Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew dies

[kizurl 1,801]

 

 

Lee Kuan Yew, the man behind modern Singapore, the creator of a powerful small country, passed away last Monday. Lee is one of the greatest leaders the 20th century has ever produced.

Journalist David Ignatius in his contribution to the Washington Post called him a paradoxical person who never lost combativeness and vulnerability toward those he feared might be a threat to his authority. Lee Kuan Yew was always ready to take critics to court if they dared him and his country.

Lee Kuan Yew, the man behind modern Singapore served as the country’s prime minister from 1959 to 1990, made the country an embodiment of a globalized economy that benefited Asia. He viewed the Internet sphere as something to use. Those who refuse are going backwards.

On the issue of press freedom, Lee Kuan Yew did not brush off any criticism about him and his family and was always ready to file charges against the culprits. The non-democrat, but Confucian leader said that in Singapore, corruption and favoritism allegations are not light matters, and people like him should clear their names.

At 91, Lee Kuan Yew, was a legend; an intellectual who built an idea that an autocrat can be good, and bring a country to power even without liberal democracy. Lee was a towering figure in the world of politics who was able to change a small state into a rich one; a country that is among the world’s wealthiest and least corrupt nations.

US President Obama calls him history’s true giant while former George H.W. Bush said he has a singular leadership. David Cameron of Britain acclaimed him as one of history’s great success stories in the contemporary setting. He transformed Singapore from a backward colonial state into one with a shining high-tech economy.

Lee Kuan Yew was a great statesman after World War II. Through Singapore, he demonstrated that natural resources are not needed to prosper, yet he created a world wherein human ingenuity could survive. Corruption was not allowed, and Lee paid capable people high salaries to shoo them away from temptation.

He pushed down taxes and did tight spending, demonstrating that sound funds can work well with carefully thought social programs. He offered housing that even those who did not earn good income could afford. These housing loans are something that were not disastrous to any citizen, nor to any subsidizing institution. Lee offered a health care system and a pension plan with comprehensive coverage that really served the citizens well.

Singapore is Lee’s living proof that an impoverished country can turn into a flourishing one, which per capita income in 1959 was about $400 to more than $56,000 today. He was a hardcore pragmatist, bravely suppressing communist attempts against his political party, and maintained SG’s independence amidst hostilities from larger neighbors like Malaysia and Indonesia. He has gained other big leaders’ respect, and has served as a great model and adviser.

Lee Kuan Yew, the man behind modern Singapore has left, and while Singaporeans are mourning the loss of a respected politician, many people all over the world join them in reckoning a great leader and his impact on the political sphere. He has left a legacy proving that great leadership can turn an impoverished country into an economic powerhouse.

Read more at http://guardianlv.com/2015/03/lee-kuan-yew-the-man-behind-modern-singapore/#qSOXhZBava4RhJWw.99

 

The number of tributes that quickly poured in for Lee Kuan Yew after Singapore’s founding father died at age 91 early Monday morning speaks to how the tiny island state has punched above its weight for decades in world affairs.

U.S. President Barack Obama was among the first to offer his condolences, describing Mr. Lee as “a visionary who led his country from Singapore’s independence in 1965 to build one of the most prosperous countries in the world today.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron noted how Margaret Thatcher once said she admired no prime minister more than Mr. Lee for what she said was “the strength of his convictions, the clarity of his views, the directness of his speech and his vision of the way ahead.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei called Mr. Lee a “uniquely influential statesman in Asia and a strategist boasting oriental values and international vision.” In a letter of condolence, President Xi Jinping called the passing of Mr. Lee “a loss to the Singapore people, and a loss to international society.”

Many world leaders have come to Singapore to consult with Mr. Lee after he stepped down as the country’s leader in 1990, after 31 years. Many sought out his regional and strategic insights, mining his experience in maintaining dynamic growth in a neighborhood where Singapore was surrounded by much larger countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the whole region “owes much to Lee Kuan Yew.”

U.S. diplomats were regular visitors to the city-state, as the WikiLeaks release of confidential diplomatic cables revealed. American and other officials probed Mr. Lee for insights on China’s rise, in particular. The cables revealed Singapore’s founder advising the U.S. and other countries to welcome Chinese students to their universities, creating a bond between the West and China’s best and brightest youth.

In time, an audience with Mr. Lee became something of a rite of passage for new leaders. Britain’s Tony Blair arranged a meeting after he became leader of the Labour Party. Mr. Obama in his statement said his discussions with Mr. Lee in Singapore in 2009 were “hugely important in helping formulate our policy of rebalancing to the Asia Pacific.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/world-leaders-mourn-passing-of-singapores-lee-kuan-yew-1427071732

 

To put this into perspective, this man transformed a country from this:

To this:

In just 50 years.

 

Rest in Peace, Mr Lee.

[Luc 4,776]

This is kinda old news by now, but Rest in Peace. He did a lot of great things.