Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore on September 16, 1923. Kuan Yew, means "the
light that shines far and wide".
Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore on September 16, 1923. Kuan Yew, means "the
light that shines far and wide".
He is a fourth-generation Singaporean. His great-grandfather had left Dapu County, Guangdong Province for Singapore at the age of 16. Lee's grandfather, Hoon Leong, went to an English school and began a career as a pharmacist, a trade dominated by the Hakkas. Lee's father, Chin Koon, first worked as a storekeeper at Shell and later at a jewellery shop.
(Lee's birth was an occasion for great rejoicing in the Lee household. He was the first-born and he was a boy, important to the Chinese for perpetuating the family name. He gave his grandfather such great pride that the old man declared that the child should be educated to become the equal of any Englishman, that is, the model of perfection. The name chosen for him , Kuan Yew, means "the light that shines far and wide".)
| Birth, Zodiac, etc | |
| Date of Birth | 16-SEP-1923 |
| Zodiac sign | Virgo |
| Chinese sign | Year of Water Pig |
He is married to Kwa Geok Choo, a similarly brilliant mind who was a Queen's Scholar and the first Malayan woman to achieve a First Class Honours at Cambridge, a feat she achieved in just two years. Together, they formed the legal practice of Lee & Lee, and have two sons, Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Hsien Yang, and a daughter, Lee Wei Ling.
Eldest son Brigadier-General Lee Hsien Loong is deputy prime minister, one of the second-generation leaders to whom Lee and his cohorts have handed over power. He is strongly tipped to be the next Prime Minister of Singapore after present Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
| Family | |
| Wife | Kwa Geok Choo |
| Sons | Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Yang |
| Daughter | Lee Wei Ling |
He studied at Raffles Institution and Raffles College, and proceeded to Cambridge to read law. After graduating in 1949 with a double First Class Honours and a star for "special distinction", he returned to Singapore to practice law at a well known firm, Laycock and Ong.
Lee emerged as the top Malayan boy in the Senior Cambridge examinations. At the age of 19, his studies were interrupted by the Japanese invasion. After the war, he took law at Cambridge University, where he scored a double first (first-class honors in two subjects) in law.
In November 1954, led by young Lee, a group of British-educated, middle-class Chinese who had returned to Singapore in the early 1950s after studying in Britain formed the People's Action Party. The party sought to attract a following among the mostly poor and non-English-speaking masses.
Lee became the first offically elected Prime Minister of Singapore. He stayed in office from 1959 to 1990, when he voluntarily stepped down from office to let a group of second-generation leaders take over the running of the government.
Lee's intellect and energy shaped bold -- and often uncompromising -- responses to the challenges of wresting rule from the British and building a nation. His government sought to build a multiracial and multilingual society that would be unified by a sense of a unique "Singaporean identity".
During Lee's long rule, Singapore experienced remarkable economic growth and diversification. In addition to enhancing its position as a world trade centre, it has developed powerful financial and industrial sectors. Singapore has the most advanced economy in Southeast Asia. An island of 600 square kilometres, with three million people, it is the ninth richest country in per capita terms today.
Even in his graying years, the founding prime minister of Singapore wields very strong influence. He is regarded as virtually a national institution at home. Governments elsewhere solicit his advice on development, and his insights on a changing world, particularly the rise of Asia, are widely respected.
The story of how Lee transformed Singapore is a fascinating one because no other leader in the modern world has had such a hand in influencing and directing his country's progress from independence to developed nation status the way he has. None has straddled the two worlds with as much success: the revolutionary world in the first half of this century for independence from empire, and the development world in the second half for wealth and progress.
That Singapore is a success today and the success is largely attributable to Lee, there can be few doubts, even among his most severe critics.
Updates soon ....
LKY : An Overview - The literature, culture and society of Singapore
Courtesy : http://www.geocities.com/rajeevgm/lky/ Thank You Mr.Rajeev. If you have any objections, let us know.