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Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew

SIN CE 1845 MARCH 23, 2015 í SPECIAL EDITION

LEE KUAN YEW

Sept 16, 1923 - March 23, 2015

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A Press Holdings publication MCI (P) 032/02/2015 # 1923: Born on Sept 16 to Shell Oil Company depot PMO STATEMENT manager Lee Chin Koon and Chua Jim Neo in his family’s THE Prime Minister is deeply two-storey grieved to announce the bungalow at passing of Mr , 92, Kampong Java ‘Never fear!’ the founding Prime Minister of Road. Singapore. Mr Lee passed away peacefully at the Singapore 1935: Came in first in Telok Kurau Mr Lee overcame daunting challenges General Hospital today at English School in an islandwide Seven-day mourning 3.18am. He was 91. exam and won a place in Raffles and delivered on his promise Arrangements for the public Institution, where he met future wife of a better life for PRIME Minister Lee Hsien Sunday at the National to pay respects and for the in 1939. Loong has declared a University of Singapore’s funeral proceedings will be He previously attended two seven-day period of national University Cultural Centre. announced later. Chinese-medium schools. By WARREN FERNANDEZ it on Aug 9, 1965. mourning for Singapore’s The service will be attended EDITOR He famously wept on TV an- founding Prime Minister Lee by the late Mr Lee’s family, 1940: Topped the Senior Cambridge nouncing the “moment of an- Kuan Yew, who died early this friends and staff; President CABINET STATEMENT exams in Singapore and Malaya, and SINGAPORE’S founding father, guish”, when Singapore was “sev- morning at age 91. Keng Yam; Cabinet won the Anderson Scholarship to Mr Lee Kuan Yew, has died, leav- ered” from . Not only As a mark of respect, the ministers; Members of DEPUTY Prime Minister read English, economics and ing behind the unlikely nation he had he believed deeply in a unified state flags on all government Parliament; and Mr Lee’s , Deputy Prime mathematics at Raffles College. and his colleagues built over five Malaysia as a multiracial society, buildings will be flown at fellow founding members of Minister Tharman Shanmuga- decades as his lasting legacy. but he must also have sensed the half-mast for the mourning the ruling People’s Action ratnam and Cabinet colleagues A brief statement from the enormity of the task for the new period, which starts today and Party. send our deepest condolences Prime Minister’s Office early this city-state to make a living in an in- ends on Sunday. Senior civil servants, to Prime Minister Lee Hsien morning said: “The Prime Minis- hospitable world. A private family wake will grassroots leaders and Loong and the family of our ter is deeply grieved to announce He would lead a pioneer genera- be held today and tomorrow at Singaporeans from all walks of founding Prime Minister, Mr the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, tion of Singaporeans to overcome Sri , a statement by life will also be attending the Lee Kuan Yew. We will always the founding Prime Minister of a series of daunting challenges, the Prime Minister’s Office service, which will be followed remember his sound guidance, Singapore. Mr Lee passed away from rehousing squatters in said today. by a private cremation at his constant questioning, and peacefully at the Singapore Gener- affordable public housing, to re- Mr Lee’s body will lie in Mandai Crematorium. his fatherly care for Singapore al Hospital today at 3.18am. He building the economy after the state at Parliament House Condolence books and and for all of us. Let us 1946: Began law school at the London was 91.” sudden pullout of British forces from Wednesday to Saturday cards will be available in front dedicate ourselves to Singapore School of Economics, but moved to A second statement two hours and the oil shocks of the 1970s, for the public to pay their last of main gate from and Singaporeans, in the way Cambridge University the next year, later said a week-long period of and a major economic recession in respects. They can do so from today to Sunday, for those that Mr Lee showed us. when Kwa joined him. They married national mourning would be ob- the mid-1980s. Through it all, he 10am to 8pm daily during that who wish to pen their tributes secretly on Dec 23, 1947, in served, with state flags flown at exhorted people to “never fear” as time. to the late Mr Lee. Condolence Stratford-upon-Avon. half-mast until Sunday. A two- they looked forward to a better life. A state funeral service for books will also be opened at FOR HOTLINE, ONLINE QUERIES day private family wake will be “This country belongs to all of Mr Lee will be held at 2pm on all overseas missions. AND TRIBUTES FOR MR LEE 1950: Called to the Bar at the Middle held at in the Istana, us. We made this country from í Go online to Temple after graduating the year followed by his body lying in state nothing, from mudflats... Today, www.rememberingleekuanyew.sg before. Returned to Singapore, joined in Parliament until Saturday, for this is a modern city. Ten years and www.facebook.com/ law firm Laycock & Ong and married the public to pay their last re- from now, this will be a metropo- radical thinker, and was instru- he mourned deeply, but mostly in rememberingleekuanyew to Mrs Lee officially on Sept 30. They spects. A State Funeral will be lis. Never fear!” he thundered at a mental in a host of major policies private. They had married secret- leave tributes for Mr Lee, had three children: Hsien Loong held on Sunday at 2pm, followed grassroots event in Sembawang in that have shaped almost every as- ly as undergraduates in Cam- or to find out more about the (born in 1952); Wei Ling (1955); and by a private cremation. September 1965. pect of Singaporeans’ lives, from bridge in 1947, and Mr Lee is said funeral, and Mr Lee’s life and Hsien Yang (1957). Mr Lee had been in SGH since He delivered on this promise, promoting public housing, home to have instructed, in a note to his contributions. Feb 5 with severe pneumonia, earning the trust of voters who re- ownership, racial integration in children, that when the time í Or call the official hotline on 1954: Formed the People’s Action prompting an outpouring of good turned his party to office repeated- public estates, and later estate up- came, their ashes should be mixed 6336-1166, or e-mail Party, inaugurated at Victoria wishes as an anxious nation await- ly over the decades. He represent- grading, to adopting English as a so they might be “joined after life [email protected] if you have Memorial Hall on Nov 21. ed updates on his deteriorating ed Tanjong Pagar for 60 years, common language for the dispa- as they had been in life”. any queries. condition, hoping for a recovery. since 1955, when he was first elect- rate races in Singapore. His two-part memoirs, The Sin- 1955: Elected legislative assemblyman He outlived