Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), also known as LKY, was a Singaporean politician and barrister who served as the first prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. A member of the People's Action Party (PAP), he ruled as authoritarian and oversaw the transformation of post-independence Singapore into a highly developed country and one of the four Asian Tigers. He is regarded as the founding father of modern Singapore.

Born in Singapore during British colonial rule to a family of Peranakan Chinese descent, Lee studied law in England at Cambridge University and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1950. Shortly after, he returned to Singapore and practised law, founding the law firm Lee & Lee. In 1954, Lee co-founded the PAP, which won significant support among the working class and trade unions in the lead up to the 1955 general election, securing him a seat in the Tanjong Pagar division and making him the de facto leader of the opposition. In 1959, Lee led the PAP to its first electoral victory, becoming Singapore's first prime minister. Seeking sovereignty from the British Empire, Lee led Singapore to a merger with Malaya along with Sarawak and Sabah, forming Malaysia in 1963. Racial strife and ideological differences later led to Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia and consequent independence in 1965.

Lee oversaw major economic reforms and urban development, instituting policies promoting meritocracy, multiracialism and anti-corruption. His administration, generally characterised as an illiberal democracy with nanny state tendencies, restricted press freedoms, public assembly, labour activism and civil liberties. From 1968 to 1981, Singapore was a de facto one-party state, with the PAP facing no opposition in Parliament. Although Lee maintained legal and institutional procedures that formally characterised Singapore as a democratic parliamentary republic, he employed defamation laws, detention without trial and social engineering to ensure continued electoral success.

Lee was a major proponent of Asian values, arguing that communitarianism and limited human rights were necessary for the social cohesion, political stability and rapid economic development of Singapore. Lee stepped down as prime minister in 1990 but continued to serve in the Cabinet as senior minister until 2004 and subsequently as minister mentor until his retirement in 2011. Throughout his political career, he remained an influential figure in shaping Singapore's domestic and foreign policies, at the same time serving as an advisor to foreign leaders as an elder statesman. Lee died of pneumonia on 23 March 2015 at the age of 91.

In Singapore, Lee is widely regarded as instrumental in the development of Singapore's economy, bureaucracy, education system, foreign policy, public housing and healthcare. The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore is named in his honour. Following his death, a week of national mourning was announced, during which approximately 1.7 million people paid their respects at tribute sites around the country.

Early life

Childhood and early education

thumb|200px|Lee with his father, 1925

Harry Lee Kuan Yew was born on 16 September 1923, the first child of Lee Chin Koon, who was born in Semarang during Dutch colonial rule and subsequently moved to Singapore, and Chua Jim Neo, at 92 Kampong Java Road in Singapore, then part of the Straits Settlements. Both of Lee's parents were English-educated third-generation Peranakan Chinese, with his paternal side being of Hakka Chinese descent from Dabu County. He was named 'Kuan Yew', meaning 'light and brightness', alternately meaning 'bringing great glory to one's ancestors'.

Lee's paternal grandfather Lee Hoon Leong, who was described as "especially westernised", had worked on British ships as a purser, and hence gave Lee the Western name 'Harry'. While the family spoke English as its first language, Lee also learned Malay.

Lee was not close to his father, who worked as a storekeeper within the Shell Oil Company and had a gambling addiction. His mother Chua often stood up against her husband for his poor financial management and parenting skills. The family was considered prosperous with a high social standing compared to recent immigrants, and had the means to hire servants. During the Great Depression the family fortunes declined considerably, though Lee's father retained his job at Shell.

In 1930, Lee enrolled at Telok Kurau English School where he spent six years of his primary education. Attending Raffles Institution in 1935, Lee did poorly in his first two years but later topped the Junior Cambridge examinations. He also joined the Scouts and partook in several physical activities such as cricket, tennis, swimming as well as debates. Lee was the top scorer in the Senior Cambridge examinations in 1940 across the Straits Settlements and Malaya, earning the John Anderson scholarship to attend Raffles College, as well as the Tan Jiak Kim scholarship. During the prize-awarding ceremony, Lee met his future wife Kwa Geok Choo; she was the only girl at the school.

World War II

Lee was amongst the Chinese men rounded up by the Japanese Sook Ching operation. By his own account, he feared getting caught by the Kempeitai (military police) and reported with a friend to be screened. He attempted to leave the next morning but was ordered to join a group of already segregated men. Lee requested to collect his clothes first and managed to spend a second night in the dormitory before successfully leaving the site the next day when a different guard cleared him through. He later learned that the group of men were likely taken to the beach and executed.

Lee obtained a Japanese language proficiency certificate in August 1942 and worked in a friend's company and then the Kumiai, which controlled essential items. He got a job with the Japanese propaganda department (Hōdōbu) in late 1943 and worked for the Japanese occupation force as an English specialist. Working at the top of the Cathay Building, he was assigned to listen to Allied radio stations for Morse code signals. By late 1944, Lee knew Japan had suffered major setbacks and planned to move to the Cameron Highlands with his family to avoid a possible British invasion. He was tipped off that he was being followed and abandoned the plan. He engaged in private enterprises and black market sales for the rest of the war. During this time, Lee helped develop a glue based on tapioca, which he sold under the name Stikfas, as a means to support himself during the war. The Stikfas logo later appeared on the base of his wedding cake.

