Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore on September 16, 1923, a third-generation descendant of immigrants from China's
Guangdong Province. He read law at Cambridge University, England. In 1954 he formed the People's Action Party,
which won the first Singapore general election five years later. Lee became the country's first prime minister
in 1959, at the age of thirty-five. In November 1990 he resigned the office to assume the post of senior minister
in the Singapore cabinet.
Review
"Lee Kuan Yew is one of the brightest, ablest men I have ever met. This book is a must read for people
interested in a true Asian success story. From this book, we also learn a lot about the thinking of one of this
century's trulyvisionary statesmen."
-- George Bush
"In office, I read and analysed every speech of [Lee's]. He had a way of penetrating the fog of propaganda
and expressing with unique clarity the issues of our time sand the way to tackle them. He was never wrong."
-- Margaret Thatcher
"Lee Kuan Yew deserves recognition� Under his leadership, Singapore... equipped schools with one computer
for every two students, and connected every home to a broadband network. On top of all that, he's a great storyteller."
-- Scott McNealy, Chief Executive Officer of Sun Microsystems Inc.
"There are two equalizers in life: the Internet and education. Lee Kuan Yew is a world leader who understands
this and is using the power of the Internet to position Singapore for survival and success in the Internet economy...His
engaging memoirs discuss his efforts to reshape Singapore, integrating information technology into the country's
businesses, government and homes."
-- John Chambers, President & CEO, Cisco Systems
"Whenever I met Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, I was deeply impressed by his intellect, his vision and the depth of his
understanding on history and society. No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, you will see in this
book how a political leader of insight has led a tiny country to a prosperous modern society amid the tidal waves
of world politics. And you will also find his ingenious views on Asia and the world to be a source of deep inspiration."
-- Kim Dae-jung, President of the Republic of Korea
"Lee Kuan Yew is one of the seminal figures of Asia, and this book does justice to his extraordinary accomplishments.
Describing the motivations and concepts that have animated his conduct and explaining specific actions, he will
undoubtedly raise many controversies. But whether one agrees or not, one will learn a great deal."
-- Dr. Henry A. Kissinger
"Mr. Lee Kuan Yew has gathered around himself the most brilliant minds, transforming the most exacting standards
into a system of government. Under his leadership, the primacy of the general interest, the cult of education,
work and saving, the capacity to foresee the needs of the city have enabled Singapore to take what I call �shortcuts
to progress."
-- Jacques Chirac
"This is a personal history of a man who, almost single-handedly, built a great nation from a small island�
this is the first textbook in the world on how to build a nation."
-- Kiichi Miyazawa
"Lee Kuan Yew's vision, astute political judgement and strategy turned Singapore from a trading post into
the successful thriving nation that it is today, respected by others. For those interested in politics and economic
development, his memoirs should be required reading."
-- Tun Daim Zainuddin
"Lee Kuan Yew is a statesman who created a successful nation. He has known everybody. He has achieved impossible
things and his memoirs tell the truth."
-- William Rees-Mogg
From the Publisher's Web Site, Sept., 2002
Summary
Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that
today the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with not only the world's number
one airline, best airport, and busiest port of trade, but also the world's fourth-highest per capita real income?
The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore's charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee
Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty
and disorder following the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore now is hailed as a city of the future. This
miraculous history is dramatically recounted by the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged
ahead and brought about most of these changes.
Delving deep into his own meticulous notes, as well as previously unpublished government papers and official
records, Lee details the extraordinary efforts it took for an island city-state in Southeast Asia to survive at
that time.
Lee explains how he and his cabinet colleagues finished off the communist threat to the fledgling state's security
and began the arduous process of nation building: forging basic infrastructural roads through a land that still
consisted primarily of swamps, creating an army from a hitherto racially and ideologically divided population,
stamping out the last vestiges of colonial-era corruption, providing mass public housing, and establishing a national
airline and airport.
In this illuminating account, Lee writes frankly about his trenchant approach to political opponents and his
often unorthodox views on human rights, democracy, and inherited intelligence, aiming always "to be correct,
not politically correct." Nothing in Singapore escaped his watchful eye: whether choosing shrubs for the greening
of the country, restoring the romance of the historic Raffles Hotel, or openly, unabashedly persuading young men
to marry women as well educated as themselves. Today's safe, tidy Singapore bears Lee's unmistakable stamp, for
which he is unapologetic: "If this is a nanny state, I am proud to have fostered one."
Though Lee's domestic canvas in Singapore was small, his vigor and talent assured him a larger place in world
affairs. With inimitable style, he brings history to life with cogent analyses of some of the greatest strategic
issues of recent times and reveals how, over the years, he navigated the shifting tides of relations among America,
China, and Taiwan, acting as confidant, sounding board, and messenger for them. He also includes candid, sometimes
acerbic pen portraits of his political peers, including the indomitable Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the
poetry-spouting Jiang Zemin, and ideologues George Bush and Deng Xiaoping.
Lee also lifts the veil on his family life and writes tenderly of his wife and stalwart partner, Kwa Geok Choo,
and of their pride in their three children -- particularly the eldest son, Hsien Loong, who is now Singapore's
deputy prime minister.
For more than three decades, Lee Kuan Yew has been praised and vilified in equal measure, and he has established
himself as a force impossible to ignore in Asian and international politics. From Third World to First offers
readers a compelling glimpse into this visionary's heart, soul, and mind.