several other titans ed the area’s assemblyman. He made multiracialism and gapore Story, revealed how he for Tanjong Pagar on April 2. from Singapore’s tumultuous He stepped down as Prime Min- meritocracy as well as economical- and his colleagues believed that Founded his own law firm Lee & founding years – Goh Keng Swee, ister in 1990 after 31 years. He ly sound and corruption-free gov- Malaysian leaders anticipated the 1967: Full-time National Service Lee with Mrs Lee and younger Lim Kim San, S. Rajaratnam, chose to hand over the premier- ernment hallmarks of the Singa- day when an independent Singa- introduced to build Singapore’s brother Dennis on Sept 1. Devan Nair, Toh Chin Chye, ship to Mr while pore way. He carried over his own pore would fail and be forced to defence force ahead of British troops’ Eddie Barker, Hon Sui Sen. Sadly, still in robust health at the age of NOVEMBER 1961: Mr Lee Kuan Yew with Minister after its independence in 1957. frugal ways to the business of gov- appeal for readmission to the Fed- pullout in 1971. 1959: Sworn in as Singapore’s first he will be greatly missed on Aug 9 67, and took on the role of Senior Tunku Abdul Rahman, who was Chief The Tunku initially opposed the idea of ernment and was relentless in his eration, on Malaysia’s terms. Prime Minister at the age of 35 after as Singapore marks the 50th anni- Minister, serving as guide and Minister of the Federation of Malaya a merger with Singapore, but changed fight against the “cancer of cor- “No, not if I could help it,” he 1990: Stepped down as the PAP won 43 out of 51 seats in the versary of the Republic he played mentor in the Cabinet. from 1955 and the country’s first Prime his stand in 1961. PHOTOS: ST FILE ruption”, making plain no one once declared. “People in Singa- Prime Minister after 31 General Election. so critical a role in shaping. Noting this unusual willingness was beyond being investigated pore were in no mood to crawl years and succeeded He leaves his two sons, Prime to relinquish power, Time maga- and ejected from office if they back after what they had been by Mr Goh Chok Tong. 1960: Enacted a law to wipe out Minister , 63, and zine said in 1991: “What really world to pay court to him in Singa- he made plain that he was not strayed. He pushed for ministers through. The people shared our Appointed Senior corruption and establish a clean and Mr , 57, daughter sets this complex man apart from pore”. Indeed, in a White House averse to donning “knuckle- and senior civil servants to be feelings and were prepared to do Minister on Nov 28. effective government. , 60, daugh- Asia’s other nation-builders is statement this morning, United dusters” to take on and “demol- paid salaries pegged to private sec- whatever was needed to make an ters-in-law , 61, and Lee what he didn’t do: He did not be- States President Barack Obama ish” his political adversaries. tor rates, despite that being con- independent Singapore work. I 1998: Published first volume of 1961: Set up the Economic Suet-Fern, 56, seven grandchil- come corrupt, and he did not stay called Mr Lee “a true giant of his- He refused to be swayed by troversial, believing it was neces- did not know I was to spend the memoirs The Singapore Story. Development Board to draw foreign dren and two siblings. His wife, in power too long. Mao (Zedong), tory who will be remembered for popular sentiment or opinion sary if Singapore was to continue rest of my life getting Singapore Second volume, From Third World investments to an industrialising Madam Kwa Geok Choo, died in Suharto, (Ferdinand) Marcos and generations”, and joined Singapo- polls, believing that voters would to enjoy good, clean government. not just to work, but to prosper To First: The Singapore Story, was Singapore. 2010 at the age of 89. Ne Win left their countries on the reans in “mourning the loss of come round when they eventually And if this city gained a reputa- and flourish.” launched in 2000. He was widely regarded as the verge of ruin with no obvious this remarkable man”. saw the benefits of policies he had tion worldwide for also being one Asked once in an interview if 1963: Malaysia formed, comprising man most instrumental in shaping successor. Lee left Singapore with When his son became Prime pushed through. of the cleanest and greenest, it he would have done things differ- 2004: Assumed the post of Minister Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and this country, from the time he and a per capita GDP (gross domestic Minister in 2004, Mr Lee became As he said in an interview for was because the Prime Minister ently if he could live his life over, Mentor after his son Hsien Loong Sarawak. his People’s Action Party col- product) of US$14,000, his reputa- Minister Mentor, taking a further the book, Lee Kuan Yew: The Man himself took a personal interest in he replied: “All I can say is, I did became Prime Minister, and Mr Goh Launched a home ownership leagues pushed for self-govern- tion gilt-edged and an entire tier step back, spending his time pon- And His Ideas: “I’m very deter- enhancing the island’s greenery, my best. This was the job I under- was made on Aug 18. scheme which enabled 91 per cent of ment in the 1950s to their quest of second-generation leaders to dering the longer-term challenges mined. If I decide that something parks and waterways, long before took, I did my best, and I could Housing Board residents to own their for merger with the Federation of take over when he stepped down facing Singapore. is worth doing, then I’ll put my such environmental conscious- not have done more in the circum- 2010: Mrs Lee died on Oct 2 after a homes by 1996. Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to in 1990.” His decades in office were not heart and soul to it. The whole ness became fashionable. stances. What people think of it, I long illness caused by strokes. form the new nation Malaysia in It added that as an elder states- uncontroversial. Having survived ground can be against me, but if I Mr Lee soldiered on with his have to leave to them. It is of no 1965: Singapore separated from the early 1960s, and their efforts man, his “views continue to be life-and-death battles with the know it is right, I’ll do it. That’s public duties after retirement, and great consequence. What is of con- 2011: Stepped down from the Cabinet. Malaysia on Aug 9. Mr Lee wept on to secure the Republic’s survival sought by statesmen and commen- communists and communalists in the business of a leader.” even after the loss of his wife of sequence is I did my best.” national TV, saying he had believed after independence was thrust on tators who travel from all over the Singapore’s troubled early years, He was both a visionary and a 63 years, Kwa Geok Choo, whom [email protected] 2015: Died today at 3.18am, leaving his whole life in the unity of the two three children and seven territories. grandchildren.

