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THE FOUNDING FATHER OF SINGAPORE

EMBODYING THE VISAGE OF SINGAPORE FOR MORE THAN FIVE DECADES ON THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL FRONTS AS PRIME MINISTER, THEN SENIOR MINISTER AND MINISTER

MENTOR, THE LATE LEE KUAN YEW CAME TO BE KNOWN AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST RESPECTED STATESMEN. TRUE TO THE OLD SAYING, BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK

TOGETHER, HE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF CONGREGATING WITH THE GREATEST MOVERS AND SHAKERS ACROSS THE GENERATIONS – FROM MAO ZEDONG TO XI JINPING AND

LYNDON JOHNSON TO BARACK OBAMA.

Lee Kuan Yew

by Nurilya Anis Rahim

COVER STORY

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Chieftain of Change

As the visionary who revamped and redefined Singapore into one of the world’s wealthiest nations, giving Singaporeans a national identity

to be proud of, he is a true historical titan who will be remembered for generations to come as the Father of Modern Singapore and as one of the great strategists of Asian affairs. His place in the annals of time is assured forevermore – as an epitomic leader and one of the foremost politicians of the contemporary world.

The story of how the late Lee transformed Singapore is a fascinating one as no other leader in the modern world has had such a profound hand in influencing and directing an entire country’s progress from its pre-independence to its present developed status the way that Lee had – straddling revolution and autonomy from foreign rule whilst ushering in development, wealth and progress with such ferocious tenacity!

He had been able to achieve what many great Asian revolutionaries such as Mao Zedong, Pandit Nehru, Sukarno and Ho Chi Minh could only wish for – which was not merely geared to demolish an old system, but also to create a new and more successful one. Because of that, Singapore’s success and accomplishment today is largely attributable to the late Lee.

As the founding father of the independent city-state, the late Lee transformed a third-world economy into one of the strongest in the world. From the very beginning, he recognized that his country needed a strong economy

in order to survive as an independent nation, and he launched a program to industrialize Singapore and transformed it into a major exporter of finished goods. Within 30 years, he fulfilled his goal of industrializing, urbanizing, and educating his country.

The late Lee’s ideas shaped modern Singapore and made it what it is today. The story of Singapore’s transformation from a British colonial outpost with an uncertain future into the ninth richest country per capita is a story of how his visions have been realized on an island of 600 square kilometres – where three million people today enjoy a standard of living higher than even their former colonial masters!

During his long position in office, harnessing his mission and dedication single-mindedly, he steered his country to independence and laid the very foundations that transformed Singapore into a modern and thriving metropolis. He led and forged a nation which today is admired worldwide for its prosperity, harmony and stability. In lifting an entire nation and improving countless lives of Singaporeans of several generations, the late Lee has left a lasting legacy to everyone and achieved the highest level of greatness any nation could hope for.

In a bid to remind Singaporeans of the great leader he was and always will be, 7 August has been declared as Lee Kuan Yew Day in honour of the country’s Founding Father. This new public holiday will commence in 2015 as part of Singapore’s 50th Anniversary celebration and

will be an annual public holiday added to the island nation’s calendar of public holidays.

BACKGROUNDThe Formative Years of a Future LeaderThe late Lee was born on 16 September, 1923, into a wealthy Chinese family that had resided in Singapore since the 19th Century. His ancestors were Hakka, Chinese tribesmen who migrated from northern China to Fujian and have a reputation for pugnacity and clannishness. Lee was a third-generation Straits Chinese who grew up speaking Malay, English and the Cantonese dialect of his family’s maid. Ever the pragmatist, he subsequently taught himself Japanese, Mandarin and Hokkien – as the political scenario in Singapore required.

His education was English, first at Singapore’s Raffles College, where he studied English with Mathematics and Economics. Then it was on to Cambridge, where he learned English Law and English Self-assurance, deftly taking a double first in the former and a double helping of the latter. While admiring their way of doing things, he was not overly fond of the English; he had similar, if more extreme, feelings about the Japanese – and after Cambridge, he ditched the Anglicized ‘Harry Lee’ for his original Chinese name; though many of his English friends continue to use it to this day.

