Lee Kuan Yew

Synopsis

• Date of birth: September 16,1923
• The longest-serving prime minister in world history
• Resigned as prime minister in 1990, and his son became prime minister in 2004
• Lee died on March 23, 2015

Early years

• Lee studied law at Fitzwilliam College, in Cambridge, UK
• He was admitted to the English bar, but instead of practicing law there, Lee returned to Singapore to do so

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Political beginnings

• In the early 1950s, Singapore buzzed with talk of constitutional reform and independence
• Lee banded with other like minds to challenge the governing structure of the country
• 1954, Lee became secretary-general of his own party, the People's Action Party

The 'People's Action Paty' evolvees

• 1956, Lee headed to London as part of the delegation seeking self-rule for Singapore
• After the negotiations failed, Singapore experienced a year of civil unrest, but in 1957, Lee returned to London yet again as talks resumed

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The 'People's Action Paty' evolvees

• 1958, Lee helped negotiate what Singapore's status would be as a self-governing state, and a new constitution was formed
• Lee campaigned on an anticolonialist, anticommunist platform and called for sweeping social reforms and an eventual federation with neignboring countries

Lee was sworn in as prime minister on June 5, 1959, becoming the first prime minister of an independent Singapore

Singapore Independence

• 1963, Singapore joined the newly created Federation of Malaysia
• The PAP retained its control of Singapore's Parliament
• Lee held onto his post as prime minister

Split with Malaysia

"For me, it is a moment of anguish," he said. "All my life ... I believed in Malaysian merger and unity of the two territories. You know that we, as a people, are connected by geography, economics, by ties of kinship ... It literally broke everything that we stood for ... now Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of the people in a most and just equal society."

Later years and Legacy

• Lee resigned as prime minister in 1990
• He remained the leader of the PAP until 1992
• Lee's son 'Lee Hsien Loong' took its place at the head of Singapore government in 2004

Lee was hospitalized with pneumonia. He was on a ventilator, in critical condition, and he died soon after, on March 23.

Lee left behind a lot of things...

• A legacy of an efficiently run country
• A leader who brought prosperity unheard of before his tenure, at the cost of a mildly authoritarian style of government

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• By the 1980s, Singapore, under Lee's guidance, had a per capital income second only to Japan's in East Asia, and the country had become a chief financial center of Southest Asia

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