The rapid Japanese victory in the Malaya and Singapore campaign had a major impact on Lee as he recalled: "In 70 days of surprises, upsets and stupidities, British colonial society was shattered, and with it all the assumptions of the Englishman's superiority". In a radio broadcast made in 1961, Lee said he "emerged [from the war] determined that no one—neither Japanese nor British—had the right to push and kick us around... (and) that we could govern ourselves." It also influenced his perceptions of raw power and the effectiveness of harsh punishment in deterring crime.

University, marriage and politics

Lee chose not to return to Raffles College after the war and pursued higher education in the United Kingdom.

Prior to his departure from Singapore, Lee had begun a relationship with Kwa, with whom he had kept in contact during the war. They married in secret at Stratford-upon-Avon in December.

During his studies, Lee's political convictions and anti-colonial sentiments were hardened by personal experiences and an increasing belief that the British were ruling Singapore for their own benefit. He supported the Labour Party against the Conservatives whom he perceived as opposing decolonisation. In the leadup to the 1950 United Kingdom general election, Lee engaged in politics for the first time and actively campaigned for a friend, David Widdicombe in Totnes constituency, driving Widdicombe around in a lorry and delivering several speeches on his behalf.

Before returning to Singapore, Lee dropped his English name, Harry. Notwithstanding, even until the end of his life, old friends and relatives referred to him as Harry. He joined the Laycock and Ong law firm founded by British lawyer John Laycock. Laycock was a co-founder of the pro-British Progressive Party and Lee represented the party during the 1951 legislative council election as an election agent. Lee was called to the Singapore bar on 7 August 1951.

During the postal union strike in May 1952, Lee negotiated a settlement marking his first step into the labour movement. In due course, Lee represented nearly fifty trade unions and associations against the British authorities on a pro bono basis. The disputes often centered around wages and Laycock eventually requested Lee to cease taking on such cases as it was hurting the firm.

In May 1954, the left-wing University Socialist Club published an article 'Aggression in Asia' in the club's magazine The Fajar, and the student editors were charged with sedition. Lee became junior counsel to Denis Pritt. The court quashed the charges and the two counsel gained a reputation through the trial, with Lee thereafter becoming a "major leader" of the movement against British rule. During the same year, Lee also appealed on behalf of the students arrested during the 13 May incident. The colonial government upheld the sentences, though the case enhanced Lee's reputation as a "left-wing lawyer" and marked his first involvement with the Chinese intelligentsia.

Forming the PAP

thumb|150px|Furniture from 38 Oxley Road, where the People's Action Party was founded

During his studies in Britain, Lee met Goh Keng Swee and Toh Chin Chye via the Malayan Forum. The forum sought to promote an independent Malaya which included Singapore and met at 44 Bryanston Square in London. Lee and his contemporaries deliberately avoided the topic of forming a political party to avoid charges of subversion, beginning work on forming a political party only after returning to Singapore.

Lee had sought to build support among the English-educated, Malay, and Indian communities by taking on cases against the British authorities. In the course of his work, Lee became acquainted with the journalist Sinnathamby Rajaratnam; Abdul Samad Ismail, a writer for the Malay newspaper Utusan Melayu; and Devan Nair. He next turned his attention to the Chinese-speaking majority and was introduced to Lim Chin Siong and Fong Swee Suan, leaders of the influential bus and factories unions. While the unions had been infiltrated by communists, Lee consciously sought their support as he wanted a popular front. With elections approaching in 1955, Lee and his associates debated the name, ideology, and policies of the party they wanted to create at 38 Oxley Road.

The People's Action Party (PAP) was inaugurated on 21 November 1954 at the Victoria Memorial Hall. As the party still lacked members, trade union leaders rounded up an estimated audience of 800 to 1,500 supporters. Lee had also invited Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tan Cheng Lock, presidents of the United Malays National Organisation and Malayan Chinese Association. In his inaugural speech, Lee denounced the British for the slow transition to self-rule, demanded their immediate withdrawal, and said that the PAP would pursue a Singapore-Malaya union. Lee became secretary-general of the party, a post he held until 1992, barring a brief period in 1957 when the post was taken up by T. T. Rajah.

In July 1953, Governor John Nicoll initiated the Rendel Commission to provide for a transition to self-rule. The commission created the legislative assembly and opened 25 of 32 seats for direct contest in the upcoming 1955 election. The PAP and Labour Front, led by Lee and David Marshall respectively, both criticised the concessions as "inadequate". The PAP faced manpower constraints but decided to prioritise resources and contest four seats as a protest gesture. In a rally speech, Lee said he chose the Tanjong Pagar division as it was a "working class area" and that he did not want to represent "wealthy merchants or landlords".

During the campaigning period, the British press labelled Lee as a "commissar" and accused the PAP of being a "communist-backed party". Democratic Party (DP) challenger Lam Thian also capitalised on Lee's inability to converse in Chinese. Lee's proposal for a multilingual debate was never reciprocated by Thian, though he eventually made his maiden Chinese speech after several hours of coaching. On polling day, 2 April, the ruling Progressive Party captured only four seats, shocking both the British establishment and its opposition. Lee defeated his competitors and won Tanjong Pagar, with the PAP winning three of their four contested seats. He pledged to work with Marshall and the new Labour Front government.

As independent member Ahmad Ibrahim joined PAP following the election, PAP had 4 members in the Assembly and thus Lee became the new Leader of the Opposition.