After his admission to the English Bar in 1950, he decided to move back to Singapore to start practicing Law, but he quickly found his true vocation in the tumultuous politics of the time. He embraced his destiny

and became the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. POLITICAL BEGINNINGSDirecting the Winds of Revolution After the expulsion of the Japanese in 1945, British plans for a united Malaya, leaving Singapore, the island at the foot of the Malay peninsula out because its population was heavily Chinese – not Malayan. It became a separate British colony run by a governor with a mainly appointed Chinese council. As pressure for independence grew in 1954, the socialist politician in Lee, founded the People’s Action Party (PAP) – determined on bringing an end to British rule.

In 1955, Singapore was given an elected legislature and its own administration in charge of all matters except foreign policy and defence. Lee’s party won only three seats in that year’s election. Still, in 1958, he helped to negotiate in London for a Singapore with a fully elected government responsible for all internal affairs. His party won 43 of the 51 seats in the subsequent 1959 election and after securing the release of imprisoned communist colleagues, Lee took office as Singapore’s Prime Minister in June.

The PAP had called for a union with Malaya and in 1963 Lee crushed the communists, who opposed it, and Singapore joined the new Federation of Malaya. Much

to Lee’s disappointment, it did not work. The island’s Chinese character proved an impossible obstacle and the federation asked Singapore to leave two years later. It became a separate, sovereign republic and in the elections from 1968 to 1980 the PAP won every single seat in the legislature. Lee became one of the most important political figures in Southeast Asia and by the time he stood down in 1990, he had become the longest-serving prime minister in world history! Building A New HavenFists flying, Lee immersed himself in a world of communists, labour organizers, gangsters and intelligence operatives, emerging as Prime Minister – with his enemies all knocked out of the ring. That was the way he would keep things throughout his political life. While flooring any political challenger who dared to climb through the ropes, he set about building one of Asia’s ‘Economic Tigers’ with relentless energy.

Lee courted multinational investors to upgrade the economy from mass manufacturing to high-tech industry. He built the region’s finest infrastructure of airport, port, road and communications networks. He established a public housing system and the Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings pool that gave every citizen a stake in the system. He virtually abolished crime and developed Asia’s best health and education systems.

I’m very determined. If I decide what something is worth doing, then I’ll put my heart and soul to it.

The whole ground can be against me, but if I know it is right, I’ll do it. That’s the

business of a leader.

images :1)President Suharto welcomed Lee Kuan Yew at Kemayoran Airport, Jakarta In

May 1973. This meeting helped to diffuse the strained relations arising from the execution of the two Indonesian marines involved in the McDonald House bombing.

2) Recipient of the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize, Professor Gatze Lettinga from Netherlands and Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew

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On the rare occasions when his grand plans failed to take off, the circumstances were usually beyond his control. He was one of the first to recognize China’s potential under Deng Xiaoping’s reforms; but he also learned how treacherous it is to deal with the mainland – his dream project to combine Singaporean know-how with Chinese labour in an industrial park in Suzhou foundered on the very rocks of corruption, nepotism and avarice that he had warned about all his life in other contexts.

But even as he obsessively pruned, trimmed and weeded the Garden City of Singapore, the late Lee could never shed his lifelong sense of insecurity – the feeling that it could all be taken away with one uncontrollable spasm of social turmoil or regional chaos. Because of Singapore’s size, its lack of natural resources and the nature of its neighbours, he knew he could never fully be master of the island’s destiny. Perhaps this in the end is what helped to prevent Lee from becoming too autocratic – providing him with a small taste of humility every time he looked at the map and saw that the creation of one of Asia’s most brilliant statesmen was just a small red dot in Southeast Asia...

POLITICAL LEGACYSet apart to Make a DifferenceThe late Lee towered over other Asian leaders on the international stage – despite coming from one of Asia’s

smallest countries. A champion of Asian values, he was most un-Asian in his frank and confrontational style. He was a man of great intelligence, with no patience for mediocrity; a man of integrity, with a relentless urge to smite opponents; and a man who devoured foreign news – but had little tolerance for any disrespectful press back home.