2 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 3 THE LEE KUAN YEW We won’t see another I REMEMBER

man like him: PM Lee HIS SON, LEE Condolences from HSIEN YANG, 57 President Tan GROWING up, my family and ESM Goh used to bathe using large dragon-motif ham dan gong, or salted egg jars in Excerpt from President Tony Cantonese. We would fill Tan Keng Yam’s letter of them up with water and condolence to Prime Minister ladle it out to wash Lee Hsien Loong. ourselves at our home on Oxley Road. ‘HE DEDICATED HIS ENTIRE My parents did this for LIFE TO SINGAPORE’ almost six decades since my “Mr Lee dedicated his entire life father moved into the house to Singapore from his first in 1945, and my mother, in position as a legal advisor to the 1950. It was only after my labour unions in the 1950s after mother had her first stroke his graduation from Cambridge in 2003 that a shower was University to his undisputed role installed in their tiny as the architect of our modern bathroom. I think it was in Republic. Few have demonstrated part because they were so such complete commitment to a set in their ways. But it was Personal assistant cause greater than themselves... also because my father Roslina Majid “Many aspects of our lives neither cared for material S’poreans (above) at SGH with bear Mr Lee’s imprint – be it our things, nor coveted them. her daughters HDB estates, our gardens, or the He lived in a simple spartan Sarah Allysah SAF. Without his remarkable way; his preoccupations grieve as Norhisam (centre) foresight and relentless pursuit of and priorities lay elsewhere. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pausing to compose himself as he delivers the news to Singaporeans of the death of and Sophia Amelia Mr Lee Kuan Yew this morning. The address was made at 8am. SCREEN GRAB FROM TELEVISION Singapore’s development, the Some people collect Norhisam (left) Singapore that we know today watches, shoes, pens, rare tributes earlier today. ST would not exist. Singapore was books, antiques or art, but PHOTO: MARK Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressed the gious society, and standing togeth- CHEONG his passion, and he continued not my father. When people nation on the death of former Prime Minister er as one united people, some- pour in serving Singapore till the last gave him all sorts of gifts, thing which he had fought for all students (left) days of his life. Singaporeans owe he kept almost none of Lee Kuan Yew this morning. Delivering his his life. By RACHEL CHANG observing a an eternal gratitude to Mr Lee them. He paid for and gave televised speech in Malay, Chinese and English, “May Mr Lee Kuan Yew rest in and THAM YUEN-C minute’s silence. Kuan Yew. The greatest tribute some of these items to my peace.” ASSISTANT POLITICAL EDITORS ST PHOTO: LIM SIN that Singaporeans can pay him is wife and me, and I he appeared emotional and paused on occasion, THAI to treasure and build upon the selectively kept a few... and especially in his remarks in Chinese. TRANSLATION OF HIS legacy that Mr Lee and his team he would sometimes take REMARKS IN CHINESE: ON THEIR way to school and 50, headed for the Istana’s gates of this remarkable man”. have left us, and make Singapore pleasure in seeing them in “Today, we lost our beloved lead- work this morning, several Singa- as soon as his shift ended at 7am. Calling him a “visionary and de- an even better home for our my home, recalling the HIS REMARKS IN ENGLISH: way. But even as we mourn his er, founding Prime Minister Lee poreans took a detour to the Singa- “There would be no Singapore voted public servant”, Mr Obama future generations. occasion and the giver. “The first of our founding fathers passing, let us also honour his spir- Kuan Yew. Mr Lee is irreplaceable pore General Hospital to stand wit- without Mr Lee,” he said. said Mr Lee’s insights were re- “Our thoughts are with you at He also had no idea what is no more. He inspired us, gave it. Let us dedicate ourselves as one in our hearts. He has a special ness to the passing of a giant. The Singapore Chinese Cham- spected by many, “and no small this time of sorrow.” the cost and value of things us courage, kept us together and people to build on his founda- bond with Singaporeans and was Personal assistant Roslina Ma- ber of Commerce and Industry is- number of this and past genera- were. He did not go to the brought us here. tions, strive for his ideals and well loved by them. When he was jid, 45, and her two daughters, sued a statement paying tribute to tions of world leaders have sought supermarket to buy things “He fought for independence, keep Singapore exceptional and hospitalised, people from all walks aged 11 and 14, wept at the hospi- Mr Lee’s contributions, as did his advice on governance and de- Emeritus Senior Minister Goh or pay for his meals at built a nation where there was successful for many years to of life showed their care and en- tal where Mr Lee died early today, Malay/Muslim self-help groups velopment”. Chok Tong paid tribute to Mr restaurants, so he had no none, and made us proud to be Sin- come. couragement in different ways. aged 91. “We came to bid our Mendaki and Association of Mus- “He was a true giant of history Lee Kuan Yew in a Facebook post reference point as to how gaporeans. We won’t see another “May Mr Lee Kuan Yew rest in “This was of great comfort to goodbyes,” she said. lim Professionals, and the Islamic who will be remembered for gener- shortly after news of his death. much things cost. Material man like him. peace.” Mr Lee and my family. On behalf Many Singaporeans gathered to Religious Council of Singapore. ations to come as the father of things did not matter to “To many Singaporeans, and in- of my family, I would like to con- grieve for Mr Lee at SGH, his Tan- Mendaki said the community’s modern Singapore and as one of ‘HE WAS MY LEADER, him; Singapore did. deed others too, Lee Kuan Yew TRANSLATION OF vey our sincere appreciation for jong Pagar ward, and the Istana, progress was possible because of the great strategists of Asian af- MENTOR, INSPIRATION’ How would I like my was Singapore. As Prime Minister, HIS REMARKS IN MALAY: your good wishes. as tributes poured in from leaders Mr Lee’s vision and genuine con- fairs.” “My tears welled up as I received father to be remembered? he pushed us hard to achieve what “I am deeply saddened to inform “Singapore’s survival was Mr and groups in Singapore and cern for the community. Other world leaders who sent the sad news. Mr Lee Kuan Yew Well, he never worried had seemed impossible. you that Mr Lee Kuan Yew has Lee’s greatest concern throughout around the world. Singapore and world leaders al- their condolences included Prime has completed his life’s journey. about winning any “After he stepped down, he passed away. Mr Lee was his life. He dedicated himself to Student Andy Tan and so issued tributes and condolenc- Ministers David Cameron of Brit- But it was a journey devoted to popularity contest. He guided his successors with wis- Singapore’s founding Prime Minis- Singapore, uniting us as one peo- full-time national serviceman es. In a condolence letter to Prime ain, Tony Abbott of Australia and the making of Singapore. He has would speak his mind. He dom and tact. And in old age, he ter. He had dedicated his whole ple and motivating us to be self- Ivan Tan, both 19, were among Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Singa- John Key of New Zealand. bequeathed a monumental legacy fought for what he believed continued to keep a watchful eye life to Singapore. He built a nation reliant. He took us from Third the first to arrive at SGH. pore President Tony Tan Keng NTUC called Mr Lee a “dear to Singaporeans – a safe, secure, was best for the country on Singapore. Singapore was his where there was none, and fought World to First, building a home “He’s a good role model for Yam said of Mr Lee: “Few have brother to our workers” since his harmonious and prosperous and the people of abiding passion. He gave of him- tenaciously for Singapore’s inde- that we can be proud of. us,” said Mr Ivan Tan. “We can’t demonstrated such complete com- days as a lawyer fighting for bet- independent Singapore, our Singapore. He self in full measure to Singapore. pendence. His indomitable cour- “His passing is a great loss to even begin to describe how much mitment to a cause greater than ter pay and terms for them. homeland. He was a selfless always had the “As he himself put it, towards age and resourcefulness carried Singapore and my family. he sacrificed for Singapore.” themselves.” “Because of his care and con- leader. He shared his experience, best interests the end of his life, and I quote: ‘I the day on many critical occa- “In this moment of grief, let us At Tanjong Pagar Community Emeritus Senior Minister Goh cern for the people, countless knowledge, ideas and life with of the country have spent my life, so much of it, sions, and laid the foundations of always remember Mr Lee’s contri- Club, in the ward Mr Lee repre- Chok Tong, who succeeded Mr workers have benefited from fair us. He was my leader, mentor, at heart. And building up this country. There’s Singapore’s success. butions. sented for 60 years, property man- Lee as Prime Minister in 1990, treatment, higher wages and bet- inspiration, the man I looked up at home, it was nothing more that I need to do. At “We have lost the man who “The best way to honour him ager Eunice Ng, 41, was the first called him “my leader, mentor, in- ter conditions at the workplace. It to most. He made me a proud always the the end of the day, what have I had led us, inspired us and united would be to carry on his life’s pas- to arrive at an area set up by grass- spiration, the man I looked up to is because of him that we, as a peo- Singaporean. Now he is gone. I interests of got? A successful Singapore. us. As we mourn Mr Lee’s pass- sion, and stay as one united peo- roots leaders for tributes. most. He made me a proud Singa- ple, can lay claim to better jobs, mourn, but he lives on in my his children What have I given up? My life.’ ing, let us also honour his spirit ple to keep Singapore prosperous “He’s not just a father, he’s the porean”. better lives and brighter futures heart. On behalf of Marine and our “I’m grieved beyond words at and his life’s work. Let us contin- and strong. State’s father,” she said, holding United States President Barack ahead,” it said. Parade residents, I offer our mother. the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew. I ue building Singapore, strengthen- “May you rest in peace, Mr back tears. Obama said he “joined the people [email protected] profound condolences to PM Lee know that we all feel the same ing our multiracial and multi-reli- Lee.” Security supervisor S. N. Pillai, of Singapore in mourning the loss [email protected] Hsien Loong and his family.”