Leader of the Opposition (1955–1959)

Strikes and power struggle

On 23 April 1955, workers from the Hock Lee Amalgamated Bus Company began a strike under the direction of Fong Swee Suan, leader of the Singapore Buses Workers' Union (SBWU). As SBWU's legal advisor, Lee worked with Marshall's government to negotiate a resolution, which was initially agreed by the SBWU but then reneged on by the company. Lee was constrained between defending the actions of his colleagues and denouncing them, instead reiterating the PAP's committal to non-violence. Marshall defended him and the PAP as "decent men" against Goode's accusations and called upon the party to "purge themselves of communists". In the June 1957 by-elections, Lee was reelected with 68.1% of the vote.

Lee returned to London for the third and final talks in May 1958, where it was agreed that Singapore would assume self-governance with a Yang di-Pertuan Negara as head of state, with Britain retaining control of defence and foreign policy. The British House of Lords passed the State of Singapore Act on 24 July 1958, which received royal assent on 1 August, and became law following the subsequent general election.

1957 and 1959 elections

As the 1957 City Council election in December approached, a Hokkien-speaking candidate, Ong Eng Guan, became the PAP's new face to the Chinese electorate. The 32-seat city council's functions were restricted to up-keeping public amenities within city limits, but party leaders decided to contest the election as a "dry run" for the upcoming general election. Lee limited the PAP to contesting 14 seats to avoid provoking the government and formed an electoral pact with the Labour Front and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to jointly tackle the new Liberal Socialist Party. The PAP campaigned on a slogan to "sweep the city clean" and emerged with 13 seats, allowing it to form a minority administration with UMNO's support. Lee and the rest of the CEC unanimously endorsed Ong to become mayor.

Early in 1959, Communications and Works Minister Francis Thomas received evidence of corruption on Education Minister Chew Swee Kee. Thomas brought the evidence to Lee after the chief minister dismissed the matter. Lee tabled a motion in the assembly on 17 February, which forced Chew's resignation. As the expiry of the assembly's term approached, the PAP was initially split on whether to capture power but Lee chose to proceed. While picking the candidates, Lee deliberately chose people from different racial and education backgrounds to repair the party's image of being run by intellectuals. In the 1959 general election held on 30 May 1959, the PAP won a landslide victory with 43 of the 51 seats, though with only 53.4% of the popular vote which Lee noted.

The PAP's victory reportedly created a dilemma within the 12-member CEC as there was no formal process in place to choose a prime minister-elect. A vote was purportedly held between Lee and Ong Eng Guan and after both men received six votes, party chairman Toh Chin Chye cast the tie-breaking vote for Lee. When interviewed nearly five decades later, Toh and one other party member recalled the vote, but Lee and several others denied the account. Lee was summoned by Governor William Goode to form a new government on 1 June, to which he requested the release of arrested PAP members. On 3 June, Singapore became a self-governing state, ending 140 years of direct British rule. Lee was sworn in as Prime Minister of Singapore on 5 June at City Hall, along with the rest of his Cabinet.

Prime Minister, State of Singapore (1959–1963)

First years in power

thumb|One of the [[45, 48 and 49 Stirling Road|original HDB flats constructed in 1960, pictured in July 2021]]

Lee's first speech as prime minister to a 50,000-strong audience at the Padang sought to dampen his supporters' euphoria of the PAP's electoral win. In the first month of Lee taking power, Singapore experienced an economic slump as foreign capital fell and Western businesses and expatriates left for Kuala Lumpur in Malaya, fearing the new government's anti-colonial zeal. As part of an 'anti-yellow culture' drive, Lee banned jukeboxes and pinball machines, while the police under Home Affairs Minister Ong Pang Boon raided pubs and pornography publications. The government cracked down on secret societies, prostitution and other illegal activities, with TIME magazine later reporting that a full week passed without "kidnapping, extortion or gangland rumble(s)" for the first time. Lee also spearheaded several 'mobilisation campaigns' to clean the city, introduced air-conditioning to government offices, and slashed the salaries of civil servants. The last act provoked anger from the sector, which Lee justified as necessary to balance the budget.

In February 1960, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) superseded the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) and assumed responsibility of public housing. With strong government support, the HDB under chairman Lim Kim San completed more flats in three years than its predecessor did in thirty-two. Government expenditure for public utilities, healthcare and education also increased significantly. By the end of the year, however, unemployment began to rise drastically as the economy slowed. Lee reversed anti-colonial policies and launched a five-year plan to build new industries, seeking to attract foreign investors and rival Hong Kong. Jurong, a swampland to the island's western coast was chosen to be the site of a new industrial estate and would house steel mills, shipyards, and oil refineries, though Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee was initially worried the venture would fail.

The government promoted multiculturalism by recognising Mandarin, English, Malay, and Tamil as the official languages of the new state and sought to create a new national Malayan identity. The Ministry of Culture under S. Rajaratnam held free outdoor concerts with every ethnic race represented in the performances. Lee also introduced the People's Association, a government-linked organisation to run community centers and youth clubs, with its leaders trained to spread the PAP's ideology. Youth unemployment was alleviated by the establishment of work brigades.

PAP split of 1961

thumb|120px|Lim Chin Siong was Lee's main political rival and formed the [[Barisan Sosialis after his expulsion from the PAP.]]