What really set this complex man apart from Asia’s other nation-builders was what he did not do; he did not become corrupt, and he did not stay in power beyond his time. He basked in the wisdom of seniority; whose views were sought by politicians and commentators who would travel from all over the globe to pay court to him in Singapore.

It is difficult to view the late Lee on his own, distinct from Singapore. But in many ways he was the island, having personified his character in all the insecurity, vulnerability, emotional detachment, arrogance and restless energy that also characterize Singapore. His life had shaped and had been shaped by the small territory at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula that he made first into a country, and then a prosperous country.

The late Lee had few interests outside his work. His legacy was Singapore – no more and no less. He cried at its inception, in a televised press conference the day the enforced separation from Malaysia was announced in

1965. Though his emotions were more under control the day in 1990 when he stepped down as Prime Minister, but still he could not pry himself loose entirely, and the post of Senior Minister was accordingly created for him.

The late Lee lived by the conflict theory of management: “You either dominate or are dominated” – for he knew all about being dominated, both under British colonial rule and, more brutally, during the Japanese occupation. When it became his turn to dominate, he used the full force of his personality and the law, to fight his opponents. Contradicting him became synonymous with being disloyal to Singapore; so hermetic was the identification between the man and his principals.

Today, Singapore’s Gross National Product (GNP) per capita is higher than that of its former colonizer, Great Britain. It has the world’s busiest port, is the third-largest oil refinery and a major centre of global manufacturing and service industries. And the move from poverty to plenty had taken place within one generation. In 1965, Singapore was economically at par with Chile, Argentina and Mexico; today its GNP per capita is four or five times theirs.

The late Lee managed such miraculous economic transformation while maintaining tight political control over the country; and Singapore’s government could best be described as a ‘soft’ authoritarian regime, although at times it had not been so soft. He built what he called ‘a first-world oasis in a third-world region’ — praised for the efficiency and incorruptibility of his rule; but accused by human rights groups of limiting political freedoms and intimidating opponents through libel suits.

Lee’s ‘Singapore Model’ of economic growth and tight social control made him one of the most influential political figures of Asia. As the Minister Mentor, he commanded enormous influence and power in the country. Upon his retirement, he embarked on another career of sorts as a world-class pundit – speaking his mind with impolitic frankness. And what was often on his mind was American-style democracy and its perils. He often travelled to East Asian capitals from Beijing to Hanoi to Manila, dispensing advice on how to achieve economic growth while retaining political stability and control – a formula that the governing elites of said countries were most anxious to learn!

Singapore’s Very Own Stately Love StoryThroughout the late Lee’s engagement in politics over the years, numerous opponents in said arena had alleged him to be heartless and ruthless. However, in direct contravention of that, the story of his love for his wife, Kwa Geok Choo, is a very touching one – a strong testament of their affection and devotion. The late Kwa was one of Singapore’s most successful lawyers – supporting the family and running the household as her late husband embarked on his political career.

The story of the late Lee and Kwa began when both of them were studying at Raffles College in Singapore. Lee had crossed paths with Kwa, the only female student in the prestigious school. They started out as competitors – Kwa’s Economic Science and English results topped the cohort, while Lee’s came in second. From an exchange of academic blows, a friendship grew and from there, they gradually became soul mates.

Singaporeans, if I can choose an analogy, we are

the hard disk of a computer, the foreign talent are the

megabytes you add to your storage capacity. So your computer never hangs

because you got enormous storage capacity

images :1)President Barack Obama with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Lee Kuan Yew at the APEC Summit in Singapore

2)Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld escorts Lee Kuan Yew through an honour cordon and into the Pentagon on May 2, 2002. Rumsfeld and Lee met to discuss on bilateral security issues including the war on terrorism.

3)Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Yudhoyono’s wife, Kristiani with Lee Kuan Yew and wife, Kua Geok Choo attending a dinner at the government palace in Jakarta, in 2006.