4 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 5 UNION RABBLE ROUSER

AS A newly minted lawyer who had just returned home from Britain, the young Mr Lee Kuan Yew devoted time to helping the unions and other vulnerable groups in their run-ins with the British. His first major case was the postal workers’ union, for whom he secured wage increases. These cases rarely raked in the big money, much to the chagrin of his firm, Laycock & Ong. He once asked for a token $10 for a case when another lawyer wanted to charge $15,000. Soon, Mr Lee built a reputation as a champion of society’s underdogs. He became legal adviser to more than 100 unions and associations within two years. That reputation reaped political capital. Many workers whom he helped became fervent campaigners when he first ran for election in 1955. Later, he became uncomfortable with the strident unionism of the 1955 CITY COUNCIL STRIKE: Mr Lee speaking to 8,000 striking workers from the leftists within the People’s Action Party. Their strikes often ended in City Council Labour Unions Federation. He was legal adviser to the workers during the violent action and detentions – such as during the Hock Lee bus 15-day strike, which ended with concessions on public holiday pay, annual leave and strike. allowances. After becoming Prime Minister in 1959, Mr Lee continued to take a keen interest in industrial relations, often stepping in personally to mediate between workers and management.

PHOTOS: ST FILE 1963 HARBOUR 1963 NURSES’ UNREST (above and WORKERS’ UNREST below): A strike among nurses is called (above): Mr Lee speaking off after a 75-minute meeting between 1952 POSTAL to workers from the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and STRIKE: Mr Lee Singapore Harbour Board. representatives of the nurses. meeting postal When members of the workers at their Singapore Harbour Board quarters in Maxwell Staff Association decided Road (above). He to proceed with a strike secured for them after he promised a salary increases $2 million award for wage from the colonial claims, he deregistered government the union on July 22, through a 1963. combination of 1955 HOCK LEE BUS strikes, negotiations RIOTS (right and far and favourable right): Mr Lee meeting press coverage. unionists during the Hock When the city’s Lee bus strike. Led by 500 postal workers leftists Fong Swee Suan were on strike, and , the trishaws (right) strike turned violent, were used to ferry leaving four dead, and was parcels and mail to the first in a series of collection centres, incidents that convinced which residents had Mr Lee that his to visit to collect partnership with Fong and their mail. Lim had to end eventually.

6 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 7 MALAYSIA YEARS THE LEE KUAN YEW I REMEMBER SETTING UP THE PAP AT OXLEY ROAD FORMER COLLEAGUE , 70

LEE Kuan Yew is one who follows the rules. When I was Speaker, for example, sometimes MPs do not come to sittings, and if you do not attend, you are supposed to inform me or write in. Lee Kuan Yew was someone who even if he didn’t come for one afternoon, he would write me a note. In fact, OCT 1, 1962: Mr Lee meeting Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman (centre) in he was the only one who did Kuala Lumpur a year before the merger. With them is former Singapore Chief Minister that. To his credit, he made Lim Yew Hock. Mr Lee called the merger a “historical necessity” and the Tunku said sure he followed the rules, you the idea “caught the imagination of all the peoples concerned”. couldn’t fault him. I remember during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak, every time we went into Parliament, we had our temperatures checked. He was coming in, and NOVEMBER 1954: Straits Times senior executive artist Miel recreates the meeting of the founding members people were intimidated. I of the People’s Action Party brainstorming to come up with the logo for the new political party. The PAP was remember there was this conceived in the basement dining room of Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s Oxley Road home. Founding members included security officer who hesitated (clockwise from top right) Messrs Ismail Rahim, Lee Kuan Yew (standing), K.M. Byrne, S. Rajaratnam, Devan because this was Mr Lee after Nair, Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee and Samad Ismail. all. So he didn’t take the temperature. And Mr Lee wound down his window screen and asked the guy: “Why aren’t you checking me?” He was the sort of person who would follow the rules. His contribution to SINGAPORE’S MAY 25, 1965: Mr Lee talking to members of the PAP delegation at the opening of Singapore is undeniable. the Federal Parliament in Kuala Lumpur. Mr Lee described the PAP delegation as Whatever you may disagree “cross-benchers” – neither part of the Government nor part of the opposition. with him, he brought us to where we are now. People argue that he could have done FIRST PRIME it differently, or done things a certain way, but you can’t MOMENT OF ANGUISH: deny his significant contribution. AUGUST 1965 INDEPENDENCE He was a man of his time. MINISTER In that context, he did what he AUG 9, 1965: Mr Lee broke down could as a leader, and he did during a TV press well. MR LEE Kuan Yew became the first prime minister of Singapore after conference to his People’s Action Party won a landslide victory in the 1959 election announce – Singapore’s first election under full internal self-government. Singapore’s As then PAP chairman Toh Chin Chye and Organising Secretary separation from Ong Pang Boon later recalled, he got the post only after beating Malaysia. comrade Ong Eng Guan by one vote at a post-election central Holding back his executive committee meeting. Mr Lee disputed this, pointing to a emotions, he said: letter Dr Toh later wrote that said the decision had been unanimous. “For me, it is a By 1963, Mr Lee had led Singapore to independence through a moment of anguish merger with Malaysia. During the Malaysia years, he retained his job because all my title as prime minister, rather than changing it to “chief minister” – a life... you see, the point of unhappiness with then Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku whole of my adult Abdul Rahman. life... I have The Tunku’s personality clash with Mr Lee, as well as their believed in merger divergent views on race relations, caused Singapore and Malaysia to and the unity of these two part ways in 1965, making Mr Lee the first prime minister of a fully PHOTOS: ST FILE, COURTESY OF LAI KUI FANG territories.” independent and separate Singapore. 1 Over the next 2 /2 decades, he was able to govern decisively. He JUNE 5, 1959: (Above) A painting of Mr opened up the economy to free trade and multinational corporations, Lee’s swearing-in by artist Lai Kui Fang, with MARCH 10, 2001: Senior Minister which brought about dramatic growth. He also placed special last governor of Singapore William Goode to Lee and Minister for Community the right and an aide-de-camp to the left. emphasis on meritocracy, multiracialism and a corruption-free society Development and (Left) Mr Lee and some members of his first Minister-in-charge of Muslim and government. But his hardline approach to political opponents Cabinet leaving City Hall after the drew some criticism at home and abroad. swearing-in ceremony. From left are Affairs Abdullah Tarmugi at a He retired in 1990 after 31 years as prime minister, and was Dr Goh Keng Swee, Dr Toh Chin Chye, closed-door meeting with Malay Mr , Mr Lee Kuan Yew, leaders and the Malay community succeeded by Mr Goh Chok Tong. He became Senior Minister and in Parliament House. then Minister Mentor, before stepping down from the Cabinet in 2011. Mr Ong Eng Guan and Mr Ong Pang Boon.

8 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 9 PORT PUBLIC HOUSING INDUSTRY

OCTOBER 1962 (above): Mr Lee inspecting a vacant plot in , soon to be the heart of Singapore’s manufacturing sector. Initially dubbed “Goh’s Folly” as cynics doubted the venture led by Deputy PM Goh Keng Swee would take off, Jurong became Singapore’s most important generator of jobs. Five decades on, the economy has expanded into services. Manufacturing now accounts for one-fifth of Singapore’s total GDP.

AUGUST 1963: MAY 1964 (below): Mr Lee touring Jurong industrial estate. He is accompanied by Yang di-Pertuan Negara (above) Yusof Ishak and Economic Development Board chairman Hon Sui Sen. Four new deep-water berths at the Singapore Harbour. Mr Lee understood the potential benefits from sea trade and carefully developed Singapore’s ports, in time replacing the island’s lost hinterland of Malaysia with a much larger one – the world.

