MM Lee... =]

Out of a sudden, I think of Mr Lee Kuan Yew (yes, the founding father of Singapore). Lol.. He is the most respectable politician that I have ever known. I am not too sure on how my peers think about him. But for myself, I am definitely full of respect and admiration of him, being able to transform this Little Red Dot that didn’t have anything into a wonderful city state that has everything (seriously!).

Maybe because of the National Day is coming, let us share some of his photos and quotes bah… =]

His Profile

• Becoming Singapore's first Prime Minister in 1959
• As PM for 31 years
• Won 8 General Elections
• 28 November 1990, handing over the Prime Ministership to Mr Goh Chock Tong
• As Senior Minister for another 14 years
• As Minister Mentor (2004 onwards)

Challenges that Singapore had soon after Its Independent!

• When Singapore was officially declared independent on 9 August 1965, Lee was overwhelmed with grief rather than joy

  For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I believed in merger and unity of the two territories.

  (Press Conference, then PM Lee announcing the separation of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia, August 9 1965)

• Richard Hughes from the London Sunday Times made a gloomy prediction on 22 August 1965: 'Singapore's economy would collapse if the British bases - costing more than 100 million pounds sterling - were closed.'

• Economy:

1. In 1961, the EDB was established to attract foreign investment, offering attractive tax incentives and providing access to Singapore's highly skilled, disciplined and relatively low paid work force.
2. The government also maintained tight control of the economy, regulating the allocation of land, labour and capital resources.

• Housing:

1. Set up the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in 1960.
2. Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme then took off which would allow Singaporeans to own their own homes.

• National Security:

MM Lee and then Defence Minister Goh Keng Swee started plans to build Singapore's own army from scratch.

• Good governance and clean administration

1. Raised the incentives for people who wanted to join the government.
2. Introuced legislation that gave the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau greater power to conduct arrests, search, call up witnesses, and investigate bank accounts and income tax returns of suspected persons and their families. With Lee's support, CPIB was given the authority to investigate any officer or minister.

DO YOU KNOW?

• MM Lee introduced an anti-spitting campaign in the 1960s.
• MM Lee also started plans to clean up the Singapore River and Kallang Basin and bring fish back to the rivers.

Quotes

On our island of 224 square miles were two million people. We inherited what was the capital of the British Empire in Southeast Asia, but dismembered from the hinterland which was the empire. The question was how to make a living? How to survive? This was not a theoretical problem in the economics of development. It was a matter of life and death for two million people. The realities of the world of 1965 had to be faced. The sole objective was survival. How this was to be achieved, by socialism or free enterprise, was a secondary matter. The answer turned out to be free enterprise, tempered with the socialist philosophy of equal opportunities for education, jobs, health, housing.

(Speech at the 26th World Congress of the International Chamber of Commerce, October 5 1978)

A faint hearted people would have given up long ago. We never gave in, never mind giving up. For that alone, we deserve to succeed. If we press on, in twenty years we shall build a great metropolis, worthy of a hardy, resilient and stout-hearted people

(National Day Speech, August 8 1972)

Many are too young to remember how bad things were. They take for granted Singapore's orderly progress and continuing prosperity as the natural order of things. Those who do remember know that our present stability and prosperity have been built upon the cohesion, the determination and the planning of a small band of men.

(Speech at a seminar on communism and democracy, April 28 1987)

Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up.

(1988 National Day Rally, when he discussed the leadership transition to Goh Chok Tong in 1990)

Acknowledgment:

All sources, information, quotes and photos are from The Straits Times website.

Please visit http://www.straitstimes.com/Pioneers%2BOf%2BSingapore/Lee%2BKuan%2BYew/Lee%2BKuan%2BYew.html for more information. =]