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image :Secretary of Defense, William S. Cohen

(left) meets with Lee Kuan Yew in Cohen’s Pentagon office on February 29,

2000. Ambassadors and senior policy advisors from both countries joined

Cohen and Lee to discuss a broad range of security issues, global as well as

regional in scope, which are of interest to both nations.

I have no regrets. I have spent my life, so much of

it, building up this country. There’s nothing more that I need to do. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What

have I given up? My life.

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In September 1946, Lee left for Cambridge to study Law, with Kwa joining him the following year. When in England, he had proposed the notion of a ‘secret marriage’ and Kwa agreed without hesitation. Thus, in December 1947, the couple clandestinely got married at Stratford-upon-Avon. Three years later, upon their return to Singapore, they remarried in front of family and friends with a reception held at Raffles Hotel, Singapore.

The couple welcomed their first son, Lee Hsien Loong, on February 1952, followed by their daughter, Lee Wei Ling, in 1955. Two years later, their youngest son, Lee Hsien Yang, was born. Today, following his late father’s footstep, Lee Hsien Loong has become the third Prime Minister of Singapore. Meanwhile, Dr. Lee Wei Ling runs the National Neuroscience Institute in Singapore and Lee Hsien Yang is now a Singaporean business executive and the current Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

A Doting HusbandKwa was more than just a wife – she was also Lee’s confidante and advisor. Her entire life revolved around Lee and her children. Being the eldest son of a Peranakan family, Lee could not even crack an egg, since it is not expected of men to do so. Nevertheless, in 2003, when Kwa suffered her first stroke, Lee made the effort to adjust his lifestyle to look after her although he was still in the Cabinet as Senior Minister, and later Minister Mentor.

In May 2008, Kwa suffered a second stroke which left her bedridden. Each day, after returning home from work, Lee would sit by her bed and spend two hours telling Kwa about his day and would read her favourite poems to her. This continued every night without fail.

89-year-old Kwa passed on after being bedridden for two years. On her funeral day, a grieving Lee walked to her casket, placed a stalk of red rose on her still body, bent towards his wife and planted a kiss on her forehead. His beloved Kwa Geok Choo – or Choo, as he affectionately called her – had departed, leaving him with 63 years of happy memories.

Lee had indeed been courageous and resolute in pursuing his dreams and love. He also credited Kwa’s consistent rational and emotional support as his driving force. Together, they helped build the Singapore of today; with Kwa being the woman behind his success — always having had his back. Take their statuses away, at the very end, he was just a man who loved his wife dearly till death did they part.

Before his parting, Lee had told his children of his wish to have part of his ashes mixed with Kwa and both their ashes be put side by side in the columbarium. Joined in life, Lee’s last wish was to remain joined with his wife in the afterlife too.

Demise of the Founding FatherAfter leaving the cabinet in 2011, Lee had cut down his public appearances due to his age and declining health. In early February 2015, an increasingly frail Lee was hospitalized with severe pneumonia. Due to an infection, he became critically ill and was under intensive care in the days leading up to his death.

Just hours before dawn on 23 March 2015, Lee passed away peacefully at Singapore General Hospital. Singaporeans wept and world leaders paid tribute as the Southeast Asian city-state mourned the death of its Founding Father.

The late Lee had dedicated his entire life to Singapore, transforming his once impoverished homeland into the present wealthy bustling financial hub with low crime and almost zero corruption. Although no one is quite sure what direction Singapore will now take without him, it will remain a country with the great Lee’s imprint visible everywhere – a dominant figure who transcends his country’s borders and an evergreen hero to Singaporeans.

This previously written article has been retrospectively updated in the light of Lee Kuan Yew’s demise.

WIT & WISDOM OF LEE KUAN YEW

Singapore’s SuccessSingapore has to take the world as it is; it is too small to change it. But we can try to maximise the space we have to manoeuvre among the big “trees” in the region. That has been our approach and we will have to be nimble and resourceful to be able to continue doing it.

Internally three qualities define the Singapore success story – making the country the safest place to live and work in, treating every citizen equally and ensuring continuous success for every generation of Singaporeans.”