Lee took measures to secure his position in the aftermath of the 1957 party elections. In 1959, he delayed the release of leftist PAP members arrested under the former Labour Front government and appointed five of its leaders, including Lim Chin Siong, as parliamentary secretaries lacking political power. Lee clashed further with Lim when the government sought to create a centralised labour union in the first half of 1960. Trouble also arose from former mayor and Minister of National Development Ong Eng Guan, who Lee had appointed in recognition of Ong's contribution to the PAP's electoral win. Ong's relocation of his ministry to his Hong Lim stronghold and continued castigation of the British and civil servants was regarded by his colleagues as disruptive and Lee removed several portfolios from Ong's purview in February 1960.

In the party conference on 18 June 1960, Ong filed "16 resolutions" against the leadership, accusing Lee of failing to seek party consensus when deciding policy, not adhering to anti-colonialism and suspending left-wing unions. Lee regarded it as a move to split the party and together with his allies expelled Ong from the party. Ong resigned his seat in December, precipitating the Hong Lim by-election on in April 1961 which he won against a PAP candidate. The death of the PAP assemblyman for Anson that April triggered a second by-election. For the first time, Lim's faction openly revolted against Lee and endorsed Workers' Party chairman David Marshall who won the seat.

Lee assumed responsibility for the two by-election defeats and submitted his resignation to party chairman Toh Chin Chye on 17 July. Toh rejected it and upheld Lee's mandate. Lee moved a motion of confidence in his own government in the early hours of 21 July after a thirteen-hour debate which had begun the preceding day, narrowly surviving it with 27 "Ayes", 8 "Noes" and 16 abstentions. The PAP now commanded a single seat majority in the 51-seat assembly after 13 of its members had abstained. Lee expelled the 13 who had broken ranks in addition to Lim, Fong and Woodhull.

Leadup to referendum and merger

thumb|150px|Lee worked with Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman in the lead up to merger.

Lee and his colleagues believed that Singapore could only survive through merger with Malaya and was unwilling to call for complete independence. Merger would allow goods to be exported to the peninsula under a common market, while devolving unpopular internal security measures to Kuala Lumpur. Malaya's ruling Alliance Party coalition dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) had repeatedly opposed the scheme and was apprehensive that Singapore's Chinese majority would reduce 'Malay political supremacy'. Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman backtracked after the PAP's Hong Lim by-election defeat, fearing a "pro-communist government" in Singapore should Lee fall from power. On 27 May 1961, Tunku announced that Malaya, Singapore, and the British colonies of North Borneo and Sarawak should pursue "political and economic cooperation". Lee endorsed the program six days later and commenced negotiations on the formation of Malaysia.

In August 1961, Lee and Tunku agreed that Singapore's defence, foreign affairs and internal security would be transferred to the federal government, while education and labour policy remained with the state government. Lim Chin Siong and his supporters saw Lee's ceding control of internal security—then controlled by the Internal Security Council with British, Malayan, Singaporean representatives—to the federal government as a threat as Tunku was convinced they were communists. In a meeting with British Commissioner General Lord Selkirk, Selkirk reaffirmed that the British would not suspend Singapore's constitution should Lee be voted out. Lee saw the meeting as a British endorsement of Lim and accused it as a plot against his government. On 13 August, Lim founded the Barisan Sosialis and became its secretary-general, with 35 of 51 branches of the PAP defecting. Lee anticipated a Barisan win in the next election and saw 'independence through merger' as the only means for the PAP to retain power.

thumb|Lee and Goh crafted the ballot to favour option A.

Beginning on 13 September 1961, Lee gave twelve multilingual radio speeches outlining the benefits of merger in what he called the 'Battle for Merger'. The speeches proved to be a massive success for Lee's campaign, while Barisan's demands for equal airtime were rejected. Lee employed full use of state resources to suppress his opponents by revoking the Barisan's printing permits, banning or relocating its rallies, and purging its supporters from the government, while the judiciary and police engaged to "obstruct, provoke and isolate" the party. The Barisan lambasted Lee for securing only 15 seats in the Malaysian parliament for Singapore in contrast to North Borneo (16) and Sarawak (24), despite both having a combined population well below Singapore's 1.7 million. Singapore citizens would also be categorised as "nationals" and not be granted Malaysian citizenship. On 6 December, the legislative assembly voted 33–0 in favour of the agreements struck by Lee and Tunku, which the Barisan boycotted.

A referendum for merger was scheduled for 1 September 1962. Lee ensured that the ballot lacked a "no" option, with all three options having varying terms for admission into Malaysia. The ballot was crafted by Lee and Goh Keng Swee to capitalise on a mistake which the Barisan had made the previous year. The Barisan had inadvertently endorsed merger under terms "like Penang" (a state of Malaya) with full citizenship rights, not realising that Malayan law entitled only a native-born to qualify for automatic citizenship, which would disenfranchise nearly one third of those eligible to vote; it issued a clarification but never recovered from the mistake. Lee placed the flag of Singapore alongside option A with the terms of Singapore retaining control of education and labour policy, while portraying the Barisan's choice as option B favouring entry into the federation with no special rights, next to the flag of Penang. When Lim called for his supporters to submit blank votes, Lee countered that blank votes would count as a vote for the majority choice. 71% eventually voted for option A, while 26% cast blank votes. In November, Lee embarked on a ten-month visit to all fifty-one constituencies, prioritising those with the highest count of blank votes.

