Lee Kuan Yew - "Architect" who created prosperity for a nation

(Baonghean) - These days, the news that Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, is sick and his health is deteriorating, the people of the Lion Island are worried day and night and pray for his quick recovery, which is the clearest proof of his contributions in making the country rise to become one of the fastest growing countries in the region and the world...

Lee Kuan Yew was the fourth generation of a family originally from Tai Po County, Guangdong Province who came to Singapore in 1862, then a British colony under the name of "Straits Settlement". The eldest son of Mr. Lee Chin Koon and Mrs. Chua Jim Neo, Lee Kuan Yew was born on 16 September 1923 in a spacious and airy hut at 92, Kampong Java Road, Singapore. From an early age, British culture had a strong influence on him, in the family, people often called him by another name, Harry, given by his grandfather. On 30 September 1950, Lee Kuan Yew married Kwa Geok Chow. They had 2 sons and 1 daughter, and one of his children, Lee Hsien Loong, is currently the Prime Minister of Singapore.

As a young man, Lee Kuan Yew attended Telok Kurau Primary School, Raffles Institution and Raffles College. He had to abandon his studies when the Japanese occupied Singapore from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. During the Japanese occupation, he ran a successful black market for a type of tapioca glue called Stikfas. He worked with the Japanese as a scribe for Allied telegrams, and edited the English version of Hodobu (the Japanese Propaganda and Information Department) from 1943 to 1944. After the war, he studied law at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University in England, and briefly at the London School of Economics. In 1949, he returned to Singapore to practice law with the law firm of John Laycock, a pioneer of multiracial activism.

Lee Kuan Yew's political career began in 1951 as an election campaigner for John Laycock under the banner of the pro-British Progressive Party, however, with his political sensibility, he quickly realized that the future of this party would not achieve a happy result because it did not receive support from the people, especially the Chinese-speaking community. Then, in 1954, he and his British-educated middle-class friends founded the socialist People's Action Party and allied with communist trade unions, he served as Secretary-General of this party until 1992.

Mr. Lee Kuan Yew plays chess with his children in 1965. Photo: AFP

The peak of Lee Kuan Yew's political career was marked in the June 1959 election, when his party won and he became the first prime minister after the British granted self-rule to Singapore. As the leader of a country in the context of Singapore at that time facing many social problems such as education, housing and unemployment, Lee Kuan Yew carried out a series of measures to boost the economy, which he said must be focused on the housing issue, because "only when you have a stable home can you have a stable job". He established the Housing Development Board to start a joint construction program and partly solved the housing shortage on the island. In 1963, with the aim of completely ending British rule, he decided to "marry" with the Malaysians and was approved by more than 70% of the people. However, this “marriage” quickly fell apart because he realized that there were still many disagreements, especially the Malaysian nationalism that affected every aspect of Singaporean life. After separating from Malaysia under the federal status, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew realized that in order to develop the country, it was necessary to establish extensive diplomatic relations. He promoted international recognition for the independent nation of Singapore. As a result, on September 21, 1965, Singapore joined the United Nations, and on August 8, 1967, joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). To date, Singapore has established diplomatic relations with more than 180 independent countries around the world.

Coming to Singapore today, many people cannot imagine that this country had to face many difficulties during the period when Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew first became the leader of this island nation. These were unemployment due to the British withdrawal of almost all of their production facilities, lack of housing, lack of arable land, food and fresh water for daily life had to be imported and natural resources such as oil were scarce... Thanks to his correct reform policies, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew helped the country gradually control unemployment, inflation, increase living standards and implement a large-scale public housing program. The country's economic infrastructure was developed, the threat of racial tension was eliminated and a national defense system was established. To date, Singapore has had the most highly developed infrastructure and some of the most highly developed industries in Asia and the world such as: seaports, shipbuilding and repair industry, oil refining industry, processing and assembly of sophisticated machinery. Singapore has 12 large industrial zones, the largest of which is the Jurong Industrial Zone. Singapore is a leading country in the production of electronic computer disk drives and semiconductors. Singapore is also a leading oil refining and transit center in Asia. In terms of culture, health, education, environment, transportation, etc., this island nation is known as “the most livable country in the world”, which is enough to say all the development in all aspects of Singapore at the present time.

People often compare building an economy to building a house, the first bricks of the foundation must be standard for the house to be solid and withstand the test of time. In recent years, despite the many ups and downs of the world economy, Singapore's economy has remained stable, and the credit for that goes to none other than Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. After leaving the Prime Minister's chair (1990) and taking on other duties, he still had a great influence on Singapore's politics and economic reform. In recent days, the Singaporean people and the world's public have paid special attention to his health, a strong testament to his contributions - the architect of the economy in this beautiful and wealthy island nation.

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