Open EconomySingapore’s GDP per capita was US$500 in 1965. Today, it is about US$52,000. We would not have reached that figure in five decades if we have not opened our doors. If we cut ourselves off from the international economy, we will shrink.

Growth of A NationDemographics determine the destiny of a people. If you are declining in population, as a nation, you are declining in strength. An ageing population will not maintain GDP per capita. It is the young that keeps the economy going and the lack young people (on Japan’s aging population and economic growth)

Importance Of Men In National Service I have read several books written by generals about wars fought by other generals. The thing I am constantly reminded of is that from the moment the commander has pressed the button, control of the events goes over to the local commanders until the battle was over. During the heat of battle it is the captain, the lieutenant, the sergeant, the corporal, who makes the decisions.

Corruption & MeritocracySingapore as it stands, is the one corruption free spot in a region where corruption is endemic. People are promoted on the basis of merit, not of race, language or religion. If we uphold these institutions, we will continue to make progress. That is my greatest hope.

Leadership A politician wants to publicise himself and get into office and enjoys the pride of being there. A leader has a mission. You seek power because you want to do certain things. A statesman is one who has not only sought power and done those things but is able to hand over to a good successor. That is my understanding.

Of Trees & CreepersRichard Nixon came to Singapore before he was president and spent an hour and a half pacing

up and down, taking down my notes. So to make my presentation simple, I told him that some nations are like trees, they grow tall and straight, they do not need support. And

some nations are like creepers, they depend on a tree and they creep up their tree. (Countries that are trees are Japan, China, Korea and Vietnam)

Global EconomyAsia will be a major engine providing much of the momentum for GDP growth worldwide, even if a relatively large share of what is earned by the Asian worker will continue to be set aside for future generations. We should increasingly expect to see stock markets rise and fall less on the central bank pronouncements or economic data economic data releases of America and Europe and more on those of China, India, Japan and South Korea.

Life After RetirementI continue to make appointments to meet people. You must meet people, because you must have human contact if you want to broaden your perspective.I am 89 years old. Do I worry whether the world will come to an end? My job is done. I have put in place a system that is clean, meritocratic and open.

(Extracts from One Man’s View of the World, Lee Kuan Yew, published 2013)

image :Lee Kuan Yew and Kwa Geok Choo with their three children, Lee Hsien Loong,

Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang.

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Tribute TO THE GREAT LEE KUAN YEW BY WORLD FIGURES

“Lee is one of the Legendary figures of Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries. He is somebody who helped to trigger

the Asia economic miracle.”Barack Obama,

President of the United States

“In office, I read and analyzed every speech of Lee’s. He had a way of penetrating the fog of propaganda and expressing with unique clarity the issues of our times

and the way to tackle them. He was never wrong.”Margaret Thatcher,

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

“He is a big frog in a small pond. He had ambitions to become Prime Minister of all Malaysia. He tries to lecture people but people dislike that. Although, people do regard him as an intellectual, as something more than just an ordinary politician. He’s always invited to give his views on things and, to that extent, he is something bigger than Singapore. The fact remains that he is the Mayor of Singapore. This is something he doesn’t like. He wants to be big and he feels that Malaysians took away his opportunity to lead a real country. But I think he will go down in history as a very remarkable intellectual and

politician at the same time, which is not a very often thing.”

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad,The fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia

“More than 40 years ago, Lee Kuan Yew transformed what was a poor, decrepit colony into a shining, rich and modern metropolis – all the time surrounded by hostile powers. With his brilliant, incisive intellect, he is one of the world’s most outspoken and respected statesmen.”

Rupert Murdoch,Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation

“Lee Kuan Yew took a small spit of land in Southeast Asia, which became independent in 1965 after great struggle and anguish, with no resources and a polyglot population of Chinese, Malaysian and Indian workers, and turned it into one of economic centres of the world. To do this, Lee had to have smart economic policies, but also a shrewd foreign policy. He is still indisputably the father of Singapore. I was struck by the depth of his understanding

of the world – China, Russia and the United States – all at the age of 85.”