Operation Coldstore detentions

The Malayan government considered the arrests of Singapore's left-wing groups as non-negotiable for the formation of Malaysia. Tunku felt that Lee lacked the initiative to suppress "pro-communist elements" and warned that a Malay-led dictatorship would be instated to prevent a "socialist majority" in the next Malayan election. As the Malayans increased pressure on the Internal Security Council (ISC) to take action, Lee began supporting the idea of a purge in March 1962. The Malayan and Singapore special branches collaborated on an arrest list of major opposition members, though doubts arose if Lim Chin Siong and Fong Swee Suan could be classified as 'communists'. Up until the end of November 1962, the British declined to support the operation without a pretext, noting that Lim and the Barisan Sosialis had not broken any laws.

The Brunei revolt on 8 December led by A. M. Azahari provided a "heaven-sent opportunity" to take action, as Lim had met Azahari on 3 December. The Malayan government convened the ISC to discuss the operation, while Singapore's Special Branch produced alleged evidence of the communist control of Barisan. On 13 December, Lord Selkirk gave his authorisation for the arrests to proceed on 16 December. However, Lee's attempt to add two Malayan parliamentarians opposed to the formation of Malaysia into the arrest list caused the Malayan representative to rescind his consent, stopping the operation. Tunku suspected that Lee was trying to eliminate his entire opposition, while Lee felt that Tunku was evading his shared responsibility for the arrests.

An ISC meeting was scheduled to be held on 1 February 1963 to remount the operation. During the interim period, Lee had added three names from the United People's Party, one of them being former PAP minister Ong Eng Guan. Selkirk expressed concerns that Ong's arrest lacked any justification and Lee conceded that it was meant as a "warning" to Ong. Tunku told Geofroy Tory, the British High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur on 30 January, that 'if this operation failed, merger with Singapore was off'. Selkirk was pressured to put his reservations aside and finally consented. On 2 February, Operation Coldstore commenced across Singapore, with 113 detained including Lim and 23 others from Barisan Sosialis. Lee offered Lim a path into exile which Lim rejected. The Malayans and British later pressured Lee to retract his comment when he said he "disapproved" of the operation.

In his memoirs, Lee portrayed himself as reluctant in supporting the operation, though declassified British documents revealed that Lee was "somewhat more enthusiastic" than he eventually admitted.

Prime Minister, Singapore in Malaysia (1963–1965)

Elections and tensions

thumb|130px|Lee's proclamation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963; note the two flags atop the [[City Hall, Singapore|City Hall building.]]

On 31 August 1963, Lee declared Singapore's independence in a ceremony at the Padang and pledged loyalty to the federal government. With the conclusion of the trials of Barisan Sosialis' leaders, Lee dissolved the legislative assembly on 3 September and called for a snap election. He touted "independence through merger" as a success and utilised television and the mass media effectively. In conjunction with Sabah (formerly North Borneo) and Sarawak, Lee proclaimed Singapore as part of Malaysia in a second ceremony on 16 September accompanied by a military parade. Lim Chin Siong's arrest had, however, generated widespread sympathy for the Barisan and a close result was predicted. Australian and British officials expected a Barisan win. When the PAP defeated the Barisan in a landslide victory on 21 September, it was seen as a public endorsement of merger and Lee's socio-economic policies.

Relations between the PAP and Malaysia's ruling Alliance Party quickly deteriorated as Lee began espousing his policies to the rest of the country. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was also shocked by the loss of three Malay-majority seats to the PAP in the recent 1963 Singapore election. Ultra-nationalists within UMNO alleged that Lee sought to overthrow the Malay monarchies and infringe on rural life. Lee's attempts to reconcile the PAP with UMNO were rebuffed as the latter remained committed to the Malaysian Chinese Association. Further hostility ensued when the PAP decided to contest in the 1964 Malaysian general election in contravention of a gentlemen's agreement that it disavow itself from peninsula politics, but PAP already regarded the agreement to be rendered moot as the Alliance contested the 1963 Singapore state election and broke the agreement first. Lee's speeches in Malaysia attracted large crowds and he expected the PAP to win at least seven parliamentary seats. The party ultimately won only one seat in Bangsar, Selangor under Devan Nair. Lee and other party insiders later conceded that UMNO's portrayal of the PAP as a "Chinese party" and its lack of grassroots in the peninsula had undermined its support from the Malay majority.

Ethnic tensions had risen prior to the April election when UMNO secretary-general Syed Jaafar Albar utilised the Utusan Melayu to accuse Lee of evicting Malays from their homes in March 1964. Lee explained personally to the affected neighbourhoods that the scheme was part of an urban renewal plan and that eviction notices had been sent to everyone irrespective of race. Albar responded by warning Lee to not "treat the sons of the soil as step-children" and led calls for the deaths of Lee and Social Affairs Minister Othman bin Wok on 12 July. On 21 July, the 1964 race riots in Singapore erupted during a celebration of Prophet Muhammad's birthday, lasting four days, killing 22 and injuring 461. Further riots occurred in late-August and early-September resulting in communities self-segregating from each other, which Lee characterised as "terribly disheartening" and against "everything we had believed in and worked for". Lee never forgot the Malay PAP leaders who stood against UMNO during the turmoil and as late as 1998, paid tribute to them for Singapore's survival.

Malaysian Malaysia and separation

Lee's perceptions that merger was becoming infeasible was also due to the federal government's obstruction of his industrialisation program and its imposition of new taxes on Singapore in the November 1964 federal budget. Tunku mentioned to deputy prime minister Goh Keng Swee in December 1964 about his desire to have Singapore “hived off” from Malaysia. Lee authorized Goh to renegotiate with Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein on Singapore's place in the federation in early 1965.