MAY 1972: (right) A container crane at the PSA wharf. EARLY YEARS:

SEPT 18, 1959 PORT, HOMES, (above and left): Mr Lee touring a housing estate after National Development INDUSTRY Minister Ong Eng Guan announced a JOBS and housing were Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s most urgent priorities five-year plan to when his People’s Action Party took power in 1959. Many lived in build nearly 84,000 unhygienic slums. The economy, while prosperous compared to other units of public South-east Asian cities, had not industrialised and struggled to housing. A rapid generate jobs for the baby boomers. expansion in home Early on, Mr Lee sought to connect Singapore to the world by ownership quickly making the sea port more efficient, reforming its shift-work system. became the hallmark It was later upgraded and mechanised into the world’s second-busiest of his socialist port. With the help of his economic czar Goh Keng Swee, Mr Lee also democratic encouraged the growth of job-intensive industries, including an oil government. refinery in Pulau Bukom and manufacturing in Jurong. He also pursued a massive public housing plan, implemented by MARCH 15, 1963 former businessman Lim Kim San. Some 26,000 flats were built by (far left): Mr Lee the new Housing Board in three years – more than its predecessor, and Mr Lim Kim San the Singapore Improvement Trust, had built in 32 years. viewing models of By the time Mr Lee stepped down as PM in 1990, gross domestic the upcoming product per capita had grown seven times in real terms to nearly Cantonment Road JULY 1961: A view of the $30 million Shell Oil Refinery on Pulau Bukom, which US$14,711, and eight in 10 Singaporeans were living in public housing. housing estate. opened in July 1961 after being constructed in a world-record time of 12 months. PHOTOS: ST FILE

10 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 11 LEE KUAN YEW ON... HIS LIFE’S WORK RUNNING THE COUNTRY RUNNING THE COUNTRY RUNNING THE COUNTRY RUNNING THE COUNTRY RUNNING THE COUNTRY

“Would I have been a different person if “Over 100 years ago, this was a mudflat, “We had been entrusted with the people’s fate. “Running a government is not unlike “The single decisive factor that made for “If there was one formula for our success, I had remained a lawyer and not gone into a swamp. Today, this is a modern city. The first duty of the leader is to fulfil this trust conducting an orchestra. No prime minister Singapore’s development was the ability of it was that we were constantly studying politics? My work experience would have Ten years from now, this will be a whatever the danger to himself personally, or he should can achieve much without an able team. its ministers and the high quality of the civil how to make things work, or how to make been more limited and my horizons metropolis. Never fear!” not have sought this position. Those who look for While he himself need not be a great player, he has to servants who supported them... We soon them work better. I was never a prisoner of any soft options in crises are not leaders; narrower. In politics I had to range over the whole – Speech on Sept 12, 1965, just a month after Independence know enough of the principal instruments, from the discovered that they needed to have other qualities theory. What guided me were reason and reality. gamut of the problems of human society. As the history will condemn them as cowards; violin to the cello to the French horn to the flute, or he besides a disciplined mind able to marshal facts and The acid test I applied to every theory or Chinese saying goes, ‘The their would not know what figures, write a thesis for a PhD, or be a professional. he can expect from scheme was, would it work? This was the golden sparrow though small has friends Leadership is more than just ability. thread that ran through my years in office.” all five organs.’ Small each of them. My and It is a combination of courage, – From Third World To First though we may be, our relatives style was to determination, needs are the same as will be appoint the best commitment, those of any large country, man I had to be in domestically and ashamed character and of them, charge of the ability that internationally. My most important responsibilities gave me a long makes people wide perspective of human before the ministry at that willing to societies and a worldview judgment period, usually follow a that a lawyer would not of finance, except at leader.” have.” history.” independence – From Third World – From Third World To First – PAP’s 25th when defence To First anniversary became urgent.” publication in 1979 – From Third World To First

HIS LIFE’S WORK FAMILY LIFE PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE

“I have never been over-concerned or “Loong is a different personality from me. “The problem is that the human being is unable yet to “I believed that a deep sense of property was “We would have been a grosser, ruder, cruder society “In Singapore, a society barely above the poverty line, obsessed with opinion polls or popularity He’s more, how would I say, equable – less assess this thing called ‘character’. You can assess a instinctive in a person. During the riots of the had we not made these efforts to persuade our people welfarism would have broken and impoverished us... polls. I think a leader who is, is a weak intense than my daughter who takes after man’s intelligence: set him tests, then rate his IQ... It is 1950s and early 1960s, people would join in to change their ways. We did not measure up as a I have developed a deep aversion to amazing the number of highly intelligent persons in the leader. If you are concerned with whether your rating me. Ling is very intense... She gravitated to the rioting, stone windshields, overturn cars, cultivated, civilised society and were not ashamed to welfarism and social security, because I world who make no contribution at all to the well-being set about trying to become one in the shortest time will go up or down, then you are not a leader. You are and burn them. When riots broke out in the have seen it sap the dynamism of people to an activist role... She should have married and had of their fellowmen. And it is this unmeasurable just catching the wind... you will go where the wind is mid-1960s, after they owned homes and possible. First, we educated and exhorted our two children, then things would have happened quality called ‘character’ which, plus your people. After we had persuaded and won work their best. What we have attempted in blowing. And that’s not what I am in this for. differently. But what to do? She was happy as she was, property, they acted differently. I saw young Singapore is asset enhancement, not Between being loved and being feared, so that’s that. They lead their own lives.” mental capacity or knowledge or discipline, men carrying their scooters parked on the roads to over a majority, we legislated to punish the makes for leadership.” wilful minority. It has made Singapore a subsidies. We have attempted to give each I have always believed Machiavelli – Mr Lee on his daughter Wei Ling, in Hard Truths safety up the stairs of their HDB blocks. I was person enough chips to be able to play at – Speech at a youth and leadership conference, April 10, 1967 more pleasant place to live in. If this is a was right. If nobody is afraid of strengthened in my resolve to give every family solid the table of life. This has kept the people assets which I was confident they would protect and ‘nanny state’, I am proud to have fostered me, I’m meaningless.” self-reliant, keen and strong.” defend, especially their home. I was not wrong.” one.” – The Man And His Ideas – The Man And His Ideas – From Third World To First – From Third World To First