Fareed Zakaria,Editor-at-large of Time

Lee Kuan Yew has gathered around himself the most brilliant minds, transforming the most exacting standards into a system of government. Under his leadership, the primacy of the general interest, the cult of education, work and saving, the capacity to foresee the needs of the

city have enabled Singapore to take what I call ‘shortcuts to progress’.

Jacques Chirac,former President of France

Combining what is best in the Chinese and British traditions, his penetrating intellect gives political pragmatism a unique edge which has made the city state

of Singapore a model far beyond Asia.Denis Healey,

former British Chancellor of the Exchequer

The leader who, perhaps, impressed me most was Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. He was an individual who changed the course of history. Lee Kuan Yew took the right decisions for his country; he chose the right values and the right economic policies to ensure the development of a successful society. In this, he was an artist painting on the largest canvas that society can provide. He was also a very astute judge of the world and provided a very canny and realistic assessment of our situation in South Africa

when I met him during the early nineties. F. W. de Klerk,

former President of South Africa

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Whenever I met Mr Lee Kuan Yew, I was deeply impressed by his intellect, his vision and the depth of his

understanding on history and society.Kim Dae Jung,

former President of the Republic of Korea

Lee’s life of public services is both unique and remarkable. His work as Prime Minister and now as Minister Mentor has helped literally millions of people in Singapore and all across Southeast Asia to live better, more prosperous lives. I hope the leaders of AEAN will continue to build

upon Lee Kuan Yew’s outstanding legacy. Bill Clinton,

42nd President of the United States

‘Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew is one of the pivotal figures in the modern history of Southeast Asia. His actions have

shaped the course of events in this region.Prem Tinsulanonda,

former Prime Minister of Thailand

Lee Kuan Yew has steered through policies that have been copied across Asia, and have greatly lifted the profile and representation of Singapore. It is a legacy

that will endure.John Major,

former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

In my long life in public service, I have encountered many bright, able people. None is more impressive than

Lee Kuan Yew.George H. W. Bush,

41st President of the United States

Ever since I met my friend Lee Kuan Yew, I was highly impressed by his brilliant intellect and his straight overview. His lifetime achievements as a political leader and statesmen are outstanding. The economic and social development of modern Singapore is deeply rooted in his capability to establish an adequate political framework

for Singapore’s ethnical heterogeneity. Helmut Schmidt,

former Chancellor of Germany

For so many years, Lee has been a willing mentor to leaders of government, business, and for me personally. The Ford’s Theatre Lincoln Medal is given to individuals who exemplify the lasting legacy and mettle of character embodied by President Abraham Lincoln. Few leaders in modern history meet these criteria. Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘ Towering genius disdains a beaten path’. For the people of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew was such a towering leader who held a bold vision for his nation. He did not lead them down the beaten path of narrow-minded protectionism, but down the broad avenues of

global engagement and economic competitiveness.Rex Tillerson,

Chairman, President, Chief Executive Office of Exxon Mobil

History will record few leaders who have accomplished so much for their country and for Southeast Asia as His Excellency Lee Kuan Yew. As a driving force behind the growth and evolution of ASEAN, Lee also helped millions of people across Southeast Asia to live in an environment

of peace and economic growth.Ahmet Muhtar Kent,

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola

Lee Kuan Yew is among the most intellectually alert of the world’s leaders. He is capable of expatiating at length and with perception on virtually any international problem; he is a most astute observer of the Asian scene; and he is candid in passing along to us Asian perceptions

of our changing role in that part of the world.Zbigniew Brzezinski,

former United State National Security Adviser

Insightful, well thought, penetrating and visionary. Lee Kuan Yew’s assessment and analysis of these countries and the future of Singapore is truly par excellence and could only come from one of the finest statesmen of this region and our time. It will be a much referenced book

for those who need to understand where we are and where we will be.

Tun Daim Zainuddin, former Malaysian Finance Minister

“I was a young student leader at the University of Malaya in Singapore from 1954 to 1959. During that time, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew had recently returned from a distinguished academic career at Cambridge University in Britain. He was an outstanding lawyer and a prominent political leader. He always gave brilliant speeches on and off campus. I was certainly inspired by his intellectual capacity, abilities and his political prowess. He was articulate, eloquent, very

deep, determined and aggressive in his views.