Seeking to provide an alternative to the Alliance Party government, Lee and his colleagues formed the Malaysian Solidarity Convention (MSC) with the Malayan and Sarawakian opposition on 9 May, with its goals for a Malaysian Malaysia and race-blind society. The MSC was seen by UMNO as a threat to the Malay monopoly of power and special rights granted to Malays under Article 153. UMNO supreme council member and future prime minister Mahathir Mohamad called the PAP "pro-Chinese, communist-oriented and positively anti-Malay", while others called for Lee's arrest under the Internal Security Act for trying to split the federation. Mathathir in his speech stated the huaren (ethnic Chinese) of Singapore were of "the insular, selfish and arrogant type of which Mr. Lee is a good example...They are in fact Chinese first, seeing China as the center of the world and Malaysia as a very poor second".

Such fears were sincerely felt by the UMNO leaders as one UMNO politician who was friendly with Lee privately told him: "You Chinese are too energetic and clever for us...we cannot stand the pressure". Many UMNO politicians felt threatened by Lee, a politician who sought to appeal to both ethnic Chinese and Malay voters. Albar warned in a speech that the Malay voters of Singapore must have been "misled" into voting for the PAP, and the UNMO would not allow this to happen in the next election. Lee later wrote of Tunku that was "a nice man", but "he was a prince who understood power and knew how to use it. He did not carry a big stick, but he had many hatchet-bearers who would do the job for him while he looked the other way and appeared as benign as ever". Tunku was a Malay aristocrat who spent his undergraduate years at Cambridge by his own admission on "fast women" rather than studying and whom Lee contemptuously noted had been awarded a degree at Cambridge that he did not deserve solely because he was an aristocrat. Tunku in turn felt threatened by Lee, a man who had worked his way up via his intelligence and self-discipline, which made him very different from the people in his world.

On 26 May 1965, Lee addressed the Malaysian parliament for the final time, delivering his speech entirely in the Malay language. He challenged the Alliance Party to commit itself to a Malaysian Malaysia and denounce its extremists, and also argued that the PAP could better uplift the livelihood of the Malays. Then-social affairs minister Othman Wok later recounted: "I noticed that while he was speaking, the Alliance leaders sitting in front of us, they sank lower and lower because they were embarrassed this man (Lee) could speak Malay better than them". Then-national development minister Lim Kim San also noted: "That was the turning point. They perceived [Lee] as a dangerous man who could one day be the prime minister of Malaya. This was the speech that changed history." that Singapore's secession was necessary. The more extreme UMNO politicians such as Albar were pressing to have Lee arrested and martial law proclaimed, but Tunku chose to accept Singapore's secession instead. The British government received allegations of a plot to arrest Lee, and thus the British prime minister Harold Wilson quietly pressured Tunku against taking any such action, warning of potential repercussions on the Malaysian government. As Britain was defending Malaysia from Indonesian attempts to annex the country, Britain was in a strong position to apply pressure on Malaysia. Lee in his memoirs stated that Singapore owed Wilson a major debt for his role in pressuring Tunku for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, calling Wilson a "good friend".

thumb|Lee announcing Singapore's separation from the federation on 9 August 1965

On 13 July 1965, Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee met with Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein and Home Affairs Minister Ismail Abdul Rahman, in Razak's office while Tunku was still overseas, being treated for shingles. Goh proposed separation of Singapore from Malaysia, before reporting back to Lee about the proposal. Lee agreed, and during another meeting between Goh, Razak and Ismail on 20 July 1965, Goh told the Malaysians that Lee had given the greenlight for separation arrangements to be done quickly. Cabinet ministers Toh Chin Chye and S. Rajaratnam, were asked to meet Lee in Kuala Lumpur. Upon being informed of the impending separation, they refused to sign the agreement at first and were distraught at the idea, before the fear of further violence and bloodshed finally convinced them to sign. Lee returned to Singapore the following day and convened the rest of his cabinet to sign the document, whereupon it was flown back to Kuala Lumpur.

On 9 August 1965 at 10am, Tunku convened the Malaysian parliament and moved the Constitution and Malaysia (Singapore Amendment) Bill 1965, which passed unanimously by a vote of 126–0 with no PAP representatives present. Singapore's independence was announced locally via radio at the same time and Lee broke the news to senior diplomats and civil servants. In a televised press conference that day, Lee fought back tears and briefly stopped to regain his composure as he formally announced the news to an anxious population:

Prime Minister, Republic of Singapore (1965–1990)

<!--thumb|Lee Kuan Yew and [[Frank Kitts, Mayor of Wellington in 1965]]-->

Despite the momentous event, Lee did not call for the parliament to convene to reconcile the issues that Singapore would face immediately as a new nation. Without giving further instructions on who should act in his absence, he went into isolation for six weeks, unreachable by phone, at Changi Cottage. According to then-deputy prime minister Toh Chin Chye, the parliament hung in "suspended animation" until the sitting in December that year.

right|250px|thumb|Lee visits [[UN Headquarters on 21 October 1967: Seen here, from left: Abdul Rahim Ishak, Minister of State for Education of Singapore; Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew; Secretary-General U Thant; S. Rajaratnam, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore; and Ambassador Wong Lin Ken, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations. ]]

In his memoirs, Lee said that he was unable to sleep and was prescribed tranquilizers from doctors. Upon learning of Lee's condition from the British High Commissioner to Singapore, John Robb, the British prime minister, Harold Wilson, expressed concern, in response to which Lee replied:

Lee began to seek international recognition of Singapore's independence. Singapore joined the United Nations on 21 September 1965, and founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 8 August 1967 with four other South-East Asian countries. Lee made his first official visit to Indonesia on 25 May 1973, just a few years after the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation under Sukarno's regime. Relations between Singapore and Indonesia substantially improved as subsequent visits were made between the two countries.