HIS LIFE’S WORK FAMILY LIFE SINGAPORE’S FUTURE SINGAPORE’S FUTURE SINGAPORE’S FUTURE LEAVING THE SCENE

“What are the things “Her last wish she shared with me was to enjoin our “No geographic or political boundary can contain the “Friends tell me many young Singaporeans believe “So, friends and fellow citizens, we got a “Let me give you a Chinese proverb: ‘Do not important to me in children to have our ashes placed together, as we were implications of what we set out to do when we succeed. Singapore’s best years are behind us. Because we little island – 600 sq km. You unwind this, judge a man until you’ve closed his coffin.’ life? My family and my in life... I have precious memories of our And, there is no reason why given patience, made it from Third World to First in one generation you will not drop down on soft paddy fields, Do not judge a man. Close the coffin, then decide. country. My family, my 63 years together. Without her, I would tolerance, perseverance, we should not – in they believe that there will be no further dramatic it is hard hard concrete, your bones are Then you assess him. I may still do something foolish be a different man, with a different life. this hub, in this confluence of three, indeed transformations in their lifetime, that the best pickings before the lid is closed on me... The final verdict will wife looked after. She of cheap standalone houses that their elders got are no broken and it’s kaput. And if you want to know brought up the children. I She devoted herself to me and our children. four, great civilisations – create a situation why I am tough, it’s because I know what happens. not be in the obituaries. The final verdict will be when longer available. They are pessimists and wrong. the PhD students dig out the archives, read my old spent some time with them, She was always there when I needed her. which will act as a yeast, a ferment for what Singapore is like an aircraft flying at I travel and I am not looking at the tourist sites... trying to impart some She has lived a life full of warmth and meaning. is possible, given goodwill, forbearance and And you know that Singapore has only one papers, assess what my values... 30,000 ft. We have another 6,000 ft to rise enemies have said, sift the I should find solace in her 89 years of life good faith. to 36,000 ft, the height top US and EU chance and that is to go up – tighter, more evidence and seek the truth? But Singapore is an ever-going Every year, on this 9th August for many years ahead well lived. But at this moment of the final airlines are flying. Furthermore we have not discipline, up the ladder. You unwind this, I’m not saying that concern. Singapore is my parting, my heart is heavy with sorrow – how many, I do not know – we will dedicate ourselves it’s curtains for everybody.” concern till the end of anew to consolidate ourselves to survive; and, most reached First World standards in the finer things in life, everything I did was and grief.” – National Day Rally, Aug 16, 1981 my life.” important of all, to find an enduring future for what we music, culture and the arts, the graces of a civilised right, but everything – Mr Lee’s eulogy to his wife Kwa Geok Choo (left) society. The generation now in their 30s to – Hard Truths To Keep at her funeral on Oct 6, 2010 have built...” I did was for an Singapore Going – First National Day Rally, Aug 8, 1966 50s can take Singapore there in the next honourable purpose. 15 to 20 years. The best is yet to be.” I had to do some nasty things, – Speech at Tanjong Pagar GRC Lunar New Year dinner locking fellows up without trial.” on Jan 30, 2004 leader Thye Poh was – Mr Lee in an interview with The New York Times detained in 1966. on Sept 1, 2010

12 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 13 BARISAN WALKOUT THE LEE KUAN YEW EARLY YEARS: I REMEMBER BUKIT HO SWEE FIRE VICTIM BARISAN WALKOUT, JAMES SEAH KOK THIM MY PARENTS, two elder sisters and I lived in Beo Lane at the BRITISH PULLOUT, Bukit Ho Swee kampung until I was 13. On May 25, 1961 – it DEC 8, 1965: Yang di-Pertuan was a public holiday – when SOCIAL SHAKE-OUT Negara Yusof Ishak the big fire broke out, my addressing a mother and I were at my half-full House second auntie’s house. We after the Barisan reached home before the fire AFTER Separation, Mr Lee faced the grim prospect of having to fight Sosialis contingent reached it and my mother the pro-communists without the help of the Malaysian government, of 13 MPs decided managed to take away a while trying to govern a new country without a hinterland or a decent to boycott sarong with our birth defence force. Parliament. certificates. My family was A Barisan Sosialis walkout from Parliament raised the possibility of Parliament would among the 16,000 fire victims chaos, as there was talk of them taking the fight into the streets. be made up left homeless that night. As it turned out, however, the manoeuvre gave Mr Lee and the PAP entirely of PAP Mr Lee Kuan Yew promised the space to decisively roll out policies that helped pull Singapore up MPs from this that in nine months we would by the bootstraps. point until 1981. all have new flats to live in. Conscription at 18 for the entire male population – termed National The Housing Board (HDB) Service – began within the second year of independence, a move that had taken over from Singapore would prove vital for the nation’s defence when the British pulled out Improvement Trust (SIT) for their troops in 1971. only three months. SIT, after Meanwhile, Mr Lee sought to build not just the country’s hardware over 30 years, had built only but also its software, moulding the moral make-up and social graces 23,000 flats. So people were of Singaporeans through several campaigns. asking if the PAP Government and Prime Minister Lee would be able to do better than the British government. PHOTOS: ST FILE So when we got the Jalan BRITISH PULLOUT Bukit Ho Swee HDB flat less than a year later, we were really grateful. We were saying, SOCIAL SHAKE-OUT at least this Government can keep its promise. In 1962, Mr Lee visited our estate to see how the fire victims had settled in. My friends and I followed him around. A neighbour had a provision shop in the kampung, so he made his new flat like a shop. We bought flavoured ice tubes, sweets and cookies for 10 cents from him. The Prime Minister was quite understanding. It was not right but people had to make a living. He also inspected the communal toilets. He was a very simple guy. When he visited, he wore short sleeves. Many from the kampung were very poor, uneducated, a lot of coolies, port workers. They approached the Prime OCT 29, 1971 (above): A farewell parade at Kangaw Minister with job problems. Barracks in Sembawang, where the Union Jack came Kampung people keep their down for the last time, marking the end of British gratitude in their hearts, they military command since the first British soldier, didn’t say it. But the Major William Farquhar, arrived in Singapore with respect we have for Sir Stamford Raffles on Jan 19, 1819. him is because Mr Lee got things MARCH 28, 1967 (right): Four years before the done. He was not British pullout, which left the defence of Singapore in the kind who its own hands, youths were called up for National Service. The first batch consisted of 9,000 youths cared about born between Jan 1, 1949 and June 30, 1949. popularity... A CLEAN AND GREEN SINGAPORE: Mr Lee sweeping streets in 1959 in a mass clean-up campaign (above, left) and planting a He gave my AUG 9, 1966 (far right): Thousands took part in the mempat tree (above, right) on Tree Planting Day in 1963, the latter a tradition he kept up annually for the next five decades. family a first National Day Parade, among them the police A tidy city, he believed, pointed to an orderly government, and a people with good social habits and pride in their surroundings. house, he and other security forces, which assembled at the There were campaigns to not litter, spit, chew gum, deface or destroy the spruced-up new look. Citizens were exhorted to Keep was our Padang before proceeding along St Andrew’s, North Singapore Clean, Use Your Hands, Queue Up For Buses, Don’t Waste Water, Stop At Two and Speak Mandarin. Mascots like Teamy benefactor. Bridge, South Bridge and Tanjong Pagar roads. the productivity bee, Singa the courtesy lion and Bobo the water-saving elephant appeared to give a soft touch to pushing change.

14 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 15 DEC 23, 1996: Mr Lee celebrating with his Tanjong ON THE Pagar Group Representation Constituency team members – Prof Koo Tsai Kee, Dr S. CAMPAIGN Vasoo, Mr Chay Wai Chuen, Mr and Dr Ow Chin Hock – and PAP colleagues TRAIL after they were returned unopposed on IF ANYONE blazed the campaign trail, it was Mr Lee Kuan Yew. He Nomination Day. was a fiery orator who roused the crowds with his legendary speeches. Whether he was sketching a vision or socking it to an opponent, Mr Lee often had his audience transfixed. NOV 11, 2001: He led the ruling People’s Action Party through 14 General Another victory for Elections and he had campaigned at each one since 1955. In 2011, on Tanjong Pagar Nomination Day, at age 88, he promised his Tanjong Pagar voters he Group would take care of them for another five years. By then, he had done Representation so for 56 years. Constituency, In 1961, he forced himself to pick up when he found the which has been communist leaders were masterly Hokkien orators whose speeches uncontested since could move the masses. His Fullerton Square rallies were marquee 1991. Garlanded in events, where at one election – 1980 – he stood through 65 minutes red, white and of rain arguing against those who put Singapore’s future at risk. purple blooms, Maintaining that “no party or group of men, however powerful, Mr Lee shared his can be more powerful than the people from whom a party derives its victory with (from right to rule”, he sought the moral authority to lead at every contest. left) Prof Koo Tsai Kee, Ms , Mr Chay Wai Chuen, as well as (not in picture) Mr and Dr Chong Weng Chiew.