Although, many students and political leaders suffered under his harsh and sometimes ruthless methods, but he believed he had to take stern action for the sake of Singapore’s very survival against serious threats. Like many, I too felt that he could have been much more caring

and compassionate to his opponents, but firm as well.

But that was his choice and leadership style for Singapore. However, it mostly worked and as a result Singapore today is an outstanding example of a highly successful and advanced country. Thanks largely to the relentless drive, dedication and dynamic leadership of Mr. Lee. He overcame tremendous challenges, both before and after Singapore’s

separation from Malaysia.

As a civil servant in Malaysia, when attending parliamentary sessions, I was in awe listening to his classical oratory. But I was also uncomfortable with his hard stands and sharp criticisms of Malaysian Policies. He often adopted uncompromising approaches, and showed some lack of understanding and appreciation of the Malaysian ethos,

particularly when Singapore was in Malaysia.

I believe that if he was more considerate, and gracious, Malaysia would have remained intact and there would have been no unfortunate breakup. We all would have

enjoyed a more prosperous and progressive Malaysia today!

But in all fairness, Mr. Lee has shown the world what a small island state, without natural resources but only its strategic position and enterprising and meritocratic human resources can do. He cleverly consolidated all his

limited resources, and developed his dear country so rapidly, to enable it to become one of the richest countries

in the world!

Mr. Lee has shown that strong leadership, even if it were to be quite authoritarian and less democratic, could win the people’s support, if the Government provided honest, fair and

good government and met the basic needs of the people.

Our tribute to him would be to learn from his life and to adopt and adapt to many of his great leadership qualities and fair and pragmatic policies, that have made Singapore

so successful, despite the many odds against it!”Tan Sri Ramon Navaratam,

Corporate Advisor of the Sunway Group, Deputy Chairman of Sunway College, and

Director of the Asian Strategy & Leadership

Lee Kuan Yew, the Master Brand Builder of Singapore and Father of Brand Singapore

Brand Singapore owes its success to Mr. Lee. His vision of building Singapore to become a developed nation and respected country brand is truly amazing and admirable. Singapore, with no natural resources, he worked on the intangibles, of inculcating strong philosophies, values and culture in his people, motivated and drove them to become the best in the world. The key driver of Brand Singapore, he knows the power of branding and what it takes to build one. He would not hesitate to implement any policies or initiatives which he thought would be good for the country. Sure footed, he dares to take risk and face the consequences of being unpopular and this is what differentiates a leader

from the rest.

Synonymous with Singapore, Mr. Lee is a brand himself, one that is highly respected and admired. He has all the attributes of a great brand – identity, personality, wisdom, trust, integrity and honour. He inspires and the world is

truly blessed to have such an incredible leader. Dr KKJohan,

President of The BrandLaureate

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A Special Tribute to LEE KUAN YEW

Lovingly remembered as an amazing leader, no man has ever done more for his country than the remarkable Lee Kuan Yew. For 50 years, Lee Kuan Yew devoted himself to the inspirational cause of making Singapore

a proud home to its citizens.

Below are one-word acronyms that aptly define Lee Kuan Yew,

L – LEGENDE – EXCELLENTE – EXEMPLARY

K – KNOWLEDGEABLEU – UNIQUEA – ATTITUDEN – NOBLE

Y ‘ YANG ’E EXTRAORDINARYW WORTHY

Through his ‘Singapore Model’–one that is greatly admired and studied by leaders worldwide–Lee Kuan Yew leaves behind an inspiring legacy fusing forward-looking modernity with sound Asian values. He succeeded in building one of the wealthiest and least-corrupt developed nations with his exceptional

ideologies. He remains as one of history’s greatest leaders and nation builders.

He will always remain in our hearts and minds.

(THIS MESSAGE WAS WRITTEN BY DR. KKJOHAN, PRESIDENT OF THE BRANDLAUREATE ON THE DAY OF LEE KUAN YEW’S PASSING, MARCH 23, 2015.)

THE FATHER OF BRAND SINGAPORE

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