Singapore has never had a dominant culture to which immigrants could assimilate, even though Malay was the dominant language at that time. Together with efforts from the government and ruling party, Lee tried to create a unique Singaporean identity in the 1970s and 1980s—one which heavily recognised racial consciousness within the umbrella of multiculturalism.

Lee and his government stressed the importance of maintaining religious tolerance and racial harmony, and they were ready to use the law to counter any threat that might incite ethnic and religious violence. For example, Lee warned against "insensitive evangelisation", by which he referred to instances of Christian proselytising directed at Malays. In 1974 the government advised the Bible Society of Singapore to stop publishing religious material in Malay.

Defence

The vulnerability of Singapore was deeply felt, with threats from multiple sources, including the communists and Indonesia with its confrontational stance. Adding to this vulnerability was the impending withdrawal of British forces from East of Suez. As Singapore gained admission to the United Nations, Lee quickly sought international recognition of Singapore's independence. He appointed Goh Keng Swee as Minister for the Interior and Defence to build up the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and requested help from other countries, particularly Israel and Taiwan, for advice, training and facilities. To be discreet and not upset Malaysian's Muslim majority any further, Singapore officially designated Jewish Israeli military advisors as "Mexicans". In 1967, Lee introduced conscription for all able-bodied male Singaporean citizens 18 years of age to serve National Service (NS) either in the SAF, Singapore Police Force or the Singapore Civil Defence Force. By 1971, Singapore had 17 national service battalions (16,000 men) with 14 battalions (11,000 men) in the reserves. In 1975, Lee and Republic of China premier Chiang Ching-kuo signed an agreement permitting Singaporean troops to train in Taiwan, under the codename "Project Starlight".

Economy

One of Lee's most urgent tasks upon Singapore's independence was to address high unemployment. Together with his economic aide, Economic Development Board chairman Hon Sui Sen, and in consultation with Dutch economist Albert Winsemius, Lee set up factories and initially focused on the manufacturing industry. Before the British completely withdrew from Singapore in 1971, Lee also persuaded the British not to destroy their dock and had the British naval dockyard later converted for civilian use.

Eventually, Lee and his cabinet decided the best way to boost Singapore's economy was to attract foreign investments from multinational corporations (MNCs). By establishing First World infrastructure and standards in Singapore, the new nation could attract American, Japanese and European business. By the 1970s multinational corporations like Texas Instruments, Hewlett-Packard, and General Electric began turning Singapore into a major electronics exporter. Workers were frequently trained to familiarise themselves with the work systems and cultures of foreign companies. The government also started several new industries, such as steel mills under 'National Iron and Steel Mills', service industries like Neptune Orient Lines, and the Singapore Airlines.

Lee and his cabinet also worked to establish Singapore as an international financial centre. Foreign bankers were assured of the reliability of Singapore's social conditions, with top-class infrastructure and skilled professionals, and investors were made to understand that the Singapore government would pursue sound macroeconomic policies, with budget surpluses, leading to a stable valued Singapore dollar.

Throughout the tenure of his office, Lee placed great importance on developing the economy, and his attention to detail on this aspect went even to the extent of connecting it with other facets of Singapore, including the country's extensive and meticulous tending of its international image of being a "Garden City". The 1967 "Garden City" planning initiative included prominent roadside greenery along the East Coast Parkway (ECP) highway connecting Singapore Changi Airport with Singapore Central Area.

Anti-corruption measures

Lee introduced legislation giving the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) greater power to conduct arrests, search, call up witnesses, and investigate bank accounts and income-tax returns of suspected persons and their families. Lee believed that ministers should be well paid in order to maintain a clean and honest government. On 21 November 1986, Lee received a complaint of corruption against then Minister for National Development Teh Cheang Wan. Lee authorised the CPIB to carry out investigations on Teh, but Teh committed suicide before any charges could be pressed against him. In 1994, he proposed to link the salaries of ministers, judges, and top civil servants to the salaries of top professionals in the private sector, arguing that this would help recruit and retain talent to serve in the public sector.

Population policies

In the late 1960s, fearing that Singapore's growing population might overburden the developing economy, Lee started a "Stop at Two" family planning campaign. Couples were urged to undergo sterilisation after their second child. Third or fourth children were given lower priorities in education and such families received fewer economic rebates.

The uproar over the proposal led to a swing of 12.9 per cent against the PAP government in the 1984 general election. In 1985, some especially controversial portions of the policy, that gave education and housing priorities to educated women, were abandoned or modified.

By the late 1990s the birth rate had fallen so low that Lee's successor Goh Chok Tong extended these incentives to all married women, and gave even more incentives, such as the "baby bonus" scheme. As a result of such efforts, Singapore has achieved self-sufficiency with its water supply since the mid-2010s.

Under Lee tree planting was pursued, in 1963 he began a tree-planting campaign which aimed to plant 10,000 saplings a year and in 1971 a 'Tree-Planting Day' was established. One of the goals of this was to increase rainfall. He also made efforts to clean Singapore's waters for collection and use.

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About his changing of the education system from Chinese to English.

Judiciary

Abolishing of the jury

Urban development

Foreign policy

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Environment

Lee envisioned Singapore as a garden city, declaring that "no other hallmark of success will be more distinctive than that of achieving our position as the cleanest and greenest city in Southeast Asia". He later said that "greening is the most cost-effective project I have launched".

Lee set up an 'Anti-Pollution Unit' stating that its importance resided in giving citizens "respite from city centres" and in the small size of Singapore which made it necessary to "preserve a clean and gracious environment for rich and poor alike". In 1995 Lee declared "I have always believed that a blighted urban landscape, a concrete jungle, destroys the human spirit. We need the greenery of nature to lift our spirits".

Lee saw this as a means of attracting tourists and businesspeople to the city. He wrote that "without a word being said, they would know that Singaporeans were competent, disciplined, and reliable, a people who would learn the skills they required soon enough". After independence Lee sought for "some dramatic way to distinguish ourselves from other Third World countries. I settled for a clean and green Singapore" because "if we had First World standards then business people and tourists would make us a base for their business and tours of the region".

Lee considered air conditioning the most important invention of the 20th century for Singapore. Air quality relates to work quality and as such Lee made sure air conditioning was installed in the offices of the Singaporean civil service in the 1960s.

Foreign policy

Malaysia and Mahathir Mohamad

Lee looked forward to improving relationships with Mahathir Mohamad upon the latter's promotion to Deputy Prime Minister. Knowing that Mahathir was in line to become the next Prime Minister of Malaysia, Lee invited Mahathir to visit Singapore in 1978. The first and subsequent visits improved both personal and diplomatic relationships between them. Then UMNO's Secretary-General Mahathir asked Lee to cut off all links with the Democratic Action Party (DAP); in exchange, Mahathir undertook not to interfere in the affairs of Malay Singaporeans.

In June 1988, Lee and Mahathir reached an agreement in Kuala Lumpur to build the Linggui dam on the Johor River. Lee said he had made more progress solving bilateral issues with Dr Mahathir from 1981 to 1990 than in the previous 12 years with the latter's two predecessors.

Indonesia

In March 1967, the president of Indonesia, Sukarno, who had initiated the Konfrontasi, resigned from the presidency under pressure by military general Suharto amidst the 30 September Movement. A clemency plea by President Suharto for Osman bin Mohamed Ali and Harun bin Said, the perpetrators of the MacDonald House bombing in March 1965 during Konfrontasi, was rejected. The Singapore Embassy in Jakarta was occupied on the day of the saboteurs' hanging by 300 students. However, Bilateral relations between Singapore and Indonesia would improve after 1973, when Lee visited the graves of Harun and Osman in Indonesia (nyekar) and scattered flowers on them. This was followed by Suharto's visit to Singapore in 1974. From the 1980s, exchanges would sharply increase between the two countries in politics, tourism, defence, business, and student and community-based exchanges.

In 1978, Suharto rallied ASEAN to oppose Australia's newly proclaimed integrated civil aviation policy, which cut Kangaroo Route air access to Singapore while providing inducements to Indonesia and other countries in the region. Suharto believed that ASEAN should not give in to such tactics and inducements, and Australia relented. According to Lee, this was part of a broader strategy by the United States to influence the political landscape in Southeast Asia during the Cold War. He mentioned that he confronted the CIA's representative in Singapore and demanded an explanation and compensation for this interference. After having two CIA agents arrested, Lee requested 3.5 million dollars in economic aid in exchange for the covert release of the two agents. The Americans rejected this offer and presented a counter-offer of 3.3 million dollars to be given directly to Lee and the People's Action Party, but the men were later released without any financial exchange. However, instead of taking a passive approach, Lee negotiated with the CIA, and eventually the US government agreed to pay a sum of 3.3 million dollars in formal economic aid to Singapore, which Lee claimed was to ensure that the U.S. would not interfere in Singapore's internal affairs. Lee revealed this incident in 1965, which led to the Americans to deny it ever occurred; however, Lee later made public a letter of apology from the US Secretary of State Dean Rusk over the incident.thumb|Lee Kuan Yew and his wife [[Kwa Geok Choo with United States President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan on 8 October 1985 at the White House]]

Lee fully supported the US involvement in the Vietnam War. Even as the war began to lose its popularity in the United States, Lee made his first official visit to the United States in October 1967, and declared to President Lyndon B. Johnson that his support for the war in Vietnam was "unequivocal". Lee saw the war as necessary for states in Southeast Asia like Singapore to buy time for stabilising their governments and economies. Lee cultivated close relationships with presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, as well as former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz. In 1967, Nixon, who was running for president in 1968, visited Singapore and met with Lee, who advised that the United States had much to gain by engaging with China, culminating in Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China.

In the 1980s, closer defence relations between Singapore and the United States enabled Singapore to acquire advanced American weapon platforms and capabilities. The United States provided Singapore with aircraft such as the F-16 and the E-2C airborne early warning (AEW) to strengthen its air defences.

In October 1985, Lee made a state visit to the United States on the invitation of President Reagan and addressed a joint session of the United States Congress. Lee stressed to Congress the importance of free trade and urged it not to turn towards protectionism: