" and for "presenting this key period for today's audience", said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.
Mr Teo posted a picture of Mr Lee's visit on Facebook on Thursday morning, adding that "winning the struggle against the communists paved the way for modern non- communist Singapore".
The exhibition is in conjunction with the reprint of The Battle For Merger book, which compiles Mr Lee's radio talks for a younger generation of Singaporeans. Mr Lee's talks had exposed the communist threat in Singapore in the 1960s and the goal of the communists to capture power in the country.
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The Battle For Merger
Mr Lee's radio talks on merger fight back in print
IT WAS a tumultuous time, with the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and its allies out to derail self-governing Singapore's plans for merger with Malaya.
Taking to the airwaves in 1961 for 12 radio broadcasts to expose the CPM's real agenda to seize power, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew managed to turn the tide.
A compilation of the talks, first published in 1962, has been reprinted. The Battle For Merger was launched yesterday, on the same date as Mr Lee's last broadcast 53 years ago.
related: 12 Radio Talks By Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew On 'The Battle For Merger'
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The Big Ideas Of Lee Kuan Yew
A new book, The Big Ideas Of Lee Kuan Yew, was launched yesterday. Below are excerpts from three essays in the book by former ambassador Chan Heng Chee, former permanent secretary of foreign affairs Bilahari Kausikan, and Permanent Secretary (Public Service Division) Yong Ying-I.
The book is based on a conference in September last year organised by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
- Guiding the supertanker into the harbour By Chan Heng Chee
- Protecting S'pore's interests, nicely or otherwise By Bilahari Kausikan
- The boss' attention to detail By Yong Ying-I
Lee Kuan Yew receives Global Citizen Award
AMERICAN dignitaries and global figures paid tribute to former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew in New York on Sunday, when he became the first Singaporean to receive the Atlantic Council's Global Citizen Award.
At a ceremony, the likes of former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger and former US envoy to Singapore Jon Huntsman hailed Mr Lee as one of the world's foremost statesmen.
Dr Kissinger, who gave the opening remarks at the event, described Mr Lee as "one of the great men of our time" and noted that his forceful streak had been evident decades ago.
Global Citizen Award: H.E. Lee Kuan Yew
In 1954, he was a founder of the People's Action Party and was secretary general until 1992. In 1959, he became prime minister of Singapore and served successive terms until he resigned in November 1990, when he was appointed senior minister by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. He was reappointed after the 1991, 1997 and 2001 general elections.
He was appointed minister mentor by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in August 2004, and was reappointed after the 2006 general elections. He stepped down as in May 2011, and is currently senior advisor to the GIC Private Limited.
US cannot get distracted from Asia: Shanmugam
Speaking at the launch of the Lee Kuan Yew Chair in South-east Asia Studies at Brookings Institution in Washington, Mr Shanmugam made the case that the US cannot afford to let itself get distracted from its goals in Asia
Brookings post named after Mr Lee Kuan Yew
At the launch of the "Lee Kuan Yew chair in Southeast Asia Studies" last night at the Fullerton Hotel were Ambassador Chan Heng Chee and Brookings Institution president Strobe Talbott
The Brookings Institution has launched a new academic position named after former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, as the Washington-based think-tank seeks to raise awareness of South-east Asian issues in the United States capital.
The wraps were taken off the "Lee Kuan Yew chair in South-east Asia Studies" on Friday night in a ceremony at the Fullerton Hotel.
The position, funded with an initial US$3 million (S$3.7 million), will be rotated among academics chosen from the different ASEAN countries, starting with Singapore. The plan is for each academic to have a two-year tenure.
US cannot get distracted from Asia: Shanmugam
The Lee Kuan Yew Chair was set up to raise awareness of South-east Asian issues in the US capital. It is one of only a handful of academic positions in Washington think-tanks that focuses on the region.
The academic position is also the first time anything in the US has been named after the former prime minister. Dr Joseph Liow, associate dean of Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, will be the first person to take up the position that is meant to be rotated every two years among academics from South-east Asia. He said he will seek to make sure that South-east Asia has a voice in discussions in the US capital and noted that the position has a big name to live up to.
"The chair is named after a truly remarkable man. While much has been said about Lee Kuan Yew's role in building the Singapore today, as a student of international politics, I have been far more interested in his contributions in matters of foreign affairs. In this area, I have found his reading and articulation of international developments from a South- east Asian perspective and its implication not only for Singapore, but (also for) the region and the world, truly unmatched."
Brookings Lee Kuan Yew Chair for Southeast Asian Studies – letter to Susan Rice
Susan Rice
Dear Ms Susan Rice, I refer to your 22 Sept 2014 remarks at Brookings Institution’s formal announcement of the creation of the Lee Kuan Yew Chair for Southeast Asian Studies.
Dear Ms Susan Rice, I refer to your 22 Sept 2014 remarks at Brookings Institution’s formal announcement of the creation of the Lee Kuan Yew Chair for Southeast Asian Studies.
Founding father - You said:
it’s fitting that Brookings’ new Chair in Southeast Asian Studies is named for Singapore’s founding father, a man who has played such a key role in shaping the region’s growth, Lee Kuan Yew.Singapore’s founding father is not Lee Kuan Yew. Singapore was founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles. There has been no re-founding of Singapore ever since. Lee Kuan Yew studied at a school named after Raffles.
In Lee Kuan Yew’s own words, Singapore was already ¾ independent in 1959 when he came to power. That ¾ independence wasn’t won by Lee Kuan Yew but won by Singapore’s independence fighters who were generally regarded as the Leftists, Lee’s most hated enemies.
PAP MP ALEX YAM: OUR SUPREME LEADER LEE KUAN YEW IS FRAIL BUT STILL A GIANT
IN PARLIAMENT TODAY: On 3 June 1959, a momentous event occurred at City Hall. Yet, despite the historic impact that the day will make there was no photographic record. No pressmen or photographers were allowed. On that day, Mr Lee Kuan Yew was sworn in as Prime Minister of the State of Singapore, signaling that Singapore was now self-governing. He and our early pioneers weathered the storm with fellow Singaporeans, creating a dynamic and developed nation in a short 50 years.
This afternoon at our tea break, the conversation at our table fell into a respectful silence for a moment. With my back to the door, I had not seen Mr Lee enter the Members' Room. We all stood up and made space for him. He insisted on getting up from his wheelchair and to sit with us and just have a drink. While he looks much thinner and gaunt and halting though his speech, the conversation we had over the next 15 minutes reveal the continued sharpness of his mind and the wisdom and counsel of his years.
I walked behind him as he entered the chamber, and was reminded of the painting by Dr Lai Kui Fang which hangs outside the Parliament Library, a recreation from interviews and memories of that moment in 1959, when Mr Lee and his comrades led Singapore to self-government, and how the now slightly frail gentleman is a giant of our nation.
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Extremely thin & gaunt Lee Kuan Yew meeting Brunei Sultan sparks shock and concern
Picture of extremely thin & gaunt Lee Kuan Yew meeting Brunei Sultan sparks shock and concern
Former MM Lee Kuan Yew conferred Russia's Order of Honour
A bilingual pictorial book that chronicles the life of Mr Lee Kuan Yew was launched on Friday, to commemorate his 90th birthday on Sept 16
A copy was presented to Mr Lee at his Istana office on Friday by SPH CEO Alan Chan
The book is published by Straits Times Press, the book publishing subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings
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Why is LKY absent at birthday dinner in his honour?
3 Chinese community organisations – the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations (SFCCA), the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Business China, presented the Business China Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr Lee Kuan Yew yesterday (5 Sep) to honour him.
The award was also presented in celebration of his upcoming 90th birthday on 16 September.
However, he was not present to receive the award. He despatched his second son, Lee Hsien Yang, to receive the award on his behalf. His elder son, PM Lee Hsien Loong, is away in Russia for the G20 Summit.
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LKY feeding fish at chinese garden
Some one snapped this at Chinese Garden yest 25-Aug 2013.
No one has ever seen Ah Gong in wheelchair before in public.
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Lyon-Singapore Association presents bronze bust of Lee Kuan Yew
The cult of personality has taken form with a bust that resembles Homer
Simpson. At least Lee had the courtesy not to show up, but expect much
more of this after he dies
The Singapore University of Technology and Design is now home to a bronze bust of former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
It is a gift from the Lyon-Singapore Association and the Municipality of Lyon.
The sculpture, weighing about 80 kilogrammes, was unveiled at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities in the Singapore University of Technology and Design on Tuesday.
The Lyon-Singapore Association and the Municipality of Lyon yesterday presented a gift to the Republic of a bronze bust of former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
The gesture was a tribute to Mr Lee’s outstanding accomplishments in Singapore and the world as well as ‘a token of the friendship between the French and the Singaporean people’, Lyon-Singapore Association President Alain Labat said.
Weighing 80kg and measuring 90cm in height, the bronze bust was sculpted by French artist-sculptor Nacera Kainou over six months.
LKY bronze bust indicates Lee is a dictator
Which democratic leader has an image of himself immortalized in the form of a statue or bust while he's still alive? With the exception of the likes ofWilson Nelson Mandela , who's been
immortalized in such form for his fight for freedom rather than holding
political office, the rest are dictators, tyrants and fascists. Looks
like between the democratic leader and the fascist, Lee fits the latter.
Idol worshipper French artist-sculptor Nacera Kainou kissing the bust of LKY. Make no mistake. She's not showing her admiration for the living fascist. She's just being narcissistic, loving her own sculptured work. Image taken from here.
By precedence, there are three ways a political leader gets such honour where his image is immortalized in such manner.
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Lee Kuan Yew gets the Warhol treatment
What do politician Lee Kuan Yew and artist Andy Warhol have in common?
Quite a number of things. Both are famous men born in the 1920s and both founded something - Mr Lee founded modern, independent Singapore in 1965, while Warhol founded the pop art movement in the 1960s.
Perhaps, it is apt then that artist Sukeshi Sondhi has chosen to render Mr Lee in distinctly Warholian pop art style for her upcoming solo exhibition of some 20 paintings. Using an image of Mr Lee from the 1960s when he was a young man, she depicts him in various bright colours, repeating the same image across all her canvases.
ALTHOUGH he
was feeling unwell, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew yesterday
continued his perfect record of turning up at every National
Day dinner of his Tanjong Pagar ward.
Mr Lee, who turns 90 next month, was feeling weak yesterday but refused to miss the dinner with his residents.
While there, he then went through the entire planned programme, which included delivering a 10-minute speech.
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Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew urges parents to start inculcating bilingualism in their children early
Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has urged parents to start inculcating bilingualism in their children early.
A long time advocate of bilingualism, Mr Lee said psychologists in the US have found that one can teach a 2 or 3 year-old child multiple languages, and it will not confuse him or her.
He advised parents who speak English at home to send their children to a pre-school that is strong in Chinese as early as possible and vice versa
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Introduce bilingualism to children at early age: Lee Kuan Yew
Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has urged parents in Singapore to introduce bilingualism to their children at an early age.
Mr Lee was speaking at a National Day Dinner held in Tanjong Pagar constituency
A long-time advocate of bilingualism, Mr Lee however acknowledged that the country's bilingual policy makes learning difficult, unless one starts learning both languages -- English and one's Mother Tongue -- from an early age
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Parents should not overemphasise academic results: LKY
At the Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru National Day celebration dinner yesterday, residents sang a birthday song for Mr Lee, who turns 90 on Sept 16. (Photo TODAY)
Mr Lee, 89, was not feeling well yesterday, but showed up to celebrate the occasion with about 900 residents. The Tanjong Pagar Member of Parliament (MP) and former Prime Minister waved to the audience and drew rapturous applause as he walked slowly onto the stage.
Mr Lee, who paused several times during his speech, advised English-speaking parents to send their children to a pre-school that is strong in Chinese “as early as possible”, and for Mother Tongue-speaking parents to send their children to a pre-school strong in English
Hampton Pre-School in Tanjong Pagar will provide high-quality early childhood programmes at affordable prices to young families in the constituency, he said. Fees before Goods and Services Tax and childcare subsidies will start from S$1,020 monthly for a half-day infant care programme, and from S$615 for a half-day childcare programme, according to Hampton’s website
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LKY now tells parents not to overemphasise academic results [Is he for real?]
It is strange that Mr Lee is now telling Singapore parents not to place too much emphasis on their children’s academic results.
In a newspaper article by The Straits Times on 20 Dec 1984, it was reported that Mr Lee himself went ahead to compare the ‘O’-level results of former opposition MP Chiam See Tong with those of former Minister Mah Bow Tan. Mah was a President Scholar who used to “ace” his exams. Both were candidates for the Potong Pasir ward in the 1984 general election.
Mr Lee, then Prime Minister of Singapore, told Singaporeans that they might be disappointed when opposition members got into Parliament.
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Lee Kuan Yew's views obsolete, or the truth hurts?
‘His view somewhat represents the Mahathir generation ... always looking at the dichotomy between rights and race, black and white,' says the PKR de facto leader.
Anwar Ibrahim should not not brush aside former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew's views on Malaysia and its race based politics. This is perhaps his last book, and he had "let it all out" his thoughts and feelings about Singapore, Malaysia, Asean, China, USA and the rest of the world.
If you read between the lines, he wants Malaysia to succeed.
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Tun Mahathir: Former Singapore premier is old
He's a 90-year-old man. We (should) give allowance to him, (just) like people who give allowance to me.
Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s views expressed in his new book, One Man’s View of the World, are "obsolete," said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The views represented the Mahathir generation, he add“
We should not always look at the dichotomy between rights and race, black and white. "For example, he (Lee) talks about race-based policies, but there is very little understanding of the discourse in the last decade,” he said.
Anwar said Lee was still "trapped in the old mindset," when he used to be in the opposition during Malaya before Singapore was established.
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Time for Kuan Yew to ‘ride into the sunset'
Karpal Singh hit out at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew today for doubting Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) ability to lead Malaysia, saying it was time for the elderly former prime minister to give up the reins of leadership and “quietly ride into the sunset”.
Commenting on Lee’s recently released book “One Man’s Viewof the World”, the DAP chairman and Bukit Gelugor MP said Lee had every right to give his views but the Singaporean politician should first look at his own party.
“His comment that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will not effectively govern the country had it been successful in winning over federal power is without any basis,” the DAP national chairman said in a press conference here.
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Kuan Yew and the Malay position
ONE MAN'S VIEW: By installing Stamford Raffles as its founder, Singapore marginalised its intimate link to the Johor-Riau sultanate:
LEE Kuan Yew's (LKY) Malaysia A Different Path in his One Man's View of the World is important for a simple reason. It is a reflection of how an overwhelming majority of Chinese Malaysians and a sizeable number of Indian Malaysians feel about Malaysia. It is this feeling that expressed itself through the ballot box on May 5.
For these Malaysians, the greatest threat to inter-ethnic unity and harmony is Malay dominance. LKY alludes to "dominance of one race" (p. 162). He argues that when Singapore was part of Malaysia between 1963 and 1965, he fought for a "truly multiracial country", a Malaysian Malaysia. As he puts it in his book, "We had to go by the Constitution, which did not say that it was a Malay Malaysia but a Malaysian Malaysia." (p. 160)
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Lee Kuan Yew, telling it like it is
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister and the father of the island republic's current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, launched his latest book "One Man's View Of The World" yesterday.
The 400-page book features conversations in Singapore last year between him and his long-time admirer, Helmut Schmidt, the former chancellor of West Germany. They discussed world affairs.
Lee's comments on Malaysia were particularly scathing, not surprising given his rocky relationship with leaders on this side of the causeway. Singapore was ejected from the Malaysian federation in 1965 by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first prime minister of Malaysia.
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Lee Kuan Yew airs concern about Iskandar
Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, warned against the risks in helping to develop an economic zone in neighbouring Malaysia, adding that the wealthy city-state he helped build might not be around in 100 years if it did not pick good leaders.
“I am absolutely sure that if Singapore gets a dumb government, we are done for,” Lee, who turns 90 next month, wrote in One Man’s View of the World, a book launched today.
Losing none of the candour that made him one of Asia’s most influential leaders, Lee had sharp words for some of Singapore’s neighbours, in particular Malaysia, from which Singapore split in 1965, amid ethnic tension between its Malay majority and the Chinese minority.
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‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Is A Sinhalese Extremist’ – Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, the Father of Singapore and father of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore has described Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a Sinhalese Extremist and what happened in Sri Lanka in 2009 as ethnic cleansing. This statement of Lee is a matter with great import. All these years criticism from outside was dismissed by the Sri Lankan government as by colonialists.
But this is by a respected Asian leader. After Singapore’s Senior Minister has spoken thus, will Singapore feel free to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November? He also described what happened in Sri Lanka in 2009, during the end of the civil war, as ethnic cleansing. The father of modern day Singapore made this statement during a conversation with author Thomas Plate, who wrote the book ‘Citizen Singapore: How to Build a Nation – Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew.
Lee described Sri Lanka as an “unhappy country” as it was disunited between the Sinhalese and Jaffna Tamils for decades.
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Lee Kuan Yew has praised President Xi Jinping as a man of "great breadth", comparing him to Nelson Mandela. The high praise from Lee, Singapore's founding father who turns 90 next month, comes from his new book, One Man's View of the World, which was launched yesterday.
He appeared alert but frail at the launch and did not take questions.
Lee is widely credited with building Singapore into one of the world's wealthiest nations with a strong, pervasive role for the state and little patience for dissent. His influence extended beyond the tiny population of 5.3 million, as the city state's economic success served as a model for many developing countries, including China under Deng Xiaoping , and he still garners respect from global leaders.
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Lee Kuan Yew on fate of Singapore in 100 years' time
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew waves during Singapore's National Day parade celebrations on Aug 9, 2013 - FILE PHOTO: REUTERS
On Aug 22, 2012, I received a thank-you card from a Singaporean by the name of James Ow-Yeong Keen Hoy.
From his elegant, cursive handwriting, I guess he must at least be in his 50s. Young people these days prefer to type, and when they do write, they simply do not write as beautifully.
He wrote: "My family is deeply grateful and has benefited from your magnificent leadership and solid contributions that have enabled our nation to achieve peace, happiness, progress, prosperity, solidarity and security all these good years. A big thank you!
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S'pore can "dissolve into nothingness" - Kuan Yew warns
Singapore former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said a country that does not grow its population risks dissolving "into nothingness".
Mr Lee was speaking at a wide-ranging dialogue session organised by Standard Chartered Bank on Wednesday evening. Joining Mr Lee for the dialogue was former chairman of the US Federal Reserve and former chairman of US President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Paul Volcker.
This was the first time Mr Lee was speaking about Singapore's changing demographics since the Population White Paper was endorsed in Parliament.
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Photo & video only when LKY is seated for book launch
Jeremy Grant, a journalist from the Financial Times, was invited to the Istana for the press conference of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s latest book launch on 6 August last week.
A team from The Straits Times provided research and editorial material, and conducted a series of interviews with Mr Lee. Excerpts of these interviews are included in each chapter. The team included Han Fook Kwang, Zuraidah Ibrahim, Chua Mui Hoong and Elgin Toh.
During the whole event, Jeremy Grant twittered (https://twitter.com/TradingJeremy) the following tweets, giving a good insight into the happenings during Mr Lee’s book launch:
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Launch of Lee Kuan Yew's new book
Straits Times Press, the book publishing unit of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), announced today the launch of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's new book.
Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew planted a rain tree at Holland Village Park on Sunday, continuing a what has become an unbroken 50-year tradition.
On the same day in 1963, Mr Lee planted a mempat tree at Farrer Circus, then a traffic roundabout, to signify the start of an island-wide tree-planting campaign.
The National Parks Board will mark 50 years of tree-planting and greening Singapore by setting aside 1,963 trees for members of the public to plant from now until November this year
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Collection of Lee Kuan Yew's works launched
A collection of former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's speeches, interviews and dialogues was launched today at a ceremony held at The Fullerton Hotel.
"The Papers of Lee Kuan Yew: Speeches, Interviews and Dialogues (1950 - 1990)" is a four-decade collection from the National Archives of Singapore (NAS).
Material deposited over time from the office of the Press Secretary to Mr Lee, the former Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, and agencies such as the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts are also included
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Lee: Present generation will change policy-formulation
Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew gave a speech at the launch of a collection of his dialogues, interviews and speeches yesterday.
Mr Lee said that the papers includes his earliest speech at the Malayan Forum in London in January 1950 and his last interviews as Prime Minister before stepping down in 1990. This is a transcript of his speech:
The speeches cover a broad spectrum of topics including my positions on colonialism, self-governance, politics, social and economic policies.
Fifty years of Lee Kuan Yew
It's telling that a Malaysian and not a Singapore newspaper noted Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew completed 50 years in office, becoming the world's longest surviving national leader, on June 5. It was on that day 50 years ago he was sworn in as the first prime minister of a self-governing Singapore. He was succeeded in 1990 by his deputy, Goh Chok Tong, who in 2004 handed over power to Mr Lee's son – current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Singapore has never known a day since the end of British rule when it has not been under the firm and capable leadership of Mr Lee and his People's Action Party. He has led the tiny city state of 4.8 million people to prosperity. From Third World To First is the title of the second volume of his memoirs.
The Star asks:
Related posts:
SDP: Kuan Yew's half-century
leewatch:Kuan Yew’s half-century
SingaporeWindow: Majority of Singaporeans want Lee to retire: Internet poll
He said the standard of living has improved and public housing must keep up with rising aspirations. Older estates have benefited from a range of programmes such as the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) and the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP). He said,
“Everybody owns their own homes and the value of their homes go up as development takes place. Some are unwise enough to sell their homes, thinking they can buy another one, they then find they can’t and have to rent a flat.”
“But those who held on to their homes, I’ve seen their property values going up, five times, 10 times, 15 times, 20 times. This was the plan which we had from the very beginning, to give everybody a home at cost or below cost and as development takes place, everybody gets a lift, all boats rise as the tide rises.”
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A Post-LKY Singapore?
They crammed into an art cafe in Singapore and pulled no punches, deriding authoritarian officials who ruled with an "iron fist" and complaining that government ministers with million-dollar salaries were out of touch
One woman, a middle-aged professional, got nods of agreement when she said modern Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, had done great things but that new ways were needed from current leaders still practising a "do-as-I-say style of parenting"
Singapore remains regimented but the unusually frank criticism at the recent gathering, part of a government-run national "conversation" about the city state's future, reflects the reality that this is no longer the era of Lee Kuan Yew.
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The Cult of Lee
Singapore is more than one man, however great he was. Was. Recently he was seen in a wheelchair. The guy is...what's that word, errr, old. What do you expect, this mortal coil that affect all great and small. This cult of Lee does more harm than good to the Singaporean psyche of little red dot punching beyond its weight.
You mean we can't go on without him? Yes we can.
To think we cannot disrespects the former PM. Respect him, but not deify dear Harry. FFS. Imagine this, he is not even dead yet and there is so much fanfare about his birthdays and books. Why the hell is his birthday news BTW? If 16 September is anything to remember for, it should be Malaysia Day, when Singapore joined the Federation and it sealed Singapore's fate and separation from Malaysia 2 years later in 1965. Not the old guy's birthday, tremendous respect though I have for him.
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The Gospel of Harry
– Inspiration: Early Birthday Wishes For Mr Lee Kuan Yew
– Loh and Behold: Poor Fella Is Not Dead Yet Lah!
– Exposing Singapore: I don’t think Lee Kuan Yew is going to see past New Year
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Lee Kuan Yew on death: I want mine quickly, painlessly
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee shakes hands with Director of Singapore Press
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew shakes hands with Director of Singapore Press Holdings Lee Boon Yang (L) after unveiling Lee's new book at the Istana in Singapore August 6, 2013. The new book by Lee entitled One Man's View of the World was launched on Tuesday. The 400-page book touched on developments around the world and contained harsh words about neighbouring Malaysia, which Lee had terse relations with when he was prime minister. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE - Tags: MEDIA POLITICS)
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Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew looks at his son Prime Minister LHL
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (C) looks at his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (not pictured) as he arrives for his book launch at the Istana in Singapore August 6, 2013. The new book by Lee entitled One Man's View of the World was launched on Tuesday. The 400-page book touched on developments around the world and contained harsh words about neighbouring Malaysia, which Lee had terse relations with when he was prime minister. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE - Tags: POLITICS MEDIA TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
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Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew attends his book launch at
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (3rd R) receives an applause from guests including his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (L) during his book launch at the Istana in Singapore August 6, 2013. The new book by Lee entitled One Man's View of the World was launched on Tuesday. The 400 page book touched on developments around the world and contained harsh words about neighbouring Malaysia, which Lee had terse relations with when he was prime minister. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE - Tags: POLITICS MEDIA)
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National Day 2014
As per tradition, Singapore held a parade late afternoon on 9 August to celebrate its 48th birthday at The Float@Marina Bay, the world’s largest floating stadium. Some 27,000 people watched the proceedings which lasted about three hours and took on a variety show format. Highlights included a performance by BMX bikers and a human LED display. Also, as usual, spectacular fireworks capped the festivities.
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew waves during Singapore's national day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
Singapore's former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew watches Singapore's National Day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew covers his ears as fighter jets fly past for an aerial display during Singapore's national day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (2nd L) sings the national anthem during Singapore's national day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (R) listens to his security aide during Singapore's national day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
Singapore's former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (L) and Senior Minister of State Heng Chee How watch Singapore's National Day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (L) smiles as he watches a performance during Singapore's national day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
Singapore's Senior Minister of State Heng Chee How (C) helps former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew switch on a light stick during Singapore's national day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (L) waves a light stick during Singapore's national day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
A woman watches the fireworks during Singapore's national day parade celebrations August 9, 2013
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Here's wishing Mr Lee Kuan Yew a Happy 91st Birthday!
LKY letters show he is clueless without others
The letters were published in ST on 29 & 30/12/84. This was the period when 24 old guards stepped down for the 26 so-called new generation ‘leaders’ (including LHL) to take over the Government.
After 1984, without those fine old guards, LKY became a nobody. He came up with silly ideas like:
• Graduate Mothers’ Scheme – a scheme to favour the children of mothers with a university degree in primary school placement and registration process over the lesser-educated [Link]
• Toiling with the idea to change the one-man-one-vote system – “I’m not intellectually convinced that one-man, one-vote is the best. We practice it because that’s what the British bequeathed us and we haven’t really found a need to challenge that. But I’m convinced, personally, that we would have a better system if we gave every man over the age of 40 who has a family two votes because he’s likely to be more careful, voting also for his children. He is more likely to vote in a serious way than a capricious young man under 30.” [Link]
• Toiling with the idea of polygamy – “And the way the old society did it was by polygamy. The successful, whether you’re a scholar, a Mandarin or a successful businessman or successful farmer, you had more than one wife. In fact you can have as many as your economic status entitles you or can persuade people to give their daughters up to you.
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GENES CAN BE INHERITED BUT NOT PERFORMANCE
The PM’s performance was the focus of the media interview at the end of SingFirst’s walkabout in his Ang Mo Kio GRC yesterday. It is common knowledge and widely felt among Singaporeans that the economy has become less robust and society is more divided, stressed and unhappy.
He has failed to repeat his father’s achievements as PM.
Lee Hsien Loong’s dismal record is unimaginable given that he has been “trained” as minister for 20 years before taking on the job as PM in 2004. Neither have the genes from his father been of much help. He might have inherited intelligent genes from his father but certainly not his performance. Unhappiness with their MP’s performance as PM was evident from our conversations with several groups of AMK residents in our walkabout. We met many residents who were severely affected by PAP’s policies that did not create a trickle down effect for the lower to middle class families, even in the PM’s GRC.
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related:
DUM FATA SINUNT, VIVITE LAETI: Beloved Mr Lee?
Anyhow Hantam: LKY Writes Another Book
visakan veerasamy.: Lee Kuan Yew and Paul Graham quotes
Mothership: 10 quotable quotes that only Lee Kuan Yew is capable of
The Void Decker: On Lee Kuan Yew and what he said
Everything Also Complain: LKY antagonising an entire generation of Chinese
THE DIARY OF A REBELLIOUS BUDDHIST: One Man’s View of the Afterworld
Where Bears Roam Free: LKY bronze bust indicates Lee is a dictator
Din Merican: Lee Kuan Yew strikes again: Malaysia on the Defensive Mode
The Star Online: Dr M on Lee Kuan Yew: He's old, give him some allowance
The Sun Daily: Lee Kuan Yew entitled to his opinion: Tun M
Astro Awani: Tun Mahathir: Former Singapore premier is old
Global Post: S'pore's Lee Kuan Yew airs concern about Malaysian economic zone
SCM Post: Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew says Xi Jinping is in Mandela
Sin Chew Jit Poh: Race-based policies put Malaysia at disadvantage: LKY
The Star Online: Lee: Even a 'baby bonus' won't help
Business Times: Latest Lee Kuan Yew book launched at Istana
The Sun Daily: Low birth rate not my fault: Lee Kwan Yew
Bernama: Former Singapore PM Kuan Yew Launches New Book
Straits Times: Lee Kuan Yew: New book is unvarnished account
Nzweek: Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew launches new book on world's major powers
The Malay Mail Online: Lee Kuan Yew airs concern about Iskandar
Malaysia Chronicle: World leaders praise Kuan Yew's new book but from Malaysia
Malaysia Chronicle: ABSOLUTELY TRUE? M'sia willing to lose talent so that Malays
Asia One: Good credentials, but disappointing in Parliament
The Star: Lee Kuan Yew on death: I want mine quickly, painlessly
90 reasons why you secretly fancy Lee Kuan Yew
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Lee Kuan Yew through the years
An emotional Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew during the press conference in 1965 to announce Singapore's separation from Malaysia.
A look back at the life and times of Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
related:
Wise sayings of Lee Kuan Yew
Constituents hope to see Lee Kuan Yew again at events
More stories on Lee Kuan Yew
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Lee Kuan Yew: The Funniest Asian Man To Ever Have Lived On Planet Earth
The Credit For Singapore's Success
During the past fortnight, many accolades were heaped on the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister, who died on 23 March. Many of the accolades ignored the contributions of others who contributed to the Singapore success story.
Who were some of these people? Mr Lee's fellow cabinet ministers in the 1960s and 1970s such as Dr Goh Keng Swee, Dr Toh Chin Chye, Mr Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, Mr Hon Sui Sen and Mr Lim Kim San.
Unlike Mr Lee who remained at the centre of political power, these men stopped participating in legislative duties and have dropped out of public view, and possibly public consciousness, for more than a quarter of a century. Mr Lee said:
The Singapore Story
My earliest and most vivid recollection is of being held by my ears over a well in the compound of a house where my family was then living, at what is now Tembeling Road in Singapore. I was about four years old.
I had been mischievous and had messed up an expensive jar of my father's 4711 pale-green scented brilliantine. My father had a violent temper, but that evening his rage went through the roof. He took me by the scruff of the neck from the house to this well and held me over it. How could my ears have been so tough that they were not ripped off, dropping me into that well? Fifty years later, in the 1970s, I read in Scientific American an article explaining how pain and shock release neuropeptides in the brain, stamping the new experience into the brain cells and thus ensuring that the experience would be remembered for a long time afterwards.
I was born in Singapore on 16 September 1923 in a large two-story bungalow at 92 Kampong Java Road. My mother, Chua Jim Neo, was then 16 years old. My father, Lee Chin Koon, was 20. Their parents had arranged the marriage a year previously. Both families must have thought it an excellent match, for they later married my father's younger sister to my mother's younger brother.
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The famiLEE tree
The famiLEE feud: PM Lee "I'm not sure that it is solved"
The famiLEE feud: AGC to start legal action on Li Shengwu for contempt
The famiLEE feud: AGC looking into FB post by Lee Hsien Yang's son
The famiLEE feud: Protest at Hong Lim Park
The famiLEE feud: Demolish the house, end the saga, let's move on
The famiLEE feud: LWL, LHY to stop presenting online evidence
The famiLEE feud: Lee Hsien Yang responds to Parliament Hearing
The famiLEE feud: Parliamentary Hearing on Oxley's Dispute
The famiLEE feud: PM Lee Hsien Loong's Ministerial Statement
The famiLEE feud: Why LHY is speaking up
The famiLEE feud: July 3 Parliament session a cover-up & whitewash?
The famiLEE feud: Not another minister on the Will again!
The famiLEE feud: Lee Hsien Yang & his wife in Hong Kong
The famiLEE feud: Rise of the 'First Lady'
The famiLEE feud: Govt 'Poking Nose' into Oxley's fate
The famiLEE feud: Will House Debate clear the air?
The famiLEE feud: PM apologises for family feud
The famiLEE feud: Sporeans sick tired of endless Oxley Rd allegations
The famiLEE feud: "Past three days"
The famiLEE feud: "Will of Wills"
Frail but still a Giant - Mr Lee
This afternoon at our tea break, the conversation at our table fell into a respectful silence for a moment. With my back to the door, I had not seen Mr Lee enter the Members' Room. We all stood up and made space for him. He insisted on getting up from his wheelchair and to sit with us and just have a drink. While he looks much thinner and gaunt and halting though his speech, the conversation we had over the next 15 minutes reveal the continued sharpness of his mind and the wisdom and counsel of his years.
I walked behind him as he entered the chamber, and was reminded of the painting by Dr Lai Kui Fang which hangs outside the Parliament Library, a recreation from interviews and memories of that moment in 1959, when Mr Lee and his comrades led Singapore to self-government, and how the now slightly frail gentleman is a giant of our nation.
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Extremely thin & gaunt Lee Kuan Yew meeting Brunei Sultan sparks shock and concern
A new picture of Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who is now 90 years old, has drawn concern from people on Singapore’s internet space
Recently, state broadcaster Channel NewsAsia tweeted this photo of former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, courtesy of the Ministry of Communication and Information.
It shows Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and his wife the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha flanking Lee at the Istana on 21st April 2014 during the Brunei leader’s state visit to Singapore.
People on social media quickly started expressing their concern over how emaciated the former prime minister looked.
Picture of extremely thin & gaunt Lee Kuan Yew meeting Brunei Sultan sparks shock and concern
CNA sets off unintentional waves in cyberspace, no followup yet from the MSM.
Perhaps the government shared the picture of him to reassure us that he's still doing okay.
What do people expect, he's 90! I think he does look frail in this photo, but at least he still can make it to public events, wishing him good health! - Asiaone
Lee Kuan Yew attends Chinese New Year party at Istana
Back from the hospital, Lee is trotted out for the media. Straits Times:
Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew attended an annual Chinese New Year party for grassroots leaders at the Istana on Sunday evening. The Chinese New Year garden party was hosted by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Cabinet ministers.
It was the elder Mr Lee’s first public appearance since he attended two days of Parliament sittings last month.
Last Tuesday, Mr Lee, 90, was due to speak at an annual Chinese New Year dinner in his Tanjong Pagar GRC but could not attend due to ill health.
Former MM Lee Kuan Yew conferred Russia's Order of Honour
President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has conferred the Order of Honour on Singapore's former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
Mr Lee was honoured on 10 September 2013 for his substantial contribution to strengthening friendship and cooperation with the Russian Federation and development of scientific and cultural relations.
The award was also conferred in conjunction with Mr Lee's 90th birthday in 2013.
New pictorial book tells Lee Kuan Yew's life story
A bilingual pictorial book that chronicles the life of Mr Lee Kuan Yew was launched on Friday, to commemorate his 90th birthday on Sept 16
A copy was presented to Mr Lee at his Istana office on Friday by SPH CEO Alan Chan
The book is published by Straits Times Press, the book publishing subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings
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Why is LKY absent at birthday dinner in his honour?
3 Chinese community organisations – the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations (SFCCA), the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Business China, presented the Business China Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr Lee Kuan Yew yesterday (5 Sep) to honour him.
The award was also presented in celebration of his upcoming 90th birthday on 16 September.
However, he was not present to receive the award. He despatched his second son, Lee Hsien Yang, to receive the award on his behalf. His elder son, PM Lee Hsien Loong, is away in Russia for the G20 Summit.
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LKY feeding fish at chinese garden
Some one snapped this at Chinese Garden yest 25-Aug 2013.
No one has ever seen Ah Gong in wheelchair before in public.
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Lyon-Singapore Association presents bronze bust of Lee Kuan Yew
The Singapore University of Technology and Design is now home to a bronze bust of former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
It is a gift from the Lyon-Singapore Association and the Municipality of Lyon.
The sculpture, weighing about 80 kilogrammes, was unveiled at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities in the Singapore University of Technology and Design on Tuesday.
The Lyon-Singapore Association and the Municipality of Lyon yesterday presented a gift to the Republic of a bronze bust of former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
The gesture was a tribute to Mr Lee’s outstanding accomplishments in Singapore and the world as well as ‘a token of the friendship between the French and the Singaporean people’, Lyon-Singapore Association President Alain Labat said.
Weighing 80kg and measuring 90cm in height, the bronze bust was sculpted by French artist-sculptor Nacera Kainou over six months.
LKY bronze bust indicates Lee is a dictator
Which democratic leader has an image of himself immortalized in the form of a statue or bust while he's still alive? With the exception of the likes of
Idol worshipper French artist-sculptor Nacera Kainou kissing the bust of LKY. Make no mistake. She's not showing her admiration for the living fascist. She's just being narcissistic, loving her own sculptured work. Image taken from here.
By precedence, there are three ways a political leader gets such honour where his image is immortalized in such manner.
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Lee Kuan Yew gets the Warhol treatment
What do politician Lee Kuan Yew and artist Andy Warhol have in common?
Quite a number of things. Both are famous men born in the 1920s and both founded something - Mr Lee founded modern, independent Singapore in 1965, while Warhol founded the pop art movement in the 1960s.
Perhaps, it is apt then that artist Sukeshi Sondhi has chosen to render Mr Lee in distinctly Warholian pop art style for her upcoming solo exhibition of some 20 paintings. Using an image of Mr Lee from the 1960s when he was a young man, she depicts him in various bright colours, repeating the same image across all her canvases.
Mr Lee, who turns 90 next month, was feeling weak yesterday but refused to miss the dinner with his residents.
While there, he then went through the entire planned programme, which included delivering a 10-minute speech.
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Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew urges parents to start inculcating bilingualism in their children early
Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has urged parents to start inculcating bilingualism in their children early.
A long time advocate of bilingualism, Mr Lee said psychologists in the US have found that one can teach a 2 or 3 year-old child multiple languages, and it will not confuse him or her.
He advised parents who speak English at home to send their children to a pre-school that is strong in Chinese as early as possible and vice versa
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Introduce bilingualism to children at early age: Lee Kuan Yew
Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has urged parents in Singapore to introduce bilingualism to their children at an early age.
Mr Lee was speaking at a National Day Dinner held in Tanjong Pagar constituency
A long-time advocate of bilingualism, Mr Lee however acknowledged that the country's bilingual policy makes learning difficult, unless one starts learning both languages -- English and one's Mother Tongue -- from an early age
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Parents should not overemphasise academic results: LKY
Mr Lee, 89, was not feeling well yesterday, but showed up to celebrate the occasion with about 900 residents. The Tanjong Pagar Member of Parliament (MP) and former Prime Minister waved to the audience and drew rapturous applause as he walked slowly onto the stage.
Mr Lee, who paused several times during his speech, advised English-speaking parents to send their children to a pre-school that is strong in Chinese “as early as possible”, and for Mother Tongue-speaking parents to send their children to a pre-school strong in English
Hampton Pre-School in Tanjong Pagar will provide high-quality early childhood programmes at affordable prices to young families in the constituency, he said. Fees before Goods and Services Tax and childcare subsidies will start from S$1,020 monthly for a half-day infant care programme, and from S$615 for a half-day childcare programme, according to Hampton’s website
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LKY now tells parents not to overemphasise academic results [Is he for real?]
It is strange that Mr Lee is now telling Singapore parents not to place too much emphasis on their children’s academic results.
In a newspaper article by The Straits Times on 20 Dec 1984, it was reported that Mr Lee himself went ahead to compare the ‘O’-level results of former opposition MP Chiam See Tong with those of former Minister Mah Bow Tan. Mah was a President Scholar who used to “ace” his exams. Both were candidates for the Potong Pasir ward in the 1984 general election.
Mr Lee, then Prime Minister of Singapore, told Singaporeans that they might be disappointed when opposition members got into Parliament.
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Lee Kuan Yew's views obsolete, or the truth hurts?
‘His view somewhat represents the Mahathir generation ... always looking at the dichotomy between rights and race, black and white,' says the PKR de facto leader.
Anwar Ibrahim should not not brush aside former Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew's views on Malaysia and its race based politics. This is perhaps his last book, and he had "let it all out" his thoughts and feelings about Singapore, Malaysia, Asean, China, USA and the rest of the world.
If you read between the lines, he wants Malaysia to succeed.
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Tun Mahathir: Former Singapore premier is old
He's a 90-year-old man. We (should) give allowance to him, (just) like people who give allowance to me.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 88, said this when asked to comment on former Singapore premier Lee Kuan Yew's latest book, One Mans View of The World, which was launched on Tuesday.
Among others, the book quoted Lee as saying: Malaysias race-based politics placed the country at a disadvantage and was voluntarily shrinking the talent pool.
Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s views expressed in his new book, One Man’s View of the World, are "obsolete," said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The views represented the Mahathir generation, he add“
We should not always look at the dichotomy between rights and race, black and white. "For example, he (Lee) talks about race-based policies, but there is very little understanding of the discourse in the last decade,” he said.
Anwar said Lee was still "trapped in the old mindset," when he used to be in the opposition during Malaya before Singapore was established.
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Time for Kuan Yew to ‘ride into the sunset'
Karpal Singh hit out at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew today for doubting Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) ability to lead Malaysia, saying it was time for the elderly former prime minister to give up the reins of leadership and “quietly ride into the sunset”.
Commenting on Lee’s recently released book “One Man’s Viewof the World”, the DAP chairman and Bukit Gelugor MP said Lee had every right to give his views but the Singaporean politician should first look at his own party.
“His comment that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will not effectively govern the country had it been successful in winning over federal power is without any basis,” the DAP national chairman said in a press conference here.
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Kuan Yew and the Malay position
ONE MAN'S VIEW: By installing Stamford Raffles as its founder, Singapore marginalised its intimate link to the Johor-Riau sultanate:
LEE Kuan Yew's (LKY) Malaysia A Different Path in his One Man's View of the World is important for a simple reason. It is a reflection of how an overwhelming majority of Chinese Malaysians and a sizeable number of Indian Malaysians feel about Malaysia. It is this feeling that expressed itself through the ballot box on May 5.
For these Malaysians, the greatest threat to inter-ethnic unity and harmony is Malay dominance. LKY alludes to "dominance of one race" (p. 162). He argues that when Singapore was part of Malaysia between 1963 and 1965, he fought for a "truly multiracial country", a Malaysian Malaysia. As he puts it in his book, "We had to go by the Constitution, which did not say that it was a Malay Malaysia but a Malaysian Malaysia." (p. 160)
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Lee Kuan Yew, telling it like it is
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister and the father of the island republic's current prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, launched his latest book "One Man's View Of The World" yesterday.
The 400-page book features conversations in Singapore last year between him and his long-time admirer, Helmut Schmidt, the former chancellor of West Germany. They discussed world affairs.
Lee's comments on Malaysia were particularly scathing, not surprising given his rocky relationship with leaders on this side of the causeway. Singapore was ejected from the Malaysian federation in 1965 by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first prime minister of Malaysia.
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Lee Kuan Yew airs concern about Iskandar
Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, warned against the risks in helping to develop an economic zone in neighbouring Malaysia, adding that the wealthy city-state he helped build might not be around in 100 years if it did not pick good leaders.
“I am absolutely sure that if Singapore gets a dumb government, we are done for,” Lee, who turns 90 next month, wrote in One Man’s View of the World, a book launched today.
Losing none of the candour that made him one of Asia’s most influential leaders, Lee had sharp words for some of Singapore’s neighbours, in particular Malaysia, from which Singapore split in 1965, amid ethnic tension between its Malay majority and the Chinese minority.
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‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Is A Sinhalese Extremist’ – Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, the Father of Singapore and father of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore has described Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a Sinhalese Extremist and what happened in Sri Lanka in 2009 as ethnic cleansing. This statement of Lee is a matter with great import. All these years criticism from outside was dismissed by the Sri Lankan government as by colonialists.
But this is by a respected Asian leader. After Singapore’s Senior Minister has spoken thus, will Singapore feel free to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November? He also described what happened in Sri Lanka in 2009, during the end of the civil war, as ethnic cleansing. The father of modern day Singapore made this statement during a conversation with author Thomas Plate, who wrote the book ‘Citizen Singapore: How to Build a Nation – Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew.
Lee described Sri Lanka as an “unhappy country” as it was disunited between the Sinhalese and Jaffna Tamils for decades.
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Lee Kuan Yew on life after Cabinet... and death
Mr and Mrs Lee at the Istana in 1989 with (from left) Hsien Loong's youngest son Haoyi (on Mrs Lee's lap), Hsien Yang's sons Shengwu and Huanwu, and Hsien Loong's second son Hongyi (with Mr Lee)
Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's new book launched last Tuesday, One Man's View Of The World, presents what he thinks about the future of major powers and regions.
In these extracts, he speaks about death and dying, a younger generation of Singaporeans who have known only a thriving Singapore, as well as Japan's ageing society and Europe's currency woes.
Mr Lee: "My daily routine is set. I wake up, clear my e-mail, read the newspapers, do my exercises and have lunch. After that, I go to my office at the Istana, clear more papers and write articles or speeches.
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"One World's View Of The Man"
The World’s Eye on “One Man’s View…” Indeed, quite a few international media outlets have focused their coverage of the book on Mr Lee’s defence of his own policies, especially with regard to Singapore’s population policies. Another element that has gained traction in the international media are his thoughts on life and death. He will be 90 next month
Reporting that Mr Lee “feels weaker by the day and wants a quick death”, AFP also claims that he has “visibly weakened” since his wife died in 2010 and that the loss “shattered the normally stoic veteran politician”. The Gulf Times also reports on Mr Lee’s wishes to “make a quick exit” should he reach a stage of incapacitation from which recovery is deemed unlikely.
If the international media coverage on his book is any indication, whether you agree or disagree with the man, or love or hate him, when Mr Lee Kuan Yew speaks, the world takes notice.
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Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, who will turn 90 next month, said in a new book that he feels weaker by the day and wants death "to come as quickly and painlessly as possible."
"Some time back, I had an Advanced Medical Directive (AMD) done which says that if I have to be fed by a tube, and it is unlikely that I would ever be able to recover and walk about, my doctors are to remove the tube and allow me to make a quick exit," he wrote in the book "One Man's View of the World" published Tuesday
The book is dedicated to the Asian statesman's views on international affairs but an entire chapter contains his musings on death, religion and other personal issues.
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Singapore ex-PM Lee says wants a quick death
Lee has visibly weakened since then and revealed in the book that despite daily exercise and a disciplined lifestyle, “with every passing day I am physically less energetic and less active.”
“There is an end to everything and I want mine to come as quickly and painlessly as possible, not with me incapacitated, half in coma in bed and with a tube going into my nostrils and down to my stomach,” he wrote.
On his fears for the future of Singapore, Lee, who once famously vowed to rise from his grave if something went wrong with the country, now seems ready to let fate run its course.
“I have done my job,” he said. “I found a successor and handed over to another generation... I cannot live forever as a young, vigorous 40- or 50-year-old.”
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Mr and Mrs Lee at the Istana in 1989 with (from left) Hsien Loong's youngest son Haoyi (on Mrs Lee's lap), Hsien Yang's sons Shengwu and Huanwu, and Hsien Loong's second son Hongyi (with Mr Lee)
Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's new book launched last Tuesday, One Man's View Of The World, presents what he thinks about the future of major powers and regions.
In these extracts, he speaks about death and dying, a younger generation of Singaporeans who have known only a thriving Singapore, as well as Japan's ageing society and Europe's currency woes.
Mr Lee: "My daily routine is set. I wake up, clear my e-mail, read the newspapers, do my exercises and have lunch. After that, I go to my office at the Istana, clear more papers and write articles or speeches.
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"One World's View Of The Man"
The World’s Eye on “One Man’s View…” Indeed, quite a few international media outlets have focused their coverage of the book on Mr Lee’s defence of his own policies, especially with regard to Singapore’s population policies. Another element that has gained traction in the international media are his thoughts on life and death. He will be 90 next month
Reporting that Mr Lee “feels weaker by the day and wants a quick death”, AFP also claims that he has “visibly weakened” since his wife died in 2010 and that the loss “shattered the normally stoic veteran politician”. The Gulf Times also reports on Mr Lee’s wishes to “make a quick exit” should he reach a stage of incapacitation from which recovery is deemed unlikely.
If the international media coverage on his book is any indication, whether you agree or disagree with the man, or love or hate him, when Mr Lee Kuan Yew speaks, the world takes notice.
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Lee Kuan Yew on death: I want mine quickly, painlessly
Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew, who will turn 90 next month, said in a new book that he feels weaker by the day and wants death "to come as quickly and painlessly as possible."
"Some time back, I had an Advanced Medical Directive (AMD) done which says that if I have to be fed by a tube, and it is unlikely that I would ever be able to recover and walk about, my doctors are to remove the tube and allow me to make a quick exit," he wrote in the book "One Man's View of the World" published Tuesday
The book is dedicated to the Asian statesman's views on international affairs but an entire chapter contains his musings on death, religion and other personal issues.
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Singapore ex-PM Lee says wants a quick death
Lee has visibly weakened since then and revealed in the book that despite daily exercise and a disciplined lifestyle, “with every passing day I am physically less energetic and less active.”
“There is an end to everything and I want mine to come as quickly and painlessly as possible, not with me incapacitated, half in coma in bed and with a tube going into my nostrils and down to my stomach,” he wrote.
On his fears for the future of Singapore, Lee, who once famously vowed to rise from his grave if something went wrong with the country, now seems ready to let fate run its course.
“I have done my job,” he said. “I found a successor and handed over to another generation... I cannot live forever as a young, vigorous 40- or 50-year-old.”
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Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew says Xi Jinping is in Mandela's class
Lee Kuan Yew has praised President Xi Jinping as a man of "great breadth", comparing him to Nelson Mandela. The high praise from Lee, Singapore's founding father who turns 90 next month, comes from his new book, One Man's View of the World, which was launched yesterday.
He appeared alert but frail at the launch and did not take questions.
Lee is widely credited with building Singapore into one of the world's wealthiest nations with a strong, pervasive role for the state and little patience for dissent. His influence extended beyond the tiny population of 5.3 million, as the city state's economic success served as a model for many developing countries, including China under Deng Xiaoping , and he still garners respect from global leaders.
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Lee Kuan Yew on fate of Singapore in 100 years' time
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew waves during Singapore's National Day parade celebrations on Aug 9, 2013 - FILE PHOTO: REUTERS
On Aug 22, 2012, I received a thank-you card from a Singaporean by the name of James Ow-Yeong Keen Hoy.
From his elegant, cursive handwriting, I guess he must at least be in his 50s. Young people these days prefer to type, and when they do write, they simply do not write as beautifully.
He wrote: "My family is deeply grateful and has benefited from your magnificent leadership and solid contributions that have enabled our nation to achieve peace, happiness, progress, prosperity, solidarity and security all these good years. A big thank you!
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S'pore can "dissolve into nothingness" - Kuan Yew warns
Singapore former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said a country that does not grow its population risks dissolving "into nothingness".
Mr Lee was speaking at a wide-ranging dialogue session organised by Standard Chartered Bank on Wednesday evening. Joining Mr Lee for the dialogue was former chairman of the US Federal Reserve and former chairman of US President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, Paul Volcker.
This was the first time Mr Lee was speaking about Singapore's changing demographics since the Population White Paper was endorsed in Parliament.
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Photo & video only when LKY is seated for book launch
Jeremy Grant, a journalist from the Financial Times, was invited to the Istana for the press conference of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s latest book launch on 6 August last week.
A team from The Straits Times provided research and editorial material, and conducted a series of interviews with Mr Lee. Excerpts of these interviews are included in each chapter. The team included Han Fook Kwang, Zuraidah Ibrahim, Chua Mui Hoong and Elgin Toh.
During the whole event, Jeremy Grant twittered (https://twitter.com/TradingJeremy) the following tweets, giving a good insight into the happenings during Mr Lee’s book launch:
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Launch of Lee Kuan Yew's new book
Straits Times Press, the book publishing unit of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), announced today the launch of Mr Lee Kuan Yew's new book.
Titled One Man's View of the World by Lee Kuan Yew, the 400-page
volume conveys Mr Lee's views on the future of the major powers and
regions of the world.
The book is made up of 11 chapters. The first seven cover countries
or regions: China, the United States, Europe, other Asian powers (Japan,
India and Korea), South-east Asia, Singapore and the Middle East.
Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew planted a rain tree at Holland Village Park on Sunday, continuing a what has become an unbroken 50-year tradition.
On the same day in 1963, Mr Lee planted a mempat tree at Farrer Circus, then a traffic roundabout, to signify the start of an island-wide tree-planting campaign.
The National Parks Board will mark 50 years of tree-planting and greening Singapore by setting aside 1,963 trees for members of the public to plant from now until November this year
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Collection of Lee Kuan Yew's works launched
A collection of former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's speeches, interviews and dialogues was launched today at a ceremony held at The Fullerton Hotel.
"The Papers of Lee Kuan Yew: Speeches, Interviews and Dialogues (1950 - 1990)" is a four-decade collection from the National Archives of Singapore (NAS).
Material deposited over time from the office of the Press Secretary to Mr Lee, the former Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, and agencies such as the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts are also included
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Lee: Present generation will change policy-formulation
Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew gave a speech at the launch of a collection of his dialogues, interviews and speeches yesterday.
Mr Lee said that the papers includes his earliest speech at the Malayan Forum in London in January 1950 and his last interviews as Prime Minister before stepping down in 1990. This is a transcript of his speech:
The speeches cover a broad spectrum of topics including my positions on colonialism, self-governance, politics, social and economic policies.
Fifty years of Lee Kuan Yew
It's telling that a Malaysian and not a Singapore newspaper noted Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew completed 50 years in office, becoming the world's longest surviving national leader, on June 5. It was on that day 50 years ago he was sworn in as the first prime minister of a self-governing Singapore. He was succeeded in 1990 by his deputy, Goh Chok Tong, who in 2004 handed over power to Mr Lee's son – current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Singapore has never known a day since the end of British rule when it has not been under the firm and capable leadership of Mr Lee and his People's Action Party. He has led the tiny city state of 4.8 million people to prosperity. From Third World To First is the title of the second volume of his memoirs.
The Star asks:
- So why is the image-conscious government so reticent about Lee’s political longevity?
- Party insiders say it is because he is bent on avoiding doing anything that will promote a personality cult…
- Critics, however, give a different reason. One said the government would rather not mention the subject for fear it would renew calls for him to leave.
- In a Yahoo online poll, 53% of Singaporeans said they wanted their founding father to quit politics either immediately or very soon – and that was five years ago…
- It is the younger Singaporeans who want him to go. Unlike the previous generation, they are not beholden to him for his contributions to the republic.
SDP: Kuan Yew's half-century
leewatch:Kuan Yew’s half-century
SingaporeWindow: Majority of Singaporeans want Lee to retire: Internet poll
Ex-MM Lee: I’ve seen property values going up 5x, 10x, 15x, 20x
Ex-Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said public housing has to keep up with
the rising aspirations of Singaporeans and that the facilities and
design of older estates should also not fall behind newer onesHe said the standard of living has improved and public housing must keep up with rising aspirations. Older estates have benefited from a range of programmes such as the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) and the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP). He said,
“Everybody owns their own homes and the value of their homes go up as development takes place. Some are unwise enough to sell their homes, thinking they can buy another one, they then find they can’t and have to rent a flat.”
“But those who held on to their homes, I’ve seen their property values going up, five times, 10 times, 15 times, 20 times. This was the plan which we had from the very beginning, to give everybody a home at cost or below cost and as development takes place, everybody gets a lift, all boats rise as the tide rises.”
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A Post-LKY Singapore?
They crammed into an art cafe in Singapore and pulled no punches, deriding authoritarian officials who ruled with an "iron fist" and complaining that government ministers with million-dollar salaries were out of touch
One woman, a middle-aged professional, got nods of agreement when she said modern Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, had done great things but that new ways were needed from current leaders still practising a "do-as-I-say style of parenting"
Singapore remains regimented but the unusually frank criticism at the recent gathering, part of a government-run national "conversation" about the city state's future, reflects the reality that this is no longer the era of Lee Kuan Yew.
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The Cult of Lee
Singapore is more than one man, however great he was. Was. Recently he was seen in a wheelchair. The guy is...what's that word, errr, old. What do you expect, this mortal coil that affect all great and small. This cult of Lee does more harm than good to the Singaporean psyche of little red dot punching beyond its weight.
You mean we can't go on without him? Yes we can.
To think we cannot disrespects the former PM. Respect him, but not deify dear Harry. FFS. Imagine this, he is not even dead yet and there is so much fanfare about his birthdays and books. Why the hell is his birthday news BTW? If 16 September is anything to remember for, it should be Malaysia Day, when Singapore joined the Federation and it sealed Singapore's fate and separation from Malaysia 2 years later in 1965. Not the old guy's birthday, tremendous respect though I have for him.
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The Gospel of Harry
– Inspiration: Early Birthday Wishes For Mr Lee Kuan Yew
– Loh and Behold: Poor Fella Is Not Dead Yet Lah!
– Exposing Singapore: I don’t think Lee Kuan Yew is going to see past New Year
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Lee Kuan Yew on death: I want mine quickly, painlessly
Quote: Originally Posted by coldwarmhot
Yes! That is the look that I was talking about. It is sad to witness the deterioration of a once powerful man.
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee shakes hands with Director of Singapore Press
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew shakes hands with Director of Singapore Press Holdings Lee Boon Yang (L) after unveiling Lee's new book at the Istana in Singapore August 6, 2013. The new book by Lee entitled One Man's View of the World was launched on Tuesday. The 400-page book touched on developments around the world and contained harsh words about neighbouring Malaysia, which Lee had terse relations with when he was prime minister. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE - Tags: MEDIA POLITICS)
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Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew looks at his son Prime Minister LHL
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (C) looks at his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (not pictured) as he arrives for his book launch at the Istana in Singapore August 6, 2013. The new book by Lee entitled One Man's View of the World was launched on Tuesday. The 400-page book touched on developments around the world and contained harsh words about neighbouring Malaysia, which Lee had terse relations with when he was prime minister. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE - Tags: POLITICS MEDIA TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
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Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew attends his book launch at
Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (3rd R) receives an applause from guests including his son Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (L) during his book launch at the Istana in Singapore August 6, 2013. The new book by Lee entitled One Man's View of the World was launched on Tuesday. The 400 page book touched on developments around the world and contained harsh words about neighbouring Malaysia, which Lee had terse relations with when he was prime minister. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE - Tags: POLITICS MEDIA)
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National Day 2014
Singapore marks 48th birthday with parade, fireworks
As per tradition, Singapore held a parade late afternoon on 9 August to celebrate its 48th birthday at The Float@Marina Bay, the world’s largest floating stadium. Some 27,000 people watched the proceedings which lasted about three hours and took on a variety show format. Highlights included a performance by BMX bikers and a human LED display. Also, as usual, spectacular fireworks capped the festivities.
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Here's wishing Mr Lee Kuan Yew a Happy 91st Birthday!
LKY letters show he is clueless without others
The letters were published in ST on 29 & 30/12/84. This was the period when 24 old guards stepped down for the 26 so-called new generation ‘leaders’ (including LHL) to take over the Government.
After 1984, without those fine old guards, LKY became a nobody. He came up with silly ideas like:
• Graduate Mothers’ Scheme – a scheme to favour the children of mothers with a university degree in primary school placement and registration process over the lesser-educated [Link]
• Toiling with the idea to change the one-man-one-vote system – “I’m not intellectually convinced that one-man, one-vote is the best. We practice it because that’s what the British bequeathed us and we haven’t really found a need to challenge that. But I’m convinced, personally, that we would have a better system if we gave every man over the age of 40 who has a family two votes because he’s likely to be more careful, voting also for his children. He is more likely to vote in a serious way than a capricious young man under 30.” [Link]
• Toiling with the idea of polygamy – “And the way the old society did it was by polygamy. The successful, whether you’re a scholar, a Mandarin or a successful businessman or successful farmer, you had more than one wife. In fact you can have as many as your economic status entitles you or can persuade people to give their daughters up to you.
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GENES CAN BE INHERITED BUT NOT PERFORMANCE
The PM’s performance was the focus of the media interview at the end of SingFirst’s walkabout in his Ang Mo Kio GRC yesterday. It is common knowledge and widely felt among Singaporeans that the economy has become less robust and society is more divided, stressed and unhappy.
He has failed to repeat his father’s achievements as PM.
Lee Hsien Loong’s dismal record is unimaginable given that he has been “trained” as minister for 20 years before taking on the job as PM in 2004. Neither have the genes from his father been of much help. He might have inherited intelligent genes from his father but certainly not his performance. Unhappiness with their MP’s performance as PM was evident from our conversations with several groups of AMK residents in our walkabout. We met many residents who were severely affected by PAP’s policies that did not create a trickle down effect for the lower to middle class families, even in the PM’s GRC.
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related:
DUM FATA SINUNT, VIVITE LAETI: Beloved Mr Lee?
Anyhow Hantam: LKY Writes Another Book
visakan veerasamy.: Lee Kuan Yew and Paul Graham quotes
Mothership: 10 quotable quotes that only Lee Kuan Yew is capable of
The Void Decker: On Lee Kuan Yew and what he said
Everything Also Complain: LKY antagonising an entire generation of Chinese
THE DIARY OF A REBELLIOUS BUDDHIST: One Man’s View of the Afterworld
Where Bears Roam Free: LKY bronze bust indicates Lee is a dictator
Din Merican: Lee Kuan Yew strikes again: Malaysia on the Defensive Mode
The Star Online: Dr M on Lee Kuan Yew: He's old, give him some allowance
The Sun Daily: Lee Kuan Yew entitled to his opinion: Tun M
Astro Awani: Tun Mahathir: Former Singapore premier is old
Global Post: S'pore's Lee Kuan Yew airs concern about Malaysian economic zone
SCM Post: Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew says Xi Jinping is in Mandela
Sin Chew Jit Poh: Race-based policies put Malaysia at disadvantage: LKY
The Star Online: Lee: Even a 'baby bonus' won't help
Business Times: Latest Lee Kuan Yew book launched at Istana
The Sun Daily: Low birth rate not my fault: Lee Kwan Yew
Bernama: Former Singapore PM Kuan Yew Launches New Book
Straits Times: Lee Kuan Yew: New book is unvarnished account
Nzweek: Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew launches new book on world's major powers
The Malay Mail Online: Lee Kuan Yew airs concern about Iskandar
Malaysia Chronicle: World leaders praise Kuan Yew's new book but from Malaysia
Malaysia Chronicle: ABSOLUTELY TRUE? M'sia willing to lose talent so that Malays
Asia One: Good credentials, but disappointing in Parliament
The Star: Lee Kuan Yew on death: I want mine quickly, painlessly
Lee Kuan Yew's world views in new book
We don't need your money: Lee Kuan Yew tells tycoons
M'sia willing to lose talent so that Malays can be dominant
Of fake meritocracy & endless quotas
S'pore can "dissolve into nothingness" - Kuan Yew warns
We don't need your money: Lee Kuan Yew tells tycoons
M'sia willing to lose talent so that Malays can be dominant
Of fake meritocracy & endless quotas
S'pore can "dissolve into nothingness" - Kuan Yew warns
Dr Mahathir amused by Kuan Yew jibe, says will respond to Pak Lah's remark
Lee Kuan Yew on death: I want mine quickly, painlessly
Lee Kuan Yew on death: I want mine quickly, painlessly
90 reasons why you secretly fancy Lee Kuan Yew
He is telegenic
He was not a hit with his girlfriend/ wife’s parents who did not approve of him at first
Helped to develop a glue based on tapioca, which he sold under the name Stikfas in Japanese-occupied Singapore during World War II. The logo was on his wedding cake
You would give up an arm and a leg to wear that hat
He can still pull chicks one-fifth his age
He could turn into a zombie or vampire, if future leaders mess Singapore up
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Lee Kuan Yew through the years
An emotional Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew during the press conference in 1965 to announce Singapore's separation from Malaysia.
A look back at the life and times of Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
related:
Wise sayings of Lee Kuan Yew
Constituents hope to see Lee Kuan Yew again at events
More stories on Lee Kuan Yew
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Lee Kuan Yew: The Funniest Asian Man To Ever Have Lived On Planet Earth
Lee in his birthday suit out for a swim
Some criticize him as being a dictator, who trampled human rights and smashed his competition to get his way. Some people think he is the savior of Singapore and kept Singapore from remaining a third-world city-state riddled with poverty. I think he is the funniest Asian man to ever have lived on planet earth.read more
The Credit For Singapore's Success
During the past fortnight, many accolades were heaped on the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's first prime minister, who died on 23 March. Many of the accolades ignored the contributions of others who contributed to the Singapore success story.
Who were some of these people? Mr Lee's fellow cabinet ministers in the 1960s and 1970s such as Dr Goh Keng Swee, Dr Toh Chin Chye, Mr Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, Mr Hon Sui Sen and Mr Lim Kim San.
Unlike Mr Lee who remained at the centre of political power, these men stopped participating in legislative duties and have dropped out of public view, and possibly public consciousness, for more than a quarter of a century. Mr Lee said:
"I'm not a one-man show. You see my picture everywhere; it make it easier for you to symbolise it with one man. Don't believe it is a one-man show. It cannot be done."read more
The Singapore Story
My earliest and most vivid recollection is of being held by my ears over a well in the compound of a house where my family was then living, at what is now Tembeling Road in Singapore. I was about four years old.
I had been mischievous and had messed up an expensive jar of my father's 4711 pale-green scented brilliantine. My father had a violent temper, but that evening his rage went through the roof. He took me by the scruff of the neck from the house to this well and held me over it. How could my ears have been so tough that they were not ripped off, dropping me into that well? Fifty years later, in the 1970s, I read in Scientific American an article explaining how pain and shock release neuropeptides in the brain, stamping the new experience into the brain cells and thus ensuring that the experience would be remembered for a long time afterwards.
I was born in Singapore on 16 September 1923 in a large two-story bungalow at 92 Kampong Java Road. My mother, Chua Jim Neo, was then 16 years old. My father, Lee Chin Koon, was 20. Their parents had arranged the marriage a year previously. Both families must have thought it an excellent match, for they later married my father's younger sister to my mother's younger brother.
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The famiLEE tree
related:The famiLEE tree
The famiLEE feud: PM Lee "I'm not sure that it is solved"
The famiLEE feud: AGC to start legal action on Li Shengwu for contempt
The famiLEE feud: AGC looking into FB post by Lee Hsien Yang's son
The famiLEE feud: Protest at Hong Lim Park
The famiLEE feud: Demolish the house, end the saga, let's move on
The famiLEE feud: LWL, LHY to stop presenting online evidence
The famiLEE feud: Lee Hsien Yang responds to Parliament Hearing
The famiLEE feud: Parliamentary Hearing on Oxley's Dispute
The famiLEE feud: PM Lee Hsien Loong's Ministerial Statement
The famiLEE feud: Why LHY is speaking up
The famiLEE feud: July 3 Parliament session a cover-up & whitewash?
The famiLEE feud: Not another minister on the Will again!
The famiLEE feud: Lee Hsien Yang & his wife in Hong Kong
The famiLEE feud: Rise of the 'First Lady'
The famiLEE feud: Govt 'Poking Nose' into Oxley's fate
The famiLEE feud: Will House Debate clear the air?
The famiLEE feud: PM apologises for family feud
The famiLEE feud: Sporeans sick tired of endless Oxley Rd allegations
The famiLEE feud: "Past three days"
The famiLEE feud: "Will of Wills"
Social Media on the Late LKY’s children Online Squabble
Online squabble about "Hero-Worship" of the late Lee Kuan Yew
Family feud over how to mark LKY's death spills out online
New Law to Protect Lee Kuan Yew's Name and Image
Govt rebuts Lawyer's comments on QFLP scheme
Li Hongyi & Li Shengwu: 2 latest Internet sensation from the Lee family
PM Lee’s Nephew Supports Pink Dot
Remembering Lee Kuan Yew 2016
LKY Passing: Good Intentions Gone Wrong
PM broke down in Parliament talking about his Dad
A State Funeral Service held for Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Former PM Lee Kuan Yew in the limelight
Lee Kuan Yew passes away on 23 Mar 2015
Lee Kuan Yew – The Man and his Legacy
Lee Kuan Yew in ICU with severe pneumonia
The Battle For Merger
Happy 91st Birthday Lee Kuan Yew from Singapore!
Singapore's Founding Father Hospitalised
Lee Kuan Yew turns 90
Lee Kuan Yew hospitalised: Suspected Transient Ischaemic Attack
Lee & Lee - The job has changed
"One World's View Of The Man"
Lee Kuan Yew on death: I want mine quickly, painlessly
A Post-LKY Singapore?
The politics of power dressing: Ho Ching
Online squabble about "Hero-Worship" of the late Lee Kuan Yew
Family feud over how to mark LKY's death spills out online
New Law to Protect Lee Kuan Yew's Name and Image
Govt rebuts Lawyer's comments on QFLP scheme
Li Hongyi & Li Shengwu: 2 latest Internet sensation from the Lee family
PM Lee’s Nephew Supports Pink Dot
Remembering Lee Kuan Yew 2016
LKY Passing: Good Intentions Gone Wrong
PM broke down in Parliament talking about his Dad
A State Funeral Service held for Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Former PM Lee Kuan Yew in the limelight
Lee Kuan Yew passes away on 23 Mar 2015
Lee Kuan Yew – The Man and his Legacy
Lee Kuan Yew in ICU with severe pneumonia
The Battle For Merger
Happy 91st Birthday Lee Kuan Yew from Singapore!
Singapore's Founding Father Hospitalised
Lee Kuan Yew turns 90
Lee Kuan Yew hospitalised: Suspected Transient Ischaemic Attack
Lee & Lee - The job has changed
"One World's View Of The Man"
Lee Kuan Yew on death: I want mine quickly, painlessly
A Post-LKY Singapore?
The politics of power dressing: Ho Ching