PHOTOS: MINISTRY OF CULTURE, ST FILE MAY 30, 1959: Mr Lee became Singapore’s first prime minister when the PAP swept Constitution. “The people’s verdict is clear and decisive. It is a victory of right over 43 out of 51 seats to form the country’s first fully elected government under the new wrong, clean over dirty, righteousness over evil,” he said at a press conference.

JUNE 18, 1961 (above): “Merdeka!” Mr Lee thundered thrice, using the Malay word for “independence” at a by-election APRIL 2011: (above) rally in Anson. Mr Lee lending his support to his former DEC 15, 1962 principal private (right): Mr Lee, secretary Heng Swee seen here in Keat as he made his Thomson, revived electoral debut in grassroots support Tampines GRC. Others for the PAP by in the GRC present touring all 51 included Mr Mah Bow constituencies in Tan and Ms . 10 months. The groundswell of (left) Mr Lee’s enthusiasm made it supporters clad in seem like he was T-shirts with his “a political pop DEC 20, 1976: Mr Lee’s lunch-time rallies at Fullerton Square, where he delivered his DEC 24, 1980 (above, right): Mr Lee thanking Tanjong Pagar residents for their picture on Nomination star”, he recalled. most memorable speeches, were the highlight of election campaigns. support during his victory tour. He won 92.74 per cent of the vote. Day, April 27.

16 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 17 THE LEE KUAN YEW I REMEMBER

HIS FRIEND HENRY KISSINGER, 91

ONE evening in 1967, a young JAN 19, 1980: Singapore’s enduring friendship with Brunei began in 1960 when Mr Lee first AUG 23, 1982: Mr Lee and Malaysian Prime MAY 10, 1976: Despite his failing NOV 12, 1978: Mr Lee called China’s Lee Kuan Yew walked into a visited the late Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien and the two countries began a partnership in Minister Mahathir Mohamad at a press health, China’s Chairman Mao Zedong elder statesman Deng Xiaoping – lion’s den and emerged with a defence, economics and education. Mr Lee hosted Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (left) and his conference after a two-day meeting in Kuala gave Mr Lee a 15-minute meeting whom he met during this three-day friend for life. brother Prince Mohamed (second from right) to a dinner at the Istana during their five-day Lumpur. They announced plans for a natural gas during his two-week goodwill visit to trip to Singapore – “a great historic At a dinner with Harvard visit. They were accompanied by Senior Minister of State (Foreign Affairs) Lee Khoon Choy pipeline from Terengganu to Singapore. It was Beijing, as well as Yanan and Shanxi figure who saved 1.2 billion people University scholars, the (right). completed 10 years later in January 1992. provinces. from disaster and chaos”. liberals were taking turns to brand US President Lyndon B. Johnson a “war criminal” and a “psychopath” for escalating conflict in Vietnam. GLOBAL But when it came to Mr Lee, he made it clear they MAY 13, 1969: Mr Lee with United States President Richard Nixon during his could not be more wrong. visit to Washington, where they exchanged views on security in South-east America’s stand was crucial Asia. He saw Mr Nixon as a “serious geo-political conceptualist with a clear for the future of a grasp of the world and of America’s place”. LINKS non-Communist South-east OCT 8, 1985: Asia. EVEN as he cared little for the label, Recalls Dr Henry Kissinger, Mr Lee said in his other world leaders regarded Mr Lee toast at the White who was meeting him for the Kuan Yew as a statesman whose first time: “His first words House dinner views were sought after. hosted by US were ‘you make me sick’. He was also someone who had Which took great courage.” President Ronald seen it all, from being a child of the Reagan (far right) That display won over the that relations British empire to a leader who fought former US Secretary of State, between the US against colonialism and steered a who was then a Harvard don. and Singapore were small developing country to chart a Thus began one of the world’s “at their best”. path for itself amid the big powers. most high-powered and They are seen here He approached relations with a enduring friendships between with (from left) firm view to advancing Singapore’s two masters of realpolitik. Mrs Lee and Mrs interests and saw the world for what From the beginning, Dr it was rather than what it ought to be, Nancy Davis AUG 11, 1981: Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang’s arrival at the Istana on his Kissinger says, “he impressed Reagan by the observers have said. three-day visit, the first official trip by a Chinese prime minister to Singapore. me with his clarity of analysis, grand staircase of In helping to raise Singapore’s It marked the beginning of rapid trade growth between the two countries, with his strength that he the White House. profile on the world stage for nearly from $1.99 billion in 1980 to $22 billion in 2000. showed in facing his five decades, he met leaders of challenges, and with the OCT 9, 1985: revolution, from Mao Zedong to courage in which he defended On the same trip, to Gamal Abdel JUNE 8, 2001 (left): Mr his position”. Mr Lee hosted a Nasser, and he forged close ties with Lee receiving a book on As much as Mr Lee is black-tie dinner in regional leaders such as Suharto. China from Chinese known for his force of honour of US Some relationships blossomed into President Jiang Zemin personality, Dr Kissinger is Vice-President deep friendships. There is the fabled during his visit to adamant his friend did not George Bush at the bond between Mr Lee and his three Suzhou Industrial Park gain the influence he did by Four Seasons Hotel friends – former US secretaries of (SIP), a joint charm or cultivating in Washington, DC. state George Shultz and Henry development between personality. From left: Mr Lee, Kissinger, and former West German Mr Bush, Mrs Lee, Singapore and China “He did it, and chancellor Helmut Schmidt. started in 1994. He insists on doing it, Mrs Barbara Bush, “A small state must seek a PHOTOS: COURTESY OF LEE KUAN YEW, ST FILE Mrs George Shultz presented Mr Jiang with by performance,” he maximum number of friends, while says. and another of his maintaining the freedom to be itself SEPT 7, 1982: Mr Lee’s legendary “four-eye peace and stability in the region. Mr Lee shared a copy of his memoir good friends, meetings” with Indonesian President Suharto a close friendship with Mr Suharto, and was the From Third World To Their as a sovereign and independent over 31 years from 1967 to 1998 helped to first foreign leader to visit him in a Jakarta friendship Secretary of State nation,” he said in 2009. First and a book on the George Shultz. foster strong bilateral ties and contribute to hospital before his death on Jan 27, 2008. SIP entitled In Unison. has been marked by OCT 30, 2009: regular Mr Lee called on phone calls US President NOV 14, 2010 (left): In and visits, but Barack Obama at Singapore to mark Dr Kissinger the White House 20 years of bilateral ties, insists it was during a 10-day Chinese Vice-President never a visit to New York Xi Jinping, who is now “sentimental” and Washington. China’s President, one. Ever the He also met top unveiled a bronze statue realist, he says: US diplomat Hillary of the late Chinese “When Lee Kuan Clinton, Treasury leader Deng Xiaoping Yew and I meet, Secretary Timothy we don’t protest Geithner, Federal together with Mr Lee at a ceremony in each other’s Reserve chairman friendship to Ben Bernanke and Parliament House. The bust is now located each other. We the White House’s have shown it in National Economic along the Singapore OCT 10, 1989: Queen Elizabeth II at a state banquet hosted by President Wee Kim Wee (right) SEPT 3, 1966: Mr Lee visited Indian PM Indira our actions to Council director River. during a three-day visit. At the dinner, she paid tribute to Mr Lee for proving to be “one of the Gandhi four times between 1966 and 1971 to each other.” Lawrence Commonwealth’s sturdiest sheet anchors, prudent in counsel and wise in judgment”. Singapore nurture cultural, commercial and strategic Summers. would have undoubtedly been a very different place without him, she added. relations with the world’s largest democracy.

18 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 19 SEPT 1, 1988: Mr Lee gave First Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong (second from right) his vote of confidence at this lunch-time rally in Fullerton Square as he urged voters to give his successor “a ringing endorsement”. This election was different because voters would be casting their verdict not on his own performance, but that of Mr Goh’s, he said. And they had to decide if they approved of Mr Goh’s more consultative NOV 28, 1990 approach to (above): Mr Goh governing, he Chok Tong was added. Voters sworn in as responded by Singapore’s second returning the PAP Prime Minister at to power with 63.2 City Hall Chamber. per cent of the He passed the vote. mantle of From left: Mr S. premiership to Jayakumar, Mr Lee Mr Lee Hsien Hsien Loong, Loong in August Dr Yeo Ning Hong, 2004 after 14 Mr Lee Kuan Yew, years, and was Mr Goh Chok Tong Senior Minister and Mr George until 2011. Yeo. PHOTOS: ST FILE, BT FILE AUG 12, 2004 (left): Mr Lee APRIL 27, congratulating his 2011 (left): son Lee Hsien Mr Lee with Loong (centre) GROOMING PAP new face after he was sworn and fellow in as Singapore’s Tanjong Pagar third Prime GRC candidate Minister at the Chan Chun Istana. Mr Lee, YOUNGER Sing on who was Senior Nomination Minister, received Day at his appointment as Singapore Minister Mentor Chinese Girls’ from then LEADERS School. President S R Mr Chan, who Nathan (at right). is now Minister AT 67, Mr Lee Kuan Yew stepped down voluntarily after 31 years as for Social and Prime Minister. Family Political renewal was a key task he had set for himself since the Development 1970s, inducting younger, better-educated talent to replenish the and Second ranks even if at times it rankled some of his Old Guard comrades. Minister for Mr Lee had worked towards a smooth, orderly transition after Defence, is seeing too many Third World nations come to grief without such part of discipline. When he handed over the reins to Mr Goh Chok Tong in Singapore’s November 1990, there was no crashing of the gears, as he put it, fourth because so carefully had the succession been planned. generation of Mr Lee became Senior Minister and then Minister Mentor, sharing leadership. his databank of a lifetime of experience with the Cabinet. Succession planning is now accepted as a given. Mr Goh handed over the reins to Mr Lee Hsien Loong after 14 years. Mr Lee Hsien Loong, 63, who does not want to stay beyond 70, is searching for Singapore’s fourth PM.

20 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 21 THE LEE KUAN YEW I REMEMBER

HIS SISTER MONICA LEE, 85

I KNOW best what my brother liked to eat. He loved our mother’s Nonya cooking and sometimes he would crave his favourite dishes. When he lost weight after Mrs Lee died in 2010, he called me and said: “Mon, I’ve lost 1 2 /2 pounds. What can you teach my maid to cook so I can put the weight back on?” So I taught his Indonesian 1963: Despite his cook how to prepare satay, busy schedule, gado gado, mee siam and FAMILY Mr Lee found time rojak. And to help him build up to be with his an appetite, I presented the children. food on beautiful dishes that I He saw more of carried by hand back from MAN them during their Italy. annual two-week When he saw the way the vacations at food was laid out, with AWAY from the public eye, Mr Lee Kuan Yew had a loyal, caring side. Fraser’s Hill, vegetables on the side and He was a family man who kept in close contact with his siblings, Cameron Highlands fruit in the middle, he called worried after his children and loved his wife deeply. and later, Changi out to his daughter, who calls The eldest of five siblings born into a middle-class Straits Chinese Cottage. But he me Gu Ma (aunt in Mandarin): family, he said he knew “they will not let me down” if he were ever in also made it a “Wei Ling, come and see what trouble. He outlived his two brothers Dennis and Freddy and is point to take your Gu Ma has done. Come survived by sister Monica and brother Suan Yew. breaks in the and join me!” Mr Lee was deeply attached to his wife Kwa Geok Choo, who was middle of his work Sometimes he would call his academic rival at Raffles Institution in 1939 before they were day to interact with a special request. Once he re-acquainted later and romance blossomed. While studying in with his children. asked for a Dutch-style chicken England, they married in secret. They exchanged vows officially again They are seen here but I did not know how to in Singapore in 1950. They had three children: Prime Minister Lee on a marine patrol prepare it. See, whatever he Hsien Loong, paediatric neurologist Lee Wei Ling and businessman boat named wants to eat, he thinks I’m Lee Hsien Yang; and seven grandchildren. Tekong on a such a great chef I’m able to When Mrs Lee died in 2010, he said in a moving eulogy for his wife Sunday family produce it! Thankfully, I could of 63 years: “Without her, I would be a different man, with a different outing. From left: and it came out perfectly. life.” Hsien Loong, 11, Later, he decided he would Wei Ling, eight, put on weight by eating Mr Lee, Hsien SEPTEMBER 1946: dessert. He asked me to Yang, six, and prepare tiramisu, caramel (Top) A family Mrs Lee. photo taken the pudding and souffle for him. night before PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE , ST FILE These were the sweet treats he Mr Lee left to read used to have when he was in law in England. Cambridge and London. But I Front row: Mr Lee’s had not made souffle for 35 parents, Mr Lee years! Chin Koon and I took care of my brother in Madam Chua Jim his old age because he took Neo. care of all of us when we were Second row from young. He looked after left: Ms Monica Lee, Mr Dennis Lee, everybody’s affairs, and Mr Lee Kuan Yew, whenever he saw that I was Mr Freddy Lee and sad or unwell, he would call me Dr Lee Suan Yew. into his office to find out why. Even until recently he would (Right) He also ask me how often I see my took a series of heart doctor... He wanted to photographs with make sure that as long as he his beloved Kwa was alive, we were alive too, Geok Choo to my youngest remember her by. brother Suan and Although she I. We were all promised to wait three years for his very close, return, they were and he was reunited the next more like a year in 1947 after mother to she won a Queen’s us than Scholarship, which 1989: Mr and Mrs Lee had one granddaughter and six grandsons, who were OCT 6, 2010: Mr Lee bade a final farewell to his wife of 63 years by kissing his fingers our own paid for her occasionally seen running around the rolling greens of the Istana. From left: PM Lee and placing them on her cheeks twice at the end of a private funeral held at Mandai mother. university education Hsien Loong’s youngest son Haoyi (on Mrs Lee’s lap), a few months old, Mr Lee Hsien Crematorium. She died on Oct 2, 2010, two years after she suffered two consecutive in Britain. Yang’s sons Shengwu, four, and Huanwu, three, and PM Lee’s second son Hongyi, two. strokes in 2008.

22 The Straits Times March 23, 2015 March 23, 2015 The Straits Times 23 PHOTO: ST FILE AUG 9, 2012: Mr Lee arriving for the National Day Parade at The Float@Marina Bay to a standing ovation, as Singaporeans cheered for the man who overcame the odds to take Singapore from Third World to First.

LEE KUAN YEW: A tribute Get the latest updates in our live blog on the website Pen your favourite memories of Mr Lee on the ST Tribute Wall Follow us on the ST app in your smartphone and tablet Follow @STcom on Twitter and The Straits Times on Facebook Click on www.straitstimes.com for more on Mr Lee’s work, vision and life